The Heart - Kate Stewart Page 0,27

now, without a shadow of a doubt.

I hadn’t realized Jack was watching me as I’d drifted off in thought. When I noticed, I gave him a sideways smile in question. “What?” I asked as my flesh flushed with the weight of his stare. He was so shameless when he looked at me the way he did.

“What do you think?” he said with a twinge of playful sarcasm.

“I think you’re staring at me,” I said as I nudged his shoulder playfully before I turned and began to walk toward my car.

“You want me to say what I was thinking?” Jack stayed where he was, stopping my footfall with a dare in his voice. A new shiver made its way up my spine. Sudden thoughts of him behind me, branding my skin, raced through my brain, and my lips moved with a soft and barely audible “Yes.”

I waited for him with bated breath, loving the way it felt.

“I was thinking that I’ve never seen a prettier mouth on a woman.”

“I’m flattered,” I said, keeping my back to him as I gripped the keys tight in my hands as the evident sex in his voice sent shivers throughout my body. I welcomed them like the old friends they were.

“I was wondering what it tasted like,” he said directly behind me, making me jump. He chuckled and gripped my hips, gently pushing me forward and down to take the deck stairs. He let go as soon as we reached the bottom, and I paused at the hood of my Tesla, holding my keys out toward him. He took them but walked around to the passenger side. Opening it up, I obliged, sliding into the leather seat like it was a second skin, thankful for its ability to hold me steady. We’d started a flirtation. I thought about what Jules said earlier about anticipation and decided she was right. Things had just gotten a little bit more exciting with Jack’s declaration that he wanted to taste my lips.

Jack slid into the driver’s seat and adjusted it to his size before turning the key and looking at me.

“Let’s stretch her legs.”

An uneasy feeling crept over me. “Jack, I’m not a fan of speed. Like not at all, okay?”

“I tell you what, how about I just take you to dinner,” he said without protest. The rumble in my stomach reminded me I hadn’t bothered to tend to my appetite all day.

“Great,” I said as he slowly pulled out of the driveway at a snail’s pace. I giggled and rolled my eyes at him as he cut his eyes at me with a smirk. “Smartass.”

“Nothing wrong with being a little cautious,” he said, putting the car into gear. I pulled my hair up and fisted it into a knot as we made our way through the grounds. When we reached the front of the main building, Jack paused as he surveyed the finished three-story center then turned to me.

“Wait until you see what we did today.” His pride-filled grin was enough to make my heart start pounding in my chest. He was so close and all I wanted to do at that moment was pull him in. He must have sensed it because his grin slowly disappeared and his eyes wandered to my lips, which I licked on impulse. Tension thick in the air, my eyes implored his. I wanted him to kiss me. I wanted him to know how I tasted, and I’d hoped when he did it turned into a craving. I wanted to explore our chemistry, but I didn’t want to be the one to make the first move. He’d seen the permission in my eyes and apparently ignored it as he pulled the car out of the center and hit the gas.

“I’ve always loved this car,” he said, looking around the cabin.

“Me too. I saw it in a movie once and swore one day I’d own one.”

“You’re a bad influence. I have half a mind to do the same,” he said, giving it a little more gas than necessary.

“Don’t you have enough toys?” I asked, curious.

“Never,” he said with a wicked lilt. “Know anywhere we can get a good steak?”

I laughed audibly in the wind-filled cabin and gave him a sideways glance. “Jack, this is Texas. Drive and I’ll point.”

“Right,” he said sheepishly. I found it adorable.

Twenty minutes later, we were seated at one of my favorite steakhouses. The décor consisted of rustic metal signs hanging from every surface and exposed wood beams. Discarded