Well I didn’t have a choice. If I was protecting myself and my career and Jack’s reputation, we had to be responsible.
Even if it meant denying something we both wanted.
Even if it meant denying each other the only thing we both needed.
Chapter Six - Jack
I kicked my ass from one side of the field to the other and worked my muscles raw, and still I couldn’t punish myself enough for being so fucking stupid.
I made a lot of bad calls in my life. Yelling at the most gorgeous woman in the world seconds after her legs wrapped around my head?
Rookie. Mistake.
What the fuck was happening to me? God damn that woman—that beautiful, sexy, infuriating woman. Leah was the only girl I’d ever wanted who hadn’t wanted me back.
No—she was the only one who ever refused me. Even after she liquefied on my couch. She didn’t just reject me. She denied herself.
Leah. Wanted. Me.
She couldn’t lie to me with my head between her legs. Her thighs had tightened over my ears, but I didn’t have to hear her moans to sense what she craved. I tasted it. Savored it. I was practically burned by the searing heat in that perfect pussy that trembled so sexy against my tongue.
It wasn’t enough. It wouldn’t be enough until I was balls deep in that woman.
If I hadn’t made such an idiot mistake, I might’ve had her.
Didn’t matter. She’d be mine as soon as I figured out how to make her talk to me again. Really talk to me. Not any of this bullshit photo-op dates. I’d win her over the only way I knew how. Some people had a golden voice, I had a golden tongue.
But first, I had something equally important to do. I remembered McGrin Regional Hospital’s layout. I wished I hadn’t. Or that I hadn’t remembered all the days and nights we spent running back and forth through the halls. The pediatric wing was the worst, artificially colored and bright but still clinging to the scent of antiseptic.
It was a shitty place to grow up. It was worse when most of the kids in the beds didn’t make it.
I didn’t stay long. Couldn’t. Too many memories and not nearly enough reason or justification for what had happened. I dropped the check, shook the doctor’s hand, and we were done.
I made it to the lobby before she found me.
Leah dressed for success. She covered up everything sexy, but she didn’t need a miniskirt to make me beg. She bit her lip. That meant she had bad news. But, hell, everything about her was bad news anymore.
Look, but don’t touch.
Defend, but don’t take.
Have, but only temporarily.
Women never used to affect me. I just needed a quick fuck, and I’d get her out of my system. No other woman would do. I needed her. Begging. Panting. Wanting.
“You’re a hard man to track down, Jack,” Leah said.
Everything about me was hard. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“I’d ask you the same question.” She adjusted the strap on her laptop bag so she didn’t have to look me in the eye. She hadn’t held my gaze since that night. “Jolene reps this hospital. Imagine our surprise when her contact calls to tell us Jack “Play-Maker” Carson is talking to the Chief of Pediatrics.”
“Think I was going to ruin something?” My voice edged hard. “Cause a problem? Throw down with a nurse in the middle of the floor?”
Leah flinched. God, I was edgy around her. She didn’t deserve my temper, not when she was still trying to preserve my reputation along with her job. That made her dedicated…and an idiot. She refused to take her pleasure even when it was thrust in front of her face.
Or between her legs.
She sighed. “Jack, I’m not starting a fight—”
“I was donating money.”
Leah’s eyes widened like I handed her the fifty grand. “You’re…donating? Like, charity?”
“Yeah.”
I nodded for her to follow me. Her petite legs scampered to stay at my side.
“Why are you donating to the pediatric ward?” she asked. “And why didn’t you say anything to me about it?”
Because I avoided this reaction. “What’s it matter?”
“Jack, this is a moment we could use.” She followed me outside but pulled me behind a concrete pillar before I bolted for the parking garage. Her voice hushed. “This is something amazing I could use as a photo-op. If I could write an article and push it to an outlet—”
“No. You’re not doing it.”
She didn’t understand. She wouldn’t, and I didn’t want to explain.
“Jack.”
“You’re not making this into some goddamned PR stunt.”
“This is good publicity. You need some of that. It’s not like our dates have been doing much.”
Yeah. Total waste of time, especially if I wasn’t getting laid. “Those last three dates were a blast.”
She shrugged. “I’m trying. I have social media retweeting and reposting things, and I’m leaking pictures. It’s only been two weeks.”
“It could be two fucking months, Kiss. Christ.” I didn’t mean to get pissed. Two weeks without a fuck was something I hadn’t dealt with before. “Unless I’m banging two girls in a bar bathroom, doing body shots off some co-ed with daddy issues, or getting sucked off in my car—no one cares what the fuck I do. They want to see the media’s version of Jack Carson. Your version. The trouble-maker.”
“I don’t think that’s really you.”
“Yes, you do, or you wouldn’t have stripped for me.”
“Jack—”
“We almost fucked, Leah.”
“Yeah, well, sorry my notch in your bedpost buffs right out.”
“Don’t apologize to me.” I licked my lip just to watch her squirm. “You missed out on the fucking of a lifetime. Hope you don’t lose too much sleep regretting it.”
“I take solace in the fact that I’m saving ten bucks on a box of condoms,” she said.
“Where I come from, the gentleman buys.” I winked. “I even get them ribbed for her pleasure.”
“Oh, remind me to list that act of charity in your next puff piece,” Leah said. “Compassionate Manwhore Says You Bring The Wine, I’ll Grab The lube.”
“Got news for you, Kiss…you didn’t need any lube.”
She shifted, uncomfortable and unable to deny just how wet and ready I made her. “Well…now that you respect me that much more as your publicist, maybe you’ll be more inclined to look favorably on our next organized outing.”
“Where?”
“The ballet.”
“Absolutely not.”
She sighed. “It’s a cultural event. A lot of local celebrities are going to the opening.”
“Then no one will notice I’m not there.”
“It’s important.”
I grunted. “It’s not. This isn’t working, Kiss! These dates don’t do a damn thing.”
She didn’t like the criticism. That was fine. I didn’t like blue balls.
“We did the baseball game,” Leah said. “People liked that. We were on the jumbotron between innings. Everyone saw the local football hero wearing a baseball jersey, supporting the other professional teams in the city while out with his girlfriend. That’s a good start. It’s building a narrative.”
“You didn’t even kiss me back when the monitor drew a heart around us.”
She shrugged. “I got nervous.”
“Bullshit, you organized it,” I said. “Goddamn it. I’m so hard up on you I’m trying to score on a fucking kiss cam.”
“It’s not a good idea, Jack.” She exhaled and avoided my gaze. “Especially now.”
I recognized that tone. Learned to hate it. “What happened?”
“There’s a story coming out tomorrow about Bryon and his arrest.”
It was a sore spot between us. She thought he was bad news. So did I, but he was still my best friend and threw one hell of a party.
“They let him go,” I said. “No evidence.”
“Yeah…but it’s a whole article about professional misbehavior and league liability.” She frowned. “You’re their lead example.”
“Mother fuckers.”
“I tried to contact the writer. He won’t return my calls. We need to do something about this before you’re labeled a sexual predator.”
“How do you know I’m not?”
“Maybe you are.”
“Then run away little girl. Before I finally catch you.”
She didn’t want to play. Too bad.
“We’ve gotta make a plan tonight, Jack. I’ll buy us a pizza if I can come over?”
“You sure you wanna risk it? Last time you were there, you ended up naked and coming all over my couch.”
Her voice edged, a little kitten striking out with claws. “Yeah, I’ll try to contain myself.”
“Left a nice little wet spot too.”
“Jack.”
“You have any idea how sexy you are when you’re riding my tongue and getting yourself off?”
“Sexier than you can handle.”
“Not my first rodeo, Kiss. I’ve held you. Kissed you. Tasted you. Only one thing left to do now. Take a guess what it is.”
She stalked away, and I loved to see her pissed off, especially if it was the only passion I could get from her. It felt nice to get under her lovely skin again.