Total pages in book: 124
Estimated words: 115737 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 579(@200wpm)___ 463(@250wpm)___ 386(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115737 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 579(@200wpm)___ 463(@250wpm)___ 386(@300wpm)
‘There was nothing irrelevant about that night, Annie. I’ve thought of nothing else since.’ His hand comes up and cups my cheek, his thumb circling lightly over my skin.
My whole body relaxes, the feel of him touching me so tenderly cutting through my anger, and I release my breath, getting a strong hit of his manly smell. It sends me woozy.
‘There was something there between us,’ he whispers. ‘Fucking hell, something that’s possessed me. I can’t get you out of my head, Annie. I’ve been back to that bar every damn fucking night looking for you.’ His face comes close, his breath warming my cheeks as I close my eyes and fall into a trance. ‘You felt it too, didn’t you? It wasn’t just sex. Tell me you felt it too.’ He brushes his scruff lightly across my cheek and I moan, despite myself, suddenly catapulted back into that hotel room. ‘I thought I’d never see you again.’
I swallow, trying not to let the confirmation that he’s thought about it too run away with me. It’s a moot point now. But his touch. It’s like fire, pulling the memories to the front of my mind, making me relive them all relentlessly.
‘That night,’ he breathes. ‘With you curled into my side, I had no worries. No problems. I felt nothing beyond you, and it was fucking perfect, Annie.’
I swallow and squeeze my eyes shut. ‘Perfect until I found out that you’re married.’ The words hurt, and though I’m willing myself to step back, to remove myself from his touch because I know I shouldn’t be loving the feel of him, I don’t. I remain where I am, unwilling and unable to rob myself of the amazing feelings that I’ve dreamed about experiencing again.
‘You kept it,’ Jack says softly, pulling my eyes open. He picks up the bottle cap from the shelf above my sink and fiddles with it for a few seconds, studying it moving between the tips of his fingers. I say nothing, watching as he looks back to me. ‘You couldn’t forget either.’
We stare at each other for a few moments as he blindly puts the bottle cap back. Then he moves closer to me, pushing his body into mine. Explosions. And his mouth drops lazily towards mine. In my head, I’m screaming, demanding I push him away. But my heart is fluttering and my body is coming to life again. His lips. His touch. His voice. His face. His kisses. Soft kisses turning into hard kisses. Just one more of those consuming kisses. One more. Please, one more. His lips gently brush mine, and I go lax against him.
‘Jack!’
I’m snapped from my recklessness when her voice slams into the bathroom, and I fly back, as does Jack, just as the door opens and his wife appears. ‘Is it bad?’ she asks, approaching me.
Her presence aligns my senses in a heartbeat. ‘It’s nothing,’ I assure her, smiling tightly. ‘I have a plaster in the kitchen.’
‘Maybe put some antiseptic cream on first,’ Jack says quietly, and I look at him, finding intense grey eyes nailed to me.
Stephanie laughs and places a dainty hand on Jack’s exposed forearm. His whole body locks, going visibly tense. ‘Always so wise,’ she says dreamily as my eyes fall to where her hand is resting on his flesh.
Solid arms, braced on either side of my head as he pounded into me.
No!
I shake the flashbacks away and pluck some stability from nowhere. ‘What a great start to the night.’ I laugh, watching as Jack pulls his arm away from his wife’s touch, flicking nervous eyes at her.
Her eyes aren’t nervous. They’re narrowed. More tension.
‘Let’s get back to the party.’ I gesture towards the door, relieved when Stephanie slaps a smile on her face and leads on, Jack behind her.
I follow them out. Them. Stephanie and Jack. A married couple.
His shoulders are stiff, his profile appearing every few seconds when he looks back at me. Each time, I glance away, dying on the inside, bombarded by so many feelings. I don’t know what to do with any of it. The guilt: that’s the most potent feeling of all. And then more panic when I see Lizzy coming in from the garden.
Oh Jesus, I’ve been so caught up in my state of shock I forgot my friends here tonight were also in the bar that night. I watch in horror as she pulls to a slow stop, looking straight past Stephanie to Jack, her smile falling away. I fly past Jack, knocking his arm, and reach Lizzy, forcing her to retreat.
‘You don’t know him,’ I whisper in her ear as I whirl around, slapping a smile on my face. ‘This is Lizzy!’ I declare, making introductions. ‘Lizzy, this is Jack, my client’s contractor, and his wife, Stephanie.’ I don’t mean to emphasise that word with spite, but just in case Lizzy is slow on the uptake, I need to spell out, loud and clear, my fucked-up situation.