A Touch of Confidence (6 page)

Jack guided the car through the tunnel. “Wouldn’t it make more sense to open up farther away? A fifteen or twenty minute drive isn’t going to deter customers from coming to your shop if they really want something from you. But half an hour or more might.”

“Our products are expensive. We’re targeting the market that could best afford it. A shop in New South Head Road is the perfect location.”

Jack cocked his head to the side. “What about a shop a little farther out. Say, for example…across the bridge in Mosman. You’ll have a similar clientele, and driving out to Clovelly from there is just a little too far for the average shopper.”

Claire almost laughed. “Our shop is doing well. But we’re not at a place where we can afford rentals in an area like Mosman. The cost would cut too deeply into our profits. Now, what happened when you spoke to
—
”

Jack suddenly leaned forward. “Damn, I love this song.” He turned the car radio volume up, making further conversation difficult, then proceeded to sing along with Coldplay at the top of his lungs.

Damn it, he’d done it again. Changed the subject when she tried to ask about the lease. And what a way to change the subject this time.

Claire couldn’t help her graceless snort as Jack’s voice filled the car. The G.G. might be built, gorgeous and supremely fuckable, but he was no vocalist. His flat, toneless singing was so off-key Claire could barely recognize the song.

She slapped a hand over her mouth to prevent any further inappropriate responses, but couldn’t help snickering as he hit the chorus, out of tune and off beat.

Jack stopped singing and looked at her. “Are you laughing at me?”

Claire didn’t dare answer, nor did she dare move her hand away from her mouth. Instead she shook her head and stared straight ahead, refusing to make eye contact. She couldn’t risk letting the laughter that bubbled inside her out.

“You are,” he accused. “You’re laughing at me.”

Another graceless snort erupted from her nose as she shook her head again.

He lowered the volume as he picked his way along Military Road. “Honestly? That’s how you respond to all the property managers you try to lease shops from? You laugh at them?”

“Only the ones who sing at the top of their voices while they have potential renters in the car.”

“There’s nothing wrong with my voice, I’ll have you know.”

Claire nodded primly. “So, what did you do with the money?”

His brow creased. “What money?”

“The money your mother gave you for singing lessons.”

His jaw dropped. “You did not just go there.”

Laughter peeled out of her. She couldn’t hold it back anymore. “Apparently I did.”

“My students used to ask each other that.” He rolled his eyes. “When they were in primary school.”

“I bet your students sing better than you do.”

“They sing as well as I do, since I’m their music teacher too.”

Claire gaped at him. “You are not.”

“Oh, nice. Not only do you mock my voice, now you trash my teaching abilities as well?”

“Tell me you don’t teach your kids music.”

His lips twitched. “I don’t teach my kids music. But as punishment for your blatant disbelief in my vocal ability, I’ll sing the rest of the way to the shop.”

And with that, he turned the radio back up and belted out his own inspired rendition of “Paradise”.

By the time he swung his car into a parking space, Claire had given up all pretense of holding back her mirth and was laughing out loud in his passenger seat.

Jack switched off the car, removed his seat belt, turned to her while still singing out of tune, and before she had a chance to paste a serious expression on her face, he swooped in and crushed his lip to hers.

Chapter Four

Jesus, he had no idea what it was about Claire that had his balls all tangled up in knots, but spending twenty minutes in a car with her sent his libido sky rocketing.

The second he’d closed the driver’s door, her perfume had overwhelmed him, and he’d known he was going to have to kiss her again. So kiss her he did. With her body trapped between his and her seat, he took ownership of her mouth and refused to release it.

Her laughter died on her lips, and her breath hitched. For a good few seconds she froze, her jaw slackening with surprise.

Good enough for Jack. It offered his tongue free entry into her tempting mouth. He dipped it inside and ran it along her tongue, then withdrew, driven by a consuming need to nibble on her lower lip.

Dragging his teeth over that pouty flesh, he sucked it into his mouth and nibbled to his heart’s content. Only his heart demanded a whole lot more than her lower lip. It demanded full ownership of her mouth and body, and he had to force himself to go slow, to focus only on the nubile flesh between his teeth, sucking, nibbling and releasing it in slow succession.

A throaty groan erupted from Claire, and then her hands were on his head, pulling his face closer. Her fingers tunneled through his hair, tickling his scalp, massaging it, holding him there.

She was responding, kissing him back, nipping at his lips, seeking his tongue. Their mouths melded together and the kiss turned hot so fast, the windows steamed up.

Fuck, he’d damn near come in his pants from kissing her yesterday, and he feared he might face the same dilemma today. Still, it didn’t stop him, didn’t inspire him to pull his mouth away even one inch.

Claire emitted soft, hungry moans that played havoc with his already knotted balls. She kissed him as though she fed off his mouth, gaining sustenance from him. And damned if it didn’t give him an erection from hell. Damned if her enthusiasm and her taste didn’t have his hand on her breast and his fingers gently squeezing the abundant flesh.

She more than filled his palm, making him greedy to touch all of her, greedy to have both breasts in his hands
—
unencumbered by shirts and bras.

All his life he’d favored small women. Short, thin and small-chested, everything Claire was not. Yet here, with her tantalizing tongue tempting his, and the nipple of her ample breast tightening beneath his touch, he had no idea how he could ever have found skinny women more appealing than this beauty.

Jack lost himself to her kiss, to her feel, to her touch. Their mouths worked in perfect accord, as if they each instinctively knew what the other sought or needed.

Or perhaps Jack just knew what he instinctively needed and sought to give her the same. One thing he did know was that kissing Claire Jones was an experience he wished to relive over and over again. Or maybe he’d just ensure this kiss never ended.

But a kiss would never suffice. His cock pointed out that fact as it swelled against his zip, demanding attention, demanding satisfaction, demanding access to Claire’s body.

He pulled away with reluctance, then almost sealed their lips together again when Claire groaned in protest.

He forced his eyes open, forced himself to look at her, and had to bite his cheek hard at the sight that greeted him. Claire’s head was tipped back, her eyes closed and her lips swollen and parted. It took every iota of willpower he possessed not to clamp his mouth back over hers.

“Unless you want me to strip you naked and fuck you in this car, right here, in the middle of Mosman,” he rasped, “I suggest you climb out very quickly.”

Her eyes popped open, their hazel rims almost invisible around huge black pupils.

“I seem to have very little control when you’re around, Miss Jones.” He grit his teeth, pain and frustration radiating from his pelvic area, making speech almost impossible. Jack pushed through it, aware that his hand was still on her breast, his thumb brushing over the distended nipple. “Go now, before I rip off your shirt and suck on your nipples.” He yanked his hand away, knowing if he moved any slower, he’d never release her.

They sat in his car on Military Road in broad daylight. Anyone could look inside. And while the idea of being watched bothered him not at all, he couldn’t bear Claire facing that indignity. She’d blushed just discussing their kiss yesterday, done her best to deny it. If strangers saw her getting naked with him, he suspected she’d never get over the humiliation.

She stared at him with dazed eyes, blinking rapidly. It took a while, but her gaze began to clear. Her pupils contracted and the hazel rims grew bigger. As her gaze sobered, so did her expression. She snapped her mouth shut and color flooded her cheeks.

“Go now,” he half whispered, half threatened and pushed back, freeing her. He used the hand that had been on her breast to unclip her seatbelt, lest he slip and replace it on her soft, round globe and tease her nipple with his thumb once more.

Claire scrambled from the car, clonking him on the shoulder in her haste. Her color grew deeper as she called out an apology, but at least she was no longer beside him, beneath him, tempting him with her presence.

Fuck, if his pop could see him now, he’d smack him one on the back side of his head. It was bad enough he’d messed up with the contract. But to mess around with one of his clients would never suffice. Big Jack would not stand for it.

Except this didn’t feel like messing around. This felt more like compulsion, an undeniable need to get closer to Claire, to touch her, kiss her, and yes, to fuck her. It was an undeniable need to get to know everything about her.

He took several deep breaths, willing his erection down. Climbing out the car with a raging hard-on was not a good idea. But watching Claire smooth her hair and pull her blouse down helped not a bit.

He turned his thoughts to two nights ago, to the shock of receiving the phone call about his pop’s heart attack, to his deathly fear his pop might not make it.

A long moment later, his cock half the size, Jack climbed out the car. He walked to stand beside Claire, placing his hand on her elbow and steering her towards the shop.

“You gonna pretend that kiss didn’t happen either, beautiful?” he breathed into her ear.

Claire’s shoulders stiffened, and heat radiated from her cheeks. “Shut up, Jack.”

“I told you the chemistry between us wasn’t going anywhere.

“If you stop kissing me all the time, it would.”

He laughed out loud. “I’m not going to stop. Believe me, the next time I kiss you, I don’t think I’ll be able to pull back. I intend to strip you naked and fuck you six ways to Sunday. And don’t even try to deny you want it just as much as I do.”

Jack straightened, pushed open the store door, and invited a startled Claire to look around as he walked over to the front desk. While he took care of business, checking the state of the property and finalizing details with the current lease-holders, Claire studiously examined as many jackets as she could. But every now and again he caught her glaring at him, staring daggers in his direction. He also noticed a yearning in her expression. One that mirrored his own hunger.

Several times Jack had to force his concentration back to the tenants. No matter how much he might want to toss caution to the wind and act on his impulses, throwing Claire to the floor of this up-market boutique and fucking her senseless was not going to score him brownie points…with anybody.

Jack scrubbed a hand over his face. He’d never reacted to a woman like this before. Never wanted anyone so immediately or so feverishly.

Her reaction to his kisses served only to inflame him further. Jack was permanently horny, on the verge of getting hard every time he thought about Claire. Funny he should have such a strong physical reaction to this woman.

Funny and frustrating.

“So, what did you think?” he asked when they were once again seated in his car, and he was maneuvering the SUV through traffic.

Her cheeks turned pink. “Of you stripping me and fucking me six ways to Sunday?”

His mouth split into a smile, even as her question punched a hole in his gut. “Actually, I was asking about the shop. But now I’d much rather know your thoughts about my fucking you.”

Claire stuck her nose in the air. “You’ve already fucked me, Mr. Wilson. Or have you forgotten about your blunder with my lease?”

Ouch.
“Avoiding the subject, Miss Jones?”

“Coming back to the subject. One
you
seem to be studiously avoiding.”

“It’s hard to think about lease agreements when all I’ve wanted to do since you left the Rose Bay property is get you naked.”

“Well, perhaps that would explain why I still haven’t signed my lease. You haven’t had a chance to think about it.”

“Have you had a chance to think about fucking me?”

“You’re quite determined to get an answer out of me about this one, aren’t you?”

“Hey, you brought it up. I simply asked what you thought about the Mosman shop.” He grinned at her little growl of frustration.

“It’s a nice shop. Beautiful jackets, but way out of my price range.”

Jack let her off the hook. For now. “I mean what did you think about the shop as the new location for
Li’l Books and Bits
?”

She turned to look at him, her mouth pursed. “I didn’t think anything about it. The idea never crossed my mind.”