Dangerous Attraction Romantic Suspense Boxed Set (85 page)

“I’ve been thinking, though, Kelly,” Jack went on, as he took her shoulders in his hands and leaned in to speak close to her ear, his breath whispering over her neck. “If a newly married man comes to dinner at his wife’s house and they sneak off into the yard together for a private moment….” Jack turned Kelly to face him and pulled her into his arms, wrapping her up. “They would steal a kiss.”

He paused and looked into her eyes a moment and watched her quiet gasp of understanding. Jack smiled. Jack wanted it to look like they were really married but he also had to admit that he’d been wondering what it would be like to kiss Kelly, to really kiss Kelly, especially after that small kiss at their wedding a few days ago. And, Jack was used to getting what he wanted.

“So,” Jack said as he leaned down and brushed his lips softly along her neck before drawing back and letting his lips curve into the sexy smile that melted Kelly from the knees up. “I’m going to kiss you now, Kelly,” he said quietly in a low voice that mesmerized Kelly and left her speechless. He closed his mouth over hers, exploring her slowly, tenderly.

Jack didn’t mean to get so carried away. Just a little show to make things look the way they should to the world around them. Somehow that small kiss exploded between them and he found himself deepening the kiss, pulling Kelly even tighter to him as he delved into her mouth. He felt her hands come up to his chest and for a moment he thought she would press him away but instead her small hands closed tightly, grabbing his shirt and pulling even closer as Kelly came up on her toes.

* * *

Kelly tried to focus on keeping her voice steady and her hands from shaking as Jack stood behind her watching the sunset. With Jack standing so close, it felt as if her body was reaching out to him, or maybe it was his body reaching out to set hers on fire.

Kelly felt her world suddenly spin sideways, out of control. His kiss was filled with burning passion and she felt a tingling sensation run though her body and her breath catch in her chest as she fisted Jack’s shirt in her hands, pulling him tighter to her. The second she realized what she’d done, Kelly gasped and let go of his shirt, pulling back from the kiss – but it was too late. She felt the strength of the attraction, the odd pull toward Jack.

Kelly felt heat spread through her whole body and knew she had never felt a kiss like that before and was fairly sure she never would again. And that thought terrified her because this was temporary. This wasn’t real. And she didn’t fall in love with men. She just didn’t….
Did she?

Jack looked as stunned as Kelly felt but before either could say or do anything more, the back door swung open and Liam called them in for dessert.

Chapter Twelve

Kelly had finished her registration for Yale and Jack sent the tuition in as promised so she was all set to start school in September. Over the next week, Jack, Kelly, and Mrs. Poole fell into a comfortable routine around the house. Jack left for work before Kelly got up in the morning so they didn’t see each other before work, but Jack started coming home for dinner in the evenings. He was surprised to find he liked the time with Kelly at night, liked talking to her and having someone at home waiting for him at the end of the day.

Mrs. Poole often sat down and ate with them, instead of leaving a plate warming in the oven for him like she had before Kelly arrived. Then, Mrs. Poole headed back to her room and Jack and Kelly went into the den to watch a movie or T.V. together. After a movie, Jack would go into his office to work and Kelly would read a book before heading up to her room.

After a week of falling comfortably into their newfound life together, Kelly happened to get up earlier than usual and entered the kitchen as he stood behind the center island in the kitchen, eating yogurt while he waited for his coffee to brew. He was still wearing his running shorts and t-shirt from his morning run and he knew he was probably still sweaty and rumpled.

Jack smiled at the unexpected sight of her. “Morning, Kel. What are you doing up so early?”

“I’m going job hunting today. I want to see if I can find something other than temp work before school starts.” Kelly took an orange from the refrigerator and started to peel it. She held the garbage can open with one foot and tossed the peels in then climbed onto one of the bar stools at the kitchen island.

Jack’s smile turned to a frown. “Kelly, I really will pay all of your expenses during law school. I’ll even give you spending money. You’re going to be working hard enough at school as it is. You should relax for the summer and then focus on studying when you start school. I’ll take care of everything else.”

He couldn’t believe Kelly wanted to work when she was being handed a free ride. She really had no idea the magnitude of the favor she was doing him by giving up a year of her life to save his ass. And it wasn’t the first time Jack realized she was nothing like the women he knew and dated in the past. Hell, they would have taken what he offered and started running up tabs for clothes, jewelry and trips to the spa…. Instead, here she was getting up early to look for work.

Kelly shrugged noncommittally. “I don’t really want to take advantage, Jack. We had a deal for law school, but you don’t need to do more than we bargained.”

“Kelly,” Jack tried to figure out if she was for real. “You’re doing me a huge favor with this deal. I don’t mind making sure that you don’t have to work while you’re in school. I mean it, Kelly. Let me do this for you.”

Jack knew how to read people and right now Kelly looked like she was scrambling for some way to change the subject. She glanced down at Jack’s leg at the small Celtic sun tattoo on his left calf. “You have a tattoo?” Kelly said with a distinct tone of surprise in her voice.

Jack laughed as he let her switch topics, at least for the time being. “Yup. A bunch of us got them together our senior year. Kind of stupid, but what did we know back then?”

He grinned almost sheepishly at her, and Kelly found that she was shocked by the real Jack Sutton once again. When they were in private, he was nothing like she had pictured before they got married. Sure, he was still sexy and hot, but there was also a very sweet side to the corporate CEO that she never expected.

“What about you?” Jack continued. “Any hidden tattoos I should know about? I mean, in case someone quizzes me on ‘all things Kelly.’”

His grin faded and his mouth fell open when Kelly casually hopped down off her bar stool and tugged the edge of her sweatpants down to reveal a tiny daisy over her right hip bone. It was no more than the size of a quarter and the strip of skin she was showing was only two inches wide but Jack was suddenly very grateful that he was standing behind the island. He stepped in closer to hide the effect her little reveal was having on him and managed to choke out some kind of response before Kelly went outside to grab the newspaper.

Jack watched Kelly leave the kitchen and realized that he couldn’t live with this woman for a year and treat her like a housemate. Jack wanted her and he usually got what he wanted. And where Kelly was concerned, Jack decided to make damn sure he convinced her that their temporary marriage should include all the benefits of marriage while it lasted.

* * *

After she grabbed the newspaper from the driveway, Kelly went inside and climbed the stairs to her room. Kelly was relieved she and Jack coexisted as housemates more than as husband and wife since she wasn’t looking for anything more. She only wished she would stop fantasizing about the man every time she saw him – and, for that matter, when he wasn’t around. She tried to ignore her physical reaction to him and figured it would go away eventually, but for now the attraction was powerful and it wasn’t easy to put aside.

When she had seen Jack in his running clothes in the kitchen, with his hair damp and sweaty from his morning run and those damp curls of hair edging their way to his collar, it was a lot more than she could handle. His t-shirt looked soft and comfortable like it had been washed hundreds of times and had well-worn, threadbare, see-through spots that gave a hint of the skin underneath it. It had still been slightly damp from his workout so it clung to his abs, showing off the cut of each muscle on his stomach.

She felt like an idiot the second she pulled down the waistband of her sweats to show him her tattoo. He probably thought she was trying to throw herself at him in some lame attempt to flirt.

Kelly wasn’t an idiot. She knew that Jack dated super models and had even dated a famous actress a few years earlier. Although Kelly was confident about her looks and knew she was attractive, she wasn’t
that
attractive. She saw herself as girl-next-door attractive – attractive in a sweet way, not in a hot, sexy, leggy-blond-model sort of way, so Jack wouldn’t be interested in her. Besides, Kelly reminded herself again, she didn’t want a relationship.

As she tried to forget the image of Jack and the way his shirt clung to his abs, Kelly opened the newspaper and began to scan the want ads for something to keep her busy over the summer.

Chapter Thirteen

The following Monday, Jack sat in his office getting ready for a meeting when his Aunt Mabry showed up unannounced. His new temp secretary showed her in and Jack forced a smile to his face as he greeted her.

“To what do I owe the pleasure, Aunt Mabry?” There was a time when Jack would have said those words and meant them. He used to love his Aunt Mabry but something changed her over recent years and he couldn’t connect with her anymore. She had become obsessed with seeing her only son, Chad, as CEO of the company. Jack knew the intent was to hurt him but he and Chad had agreed not to let her come between them.

“Jack, darling…” She breezed into the room. “I’ve decided to redo my kitchen and the downstairs floor of my townhouse. Chad has a friend staying with him right now so I need to stay at your place for a few weeks until my kitchen is completed.”

Jack had to work to keep from rolling his eyes. He knew perfectly well what Aunt Mabry was doing. She wanted to spy on him and Kelly. There was no way she’d be redoing her kitchen if she didn’t want an excuse to stay with him. And she would normally stay at the Omni downtown or at a spa by the water instead of with him. She had never stayed at his house before, not for a day in his life, even when his mother was alive.

She was spying. He was sure of it. His mind filtered through the excuses he could give her but when he quickly weighed all of the factors, he decided it was best to let her move in for a bit to get her off their backs. Besides, if his aunt were around he and Kelly would have to pretend to be husband and wife a lot more often, and he liked pretending that where Kelly was concerned.

With unexpected enthusiasm, Jack smiled and said, “Sure thing, Aunt Mabry. You’re welcome anytime. When do you need to move in?”

“Right now,” she said with a Cheshire Cat grin. “I’ll head over there right now.”

With that announcement, she walked out of the office as breezily as she had waltzed in. Jack stared after her for a minute when suddenly it dawned on him. Kelly and he didn’t share a room. Oh, hell. His aunt wouldn’t buy the happily-ever-after marriage if she found out he and Kelly didn’t share a room. He grabbed the phone to try to catch Kelly or Mrs. Poole in time to warn them.

* * *

Kelly whipped through the house and up the stairs, calling out for Mrs. Poole as she ran. “Mrs. Poole, come quickly! We have to move. We have to move.” Kelly continued yelling as she ran into her room and grabbed drawers full of clothes and piled hangers with slacks and dresses on them.

Mrs. Poole came up the stairs with a puzzled look on her face. “What on earth are you hollering about, Kelly?” she said as she tried to enter the room. She had to jump out of the way as Kelly made a mad dash to Jack’s room.

“We have to move all of my stuff into Jack’s room,” Kelly said, out of breath from her packing and running. “Jack’s Aunt Mabry is on her way here and she’s staying with us for a couple of weeks,” Kelly blurted out as she ran back down the hall to gather more of her belongings.

“Oh Lord,” Mrs. Poole rolled her eyes and followed after Kelly. She quickly grabbed clothes and toiletries and rushed down the hall to Jack’s room. She and Kelly repeated the trip half a dozen more times as they transferred everything and set it into place. Mrs. Poole cleared out half of Jack’s dresser and closet and made room for Kelly’s things while Kelly folded and put her clothing away to make it appear as though the two had been living in holy matrimony since day one.

Kelly put away the last of her things and took a deep breath. She turned to survey the masculine-looking room. There was a dark mahogany dresser and matching armoire against the deep green walls. Large windows looked out on the same beautiful waterfront view that her guest room windows had shared. She stopped suddenly and held her breath when her eyes landed on the king-sized bed in the center. Until that moment, it hadn’t occurred to her that she and Jack would now have to share a bed. Kelly’s smile fell away as she realized that keeping her attraction hidden from Jack just became a lot more difficult.

Chapter Fourteen

Kelly stood with Mrs. Poole and Aunt Mabry in the kitchen when Jack came in from work that evening. Kelly had poured a glass of wine for herself and Aunt Mabry and turned to ask Mrs. Poole if she wanted one. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Aunt Mabry’s eyebrows shoot up but chose to ignore the look. Apparently, in Aunt Mabry’s world, Mrs. Poole was paid help, and one didn’t ask the help if they want a glass of wine.
Wait until she sees Mrs. Poole sit down to dinner with us
. Kelly smiled.

Jack walked into the room and said ‘hello’ to Mrs. Poole and planted a peck on Aunt Mabry’s cheek before turning to take Kelly into his arms. “Hello, beautiful,” he said before he ducked his head to kiss her. It was a warm, gentle kiss but Kelly could feel the arousal bubbling just under the surface and knew that if either one of them moved to deepen the kiss, the passion would rise to the surface quickly.
Damn
,
I’m going to make a fool of myself if he keeps kissing me like this!