Was Jack trying to con her—trying his hardest to weasel his way into her bed on a nightly basis? Or was he sincere about helping her? Trying to figure out the answer had her tossing and turning and afraid of losing another night’s sleep, even though the numbers on her alarm clock showed it was only ten o’clock.
She had been ready to walk away. She had convinced herself she needed to regain her privacy. She wanted to be able to close all the blinds and walk around the house in her nightgown. Be in her own home and not constantly feel Jack’s gaze on her.
Liar.
If she could object to the voice in her head, she would. She’d get a protective order to keep it away where it couldn’t remind her that despite her best efforts she was becoming emotionally involved with Jack.
Their one-night arrangement had wreaked enough havoc with her emotions, but this new plan of his? Ten nights of sex?
Not that any sane woman would complain about being the object of such a good lover’s attentions. Many women would consider Maddie’s situation to be quite enviable, and those same women would call her ten kinds of a fool for wanting out of it.
She had managed to paint herself a picture of Jack as the bad guy—the man who made her doubt her own decisions, used coercion and bribery, and then two weeks later embarrassed her in front of Atlanta society at the Fire and Ice ball. And when she’d been ready to cut him loose, he’d delivered an impassioned speech about promises and commitment and being there for the long haul.
Damn him to hell.
She punched her pillow again and peeked at the clock one more time. Ten minutes after ten.
But her own research had turned up the same information he had presented to her, frequent intercourse made more sense than charting and testing and turning the whole event into one giant science project.
No, she was going to have to erase that picture of the bad guy and replace it, because what could possibly be so bad about nightly sex with Jack? Handsome, virile, maddeningly sexy and attractive Jack. Everything. That’s what. But if she wanted a baby, she would have to agree to the new plan. She couldn’t dump any of the blame on Jack for the emotional rollercoaster she was riding. This was all on her.
Maddie threw back the sheet and sat on the side of the bed. She jammed her feet into her slippers and groped at the bottom of the bed for her robe.
She made her way through the family room and kitchen, then tiptoed down the basement stairs and knocked at the door of Jack’s domain. Given her pulse rate and the churning in her stomach, there might as well have been a sign over the door warning her to abandon all hope if she entered. That or a notice that a wild animal lived behind the door. From what she’d experienced with Jack so far, either caveat could be true.
He flung open the door and waved her in. “Have you come to your senses and decided to agree with me?”
He wore a pair of cut-off sweatpants but no shirt. A towel hung around his neck and a fine sheen of perspiration covered his body. Looking past him, she saw the display blinking on the elliptical trainer he’d brought with him.
She avoided answering by walking to the middle of the room and turning slowly to inspect it. She’d only been in the basement one other time since the day she’d helped him move in. She also avoided looking at him because the sweatpants rode low on his hips and revealed the chiseled body she remembered running her hands over.
A line of dark hair started at his navel and drew her gaze to the point where it disappeared beneath his cut-offs. It pointed the way to pleasure and made her want to sing “Happy Trails.”
“It’s surprisingly neat,” she said. “I sort of expected beer can pyramids and old pizza boxes. Maybe tighty-whities on the back of the sofa.”
“I don’t wear briefs.”
She was tempted to ask what he did wear, but refrained. “It’s nice down here.”
“First of all, I’m a guest in your house, so I feel a need to keep it clean. Second, I’m insulted by your gross generalization based on my gender.” He ticked off his points on the fingers of his left hand. “Did you come here for some reason other than to insult me?”
“You’re not making this easy,” she began.
A muscle twitched in his jaw. “Most of the best things in life never are,” he said, clearly annoyed. He pulled the towel from around his neck, wiped his face and chest and then tossed it on the back of a dining chair. “There. Feel better?”
Hell was too good for him. Thoughts of honey and a mound of fire ants raced through her mind.
“I know you didn’t come down here for dorm inspection, so…”
“I’ve thought about your proposition and I came to…” Maddie’s throat tightened at the enormity of what she was about to say. She took a deep breath and blew it out. “I’ve decided to tell Tess to hold off on that thing I talked to her about.”
“A divorce,” he stated matter-of-factly.
“Yes, a divorce. She suggested I wait a few weeks and let my emotions calm down, so when I tell her I’ve changed my mind, she’ll just think I’m taking her advice.”
“And my other suggestion?”
“I’ve given it a lot of thought and done my own research.” She paced back and forth in front of the French doors leading to the patio. “Intellectually, I know your way is the right thing to do. Your bullet theory does have some basis in fact. But on the other hand…”
Did she really want to admit to Jack that she was both afraid and thrilled about the idea of having him in her bed every night? Making love with Jack had shaken her up even as it had awakened her long-dormant libido.
“It’s not my way. This is a generally recognized fertility method. Look at it like this, Maddie,” he began, stepping closer, which allowed her to see just how developed his biceps really were. “Daily sex gives you the optimum chance at getting pregnant. And if you like, I can show you some information about other things to increase your chances even more.”
“Other things?” She crossed her arms defensively across her chest.
“Different positions.”
Her breathing quickened and an unwelcome flush crept up her neck and face.
“And remember that pleasure I insisted you have?”
She nodded, wondering which dark alley the conversation would wander down now.
“It appears I was a fertility genius and didn’t know it.” He waggled his eyebrows and grinned boldly. “Orgasm contractions help carry sperm further into a woman’s body, so it’s kinda like firing bullets with an assault rifle rather than a Derringer.”
Embarrassed, Maddie wished someone would just shoot her now, and it didn’t matter to her what kind of gun they used.
“This method just lets the law of averages prevail,” he continued, moving a little closer. “You’re an attorney, Maddie. Don’t you believe in the law?”
“Yes,” she said, taking a step backwards and bumping into one of the recliners.
“Yes, you believe? Or yes to having sex every night?”
She shoved her hair back from her face and squared her shoulders. “Both. So I guess you’ll start coming upstairs the weekend after next?”
Jack laughed aloud and Maddie realized what she’d said.
Damn him to the hottest part of hell. She couldn’t even make a simple statement without him attaching some dirty connotation to it.
“That’s something else I wanted to talk to you about. Another proposition.” His expression sobered.
“Do tell.” Instead of the rational conversation she’d expected, now she was engaged in an exchange filled with bawdy innuendo and double entendres, and she already knew she was way out of her league. “Do you want to add whips and chains to the mix now? Maybe a little black leather?”
“No, nothing as exotic as that, though if you’re open to kinky stuff, I’ll put them on the short list of sexual preferences.” She would have panicked had she not seen the wink that accompanied his remark.
“What I’d like to discuss is location.”
“Location,” she repeated in a worried tone. “Is this in any way related to different positions?”
“Play your cards right and it could be.”
Maddie sidestepped and turned toward the stairs. “I’m going back to bed now. I think I might be getting a headache. We’ll finish this discussion when you can be serious.”
And when you put on a shirt so I’m not distracted by your body.
Jack reached for her arm but grabbed a handful of her robe instead. “Aww, you’re hurting my feelings.”
She spun to face him. “Yeah, right. I should just forget this—”
“I’m sorry. Really. Please don’t leave until we’ve settled this. I promise I’ll be serious, because this is a very serious matter.”
She tugged her robe from his grasp and pulled it tighter around her. “Yeah, sure. That’s what you always say.”
“I mean it this time. I swear. But I’d be a lot more comfortable if I was clean,” he said. “Would you mind waiting while I take a shower? I won’t be long. You can watch TV or look at a magazine or—”
“How about a cup of hot chocolate? If you don’t have any, I can get some from my kitchen.”
“Sounds great. If you don’t mind the instant kind, I have some packets in the cabinet over the stove.”
Maddie listened to the sound of running water and imagined Jack wet and naked while she waited for the kettle to boil. When Jack stepped into the small kitchen, dressed in athletic shorts and a T-shirt and smelling like some sort of sporty soap, she was stirring two steaming mugs.
“After you,” he said, taking one mug and following her to the sofa. He sat on one end and propped his bare feet on the coffee table, crossing them at the ankle.
Maddie sat on the opposite end, her legs tucked underneath her, sipping cocoa and sneaking glances at him. His wet hair was combed back from his face and a drop of water crawled down his neck toward the ribbed crew neck of his shirt. She fought the urge to lean over and wipe it away.
“As I was saying when I so rudely veered off in the wrong direction, I’d like to ask you if we could have sex somewhere besides your bedroom.”
“Why? What’s wrong with my bedroom?”
Jack rubbed his hand across his jaw, shadowed by a day’s growth of beard. “I don’t know any way to say this but to be perfectly honest. I’m just not real comfortable having sex with you in the same bed where you slept with your former husband.”
“Oh.” Until now, she had no idea being in the bed she had shared with Alex would bother Jack. She had only considered her own feelings. Of course he would feel awkward and this was an entirely rational and acceptable argument. “Then where?”
He nodded toward the bedroom and his grin flashed briefly before he doused it.
Jack’s bedroom? His bed? She opened her mouth to speak but he spoke before she could.
“It’s too far to commute to the cabin, and renting a motel room every night would get expensive unless we wanted to go to a place that rents by the hour.”
She inhaled raggedly and dribbled her drink down her chin.
“I’m joking, Maddie,” he said, moving over to swipe at the chocolaty smudge with his thumb. “But look at it from my perspective. Would you want to know that other women had been in the bed where you were making love to your husband?”
The thought had crossed her mind. How many women had Jack bedded in that king-size pleasure palace in the next room?
He nodded toward the bedroom. “You might find it hard to believe, but there’s never been a woman in that bed,” he said, as if reading her mind.
She thought back to the day Jack had moved in. “Well, of course not. You bought it when you moved in here.”
Jack drained his mug and leaned to place it on the coffee table. “I’m going to let you in on a little secret, Maddie. Not only has there never been a woman in that bed, until you and I had sex at the cabin, I’ve been celibate since before Alex died.”
The shock of this bombshell hit her full force and left her too stunned to react. Here was one more instance where she had misjudged Jack. That list was growing longer daily.
He leaned back, his hands locked together behind his head. “Running Prescott-Worth was a full-time job for two men, and when he got too sick to work, I practically ate and slept at the office. Between that and donat—” He quieted suddenly.
“I know about that. Millie told me you donated platelets for him as often as you could.”
An irritated expression crossed his face.
“Don’t be mad at her. She was worried I’d be mad because you missed a morning of work every ten days or so.”
Maddie reached for his hand. “I appreciate everything you did to keep the company going,” she said softly. “I should have said something before now.”
He shrugged one shoulder. “It’s okay. You’ve had a lot on your plate.”
She studied Jack’s profile; the square jaw, the stubborn set of his chin, the slight imperfection of his nose that hinted at a fist-fight or two. His skin was tanned to a rich bronze from hours outside on job sites, and the sun had added gold streaks to his chestnut-brown hair. No wonder Tess thought he was a hottie.
He was.
Jack Worth was an in-the-flesh, certified hunk and he was hers for the asking. And that brought her right back to being both scared and excited about having him in her bed.
Correction. Being in his bed.
She had agreed to his plan—all parts of it—and now she needed to get back upstairs to her bed. Tomorrow she would tell Tess to cancel the divorce paperwork—at least for now. Eventually she and Jack would go their separate ways, but for now they would remain man and wife, and in five days they would start trying to make a baby again.
“I guess I had better get back to sleep. I’m beat from not sleeping well last night.” She rose from the sofa.
His hand snaked out and took her by the wrist. “Stay with me, Maddie.”
“I couldn’t,” she said softly. “I can’t. I mean, it’s not time yet.”
“I know. It won’t be about sex. We’ll just be sharing the bed—sort of a practice run for the real thing without really practicing.” He pulled her closer and placed his mouth close to her ear. “It’ll give you a chance to get used to my snoring.”
She smacked his shoulder then laughed nervously before burying her face against his chest until she could regain her composure. She had given in willingly, and, in addition to his snoring, she had a feeling she’d get used to his electrifying touch and the way it made her heart hammer.
* * *
Jack tugged her toward the lighted bedroom and interpreted her lack of resistance to mean she had agreed to stay. He wasn’t sure what had made him ask her, especially when he had already spooked her with his other requests. He just knew he wanted her beside him tonight. He wanted to hear her breathing from the other side of the bed, to know he wasn’t alone. To know he hadn’t scared her off completely with his demands.
“Do you prefer one side over the other?” he asked, pulling his shirt over his head. He started to drop it on the floor but instead he tossed it in the laundry basket in the corner.
“I usually sleep on the side closest to the bathroom,” she answered, pointing to the right side of the large bed. “But the lamp’s on that side so it must be where you sleep…” Her voice trailed off and he could see the uneasy expression that crossed her face.
“That’s fine. Take that side,” he said and yawned. “Let me go lock up and turn out the lights.”
When he returned a few minutes later, Maddie’s robe was draped across the bottom of the bed and she was tucked safely under the covers.
“Is the alarm already set or do I need…?” She stopped mid-sentence as Jack skimmed his shorts over his hips to the floor and crawled into bed. “Don’t you normally put on pajamas? Didn’t you sleep in lounge pants at the cabin?”
He chuckled as she edged closer to the far side of the mattress. “Usually don’t wear them.” He settled beneath the covers on his side of the bed and punched the pillow several times. “It helps keep my laundry at a manageable level.”
“I’ll bet you don’t wear underwear either.”
“How’d you guess?” He winked at her before turning on his side, facing away from her. “Turn out the light, would you?”
* * *
Maddie flushed the toilet and washed her hands, hurrying back to crawl into the bed.
“Are you okay?” Jack’s voice was thick with sleep.
“Yeah. Just a bathroom call. I’m sorry I woke you.” She pulled the sheet to her chin and shivered in the nighttime chill.
“Are you cold?” he asked, turning toward her.
“A little, but I’ll warm up.” Admitting she was cold was an invitation for her naked bed mate to offer to warm her up, and that was not what she wanted.
Liar, her conscience nagged again. Maybe if he slid to her side of the bed just a little and trapped her cold toes between his warm feet she’d be able to go back to sleep.
As if he could read her mind, he maneuvered to her side of the bed. Way over on her side. “Come here, sweetheart. Move in close to me.”
But he’s naked, her conscience badgered once more before giving in. She snuggled close, soaking in the warmth of his body. “Oh my gosh, you’re so hot.”
When Jack began to shake with laughter, her body flushed from sheer mortification.
“I mean…your body. It’s hot. In the bed. Temperature-wise that is. Oh God, can I possibly dig myself any deeper into a hole?”
Jack let the laughter burst to the surface. “I know what you mean,” he said when he finally caught his breath.
Maddie wasn’t sure if that made her feel better or not. Their arrangement was purely business. It wouldn’t do for her to give him the wrong idea.
Nonetheless, she relaxed into the warmth of his arms and began drifting back to sleep. He pressed a light kiss to her temple and adjusted his arm under her.
“For what it’s worth,” he murmured, “I think you’re pretty hot, too.”
She struggled for the right words, but abandoned the effort in favor of sleep.
“Goodnight, Maddie. Sleep tight.”
She certainly would.
* * *
The last week had been a giant lesson in self-control for Jack. Every night he had prepared dinner for Maddie. According to his research, she could aid conception by avoiding processed foods and eating a diet rich in fresh fruits and vegetables, dairy products and lean protein.
Right now he’d kill for a tub of fried chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy and a couple of beers, but instead he’d grilled fish and prepared a green salad. He set their places in the dining room rather than in the kitchen, and he had added some candles he’d found in a drawer. Alcohol was forbidden so he’d filled their wine glasses with sparkling grape juice.
“Come and get it,” he called from the dining room. She was barefoot so he didn’t realize she was behind him until he heard the gasp of surprise when she saw the candles and the vase of fresh flowers he’d picked up at the grocery store.
Tonight was the launch of Plan B and Jack wanted to put Maddie at ease. He’d worried his fancy dinner might come across as the actions of a man more concerned with sex than conception. Only time would tell.
“This is beautiful,” she said as he pulled out a chair for her. “And I love salmon.”
It was good for her, too, but he’d keep that bit of information to himself. Tonight he wanted a relaxed atmosphere because stress hindered conception, and wasn’t conceiving the whole point of all this?
He sat across from her—too far away in his estimation. Now he regretted the decision to go for the more formal setting instead of the cozier surroundings in the kitchen. Damn, but this whole sex thing was making him question his own judgment. Seduction had never been a problem for him before, and wasn’t that what he needed to do tonight? Seduce Maddie?
Sure, she’d agreed to his sex marathon plan and to the change of venue he suggested. He’d spent more time upstairs with her than before, and on the previous weekend she had joined him downstairs in front of the big screen TV to watch a movie.
Meals and movies, however, were a far cry from rolling around naked in bed together. The night she’d spent with him repeated often in his dreams, and when he’d wake up hard and wanting her, Jack would stumble to the shower and let cold water sluice over his body. Then he would return to the bed that triggered the whole incident and more likely than not, end up aroused again.
He had been like a horny teenager who lusted after the prom queen and had to keep it a big secret. Only tonight he could let the cat out of the bag—or more accurately, he could give his raging libido room to rage just a little.
“Jack?” Her voice pulled him from his thoughts. “Is something wrong?”
He shook his head, smiled and filled his fork with another bite of food. Unfortunately, his mind was screaming otherwise. That horny teenager wanted to lay the prom queen across the vacant end of the dining room table and well…lay her right there. He willed his body to relax and his brain to stop sending signals to the southern hemisphere.
“I’ll clean up,” she offered when they’d both had their fill. “You cooked after all.”
“It’s good practice. Once we get you pregnant and the baby is born, you’ll be too busy to cook but you still need to eat properly.”
Her cheeks stained with color. Evidently she had a major case of nerves as well.
She stacked their plates and silverware and carried them to the sink. With a puff of breath, Jack extinguished the candles and followed with the rest, stepping behind her to set the glasses on the counter. She turned abruptly and collided with him. Their shared awareness of each other was palpable and he lost the tenuous grip he had on his control.
He framed her face with his hands and lowered his lips to hers. He demanded entrance to her mouth and swept his tongue inside. Drinking in her sweetness, he inched closer, surrendering to his desire, giving in to the anticipation that had eaten at him since their last night together.
Maddie released a sigh of pleasure and wrapped her arms around his neck. Her hip brushed against his fly and stripped him of all control.
He deepened the kiss and when she sighed again he tunneled under her top, bracketing her torso with his hands and letting his thumbs rest just below her breasts.
She buried her face against his chest then stood on tiptoe and seared a path along his jaw with her kisses. His erection slammed against his fly and he feared his jeans might do serious damage if he didn’t get them off soon.
“Can we take this downstairs now?” His gruff whisper broke the silence.
“I thought you’d never ask,” she said, kissing down his neck.
Sweeping her into his arms, he carefully made his way downstairs and into his bedroom. He set her down beside the bed and his gaze raked seductively from head to toe. His body ached for her touch, and he ached to be inside her, but he would let her take the lead.
She grasped the hem of her shirt and pulled it up and over her head. Jack instinctively reached to slide his hand across her silken skin. He eased his fingers to the lacy edge of her bra where her breast mounded above the fabric. He traced the scalloped edge slowly, filled with raw lust and longing, raking his fingers boldly down her body.
“So beautiful. So sexy.” His voice barely audible, he rubbed his thumbs across the silk cups of her bra and her nipples responded to his touch. When he twisted the front closure open and her breasts spilled into his hands, he cupped them tenderly.
He lifted his gaze and studied her face, focusing on her angular features, her full lips and the long, dark lashes resting against her cheeks.
“Look at me, Maddie,” he urged. When she opened her eyes, he saw his own longing reflected in them. He had waited for her and the prolonged anticipation had frustrated him. Relieved, now he knew the wait was over.
“I want you, Maddie. I want to be on top of you, inside of you. Now.” The time for coy flirtation had passed.
He hooked his thumbs in the waistband of her lounge pants and shoved the fabric down until it puddled at her feet. She stepped out of the pants and he kicked them aside.
“You didn’t wear underwear.”
“I thought I’d follow your lead.” She smiled wickedly, her excitement reflected in her eyes.
He stepped back and undid the button on his jeans, then slid the zipper down carefully. He toed off his shoes and yanked his socks off. The jeans followed quickly. Carefully he eased her backward until her legs bumped the mattress. Easing her onto the bed, he crawled in beside her, worshiping her body with every sense—the silken feel of her skin, the aroma of her floral perfume, the sight of her dark hair against the white sheets, the sound of her moans as he began his assault on her body.
Threading his fingers through hers, he pinned her to the bed and scorched a path of kisses down her body. He kissed each eyelid, the tip of her nose and sipped from her lips, swollen from the kisses in the kitchen.
He nibbled her neck and then returned to her breasts, flush with arousal and need. He shifted to begin the next phase of his assault and lost contact with her body.
* * *
Maddie’s eyes flew open as he moved away from her. “Don’t leave. Not now.”
“I’m not going anywhere, sweetheart. I promise.”
He wrapped one arm around her waist and pulled her closer and moved in for another kiss that was slow and thoughtful. He nibbled, then nipped playfully and Maddie returned his actions in kind. Then his mouth descended more firmly and the kiss morphed from yielding to firm, from playful to demanding, from unhurried to urgent.
His calloused hand cradled her face reverently and she saw desire in his eyes that had never been there before. Desire that mirrored her own. This man she’d viewed as merely a means to an end had become more—much more.
“Touch me,” she commanded, asking him for the pleasure she had resisted before.
“Here?” he asked, fondling her breast lovingly, teasing the nipple until it firmed beneath his touch. “Or here?” The hand, which wielded a hammer so forcefully, circled her navel. “Or here?” He lowered his head and kissed the nipple he’d worried to a peak. She moaned her approval, and he drew the nipple into his mouth, treating her to sweet torture.
“Or maybe here?” he asked again, moving his hand between her thighs to her moist curls. He moved his fingers against the part of her body that wept for him and elicited another moan. When she arched her back and pressed her body against his hand, he gently slid a finger inside. He worked the finger in and out, using his thumb to stimulate her until she flew apart under his ministrations.
“That’s one for you,” he whispered, and his hot breath blew against her ear, arousing her further.
“And now it’s your turn.” She pushed to a sitting position. Maddie wanted to make sure Jack enjoyed the sex, too, wanted to make sure it wasn’t purely duty on his part, though she doubted men could separate the two. Using both hands, she pushed him onto his back and straddled his hips.
“Nice turn,” he commented, grinning broadly.
“You ain’t seen nothing yet, babe.” She leaned forward and kissed his forehead, her breasts brushing against his chest.
“And you’re killing me, babe.” He responded by grasping her hips and pulling her against his erection.
“Remember?” She punctuated her words with more kisses to his lips, his neck, his flat nipples. “It’s all about guns?” She licked a path down his abdomen, traced the fine line of hair below his navel and heard him suck in a breath as she neared his groin.
“Just make sure you don’t pull the trigger too soon.”
She lapped at him, tasting him, and then took him in her mouth until he protested and pushed her away.
“Was I getting trigger happy?” She smiled seductively, delighted she had been able to excite him and also delighted he had stopped her.
“I’m just operating on a very short fuse here,” he admitted, rubbing his hands up and down her back. “And we don’t want to waste the swimmers, you know.” He winked and Maddie felt her heart unlock and let him in.
She wrapped her hand around him, guided him to her wet core and lowered onto him. He filled her completely and she sighed, forgetting their coupling was for anything but sheer bliss.
Jack slid one hand from her hip to the point where they joined and massaged her again until she begged him to stop. He shifted, tilting their positions slightly, and raised his hips, thrusting deep and driving her to an intense climax.
She contracted around him, gripping him until he arched one last time and breathed her name on a satisfied sigh. She collapsed against him, feeling boneless from the exquisite pleasure, and wondering how she would ever be able to leave the comfort of his embrace.
* * *
“How did you meet Alex?” she asked as he cradled her in his arms. “All he would ever tell me is you were young and, well, stupid.”
Jack chuckled. “That’s pretty accurate. I’d even go so far as to say I was dumber than dirt. God, it’s a miracle I lived to see my eighteenth birthday.”
“Did you grow up in Atlanta?”
“Not Atlanta proper. My mom and I lived near the airport in a trailer park. She worked as a waitress—when she worked. If she could find a guy to move in and support us, she’d quit work until he moved out. And then she’d go back to the coffee shop and the cycle would repeat.”
“What about your father?”
Jack remained silent for several minutes, unsure of just how much truth to share.
“I don’t know,” he said softly, shifting so he could see her face.
“You don’t know where he is?”
He paused again even though the words didn’t hurt as much now as they had when he’d first heard them fifteen years ago.
“I don’t know who he is.”
“Oh, Jack. I’m sorry. If I’d known—”
“It’s okay. Actually, my father is a very significant part of how I met Alex.”
Her forehead wrinkled in confusion. “I don’t understand. If you didn’t know who he was, how did that lead you to Alex?”
“All my life my mother repeated one line to me: you wouldn’t act out like that if your father was around. She used this mystery man to try and keep me in line. But I’d just misbehave more, because in my mind I thought if I was deliberately bad, he’d come back home to give me the chance to be good. Needless to say, he never came back. I became known as the neighborhood bad boy. By the time I was in middle school, I’d started smoking and sneaking beer.”
“But you don’t smoke now.”
“Hang on. That part’s coming. When I was old enough I started working in fast food places, usually a different one every three to four months because my smart mouth would get me fired. But I managed to save enough to buy a car and keep the tank filled with gas. By eighteen, I was an expert bad boy because that’s what everyone expected from me. I had hooked up with some guys who did carpentry work and odd jobs and I was making decent money working with them. I was tired of living at home and thought I was ready to move out and take on the world.”
“I think most of us go through that phase.”
“Yeah, but most people are smart enough to know their limits. Anyway, a week after graduation, and I use that term loosely because my grades just barely earned me a diploma, I found a place to live—a dump of an apartment on the east side of town, and I was packing my stuff to move. My mother came in tipsy, saw what I was doing and started a tirade about how every man she ever cared about had abandoned her and now I was doing the same thing.”
Jack paused, remembering the confrontation clearly. “We argued and I opened my big mouth and said maybe if she hadn’t been such a drunk and a nag my father wouldn’t have moved out, too.
“That’s when she dropped the bomb and told me she had no idea who my father was. Maybe it was Mr. Friday Night or maybe Mr. Saturday Afternoon. Or it could have been the Sunday morning guy or the Sunday nooner or even her landlord she screwed at three every Sunday afternoon while his wife went to visit her mother.”
Maddie stilled in his arms and he glanced her way to see if he had either shocked her into silence or put her to sleep with his soap opera tale. Instead, he saw her eyes filled with tears. “I had no idea,” she said in a broken whisper.
“It’s not exactly the sort of thing you talk about at cocktail parties,” he said wryly. “Anyway, I stormed out, got into a bar with a fake ID and I got rip-snorting drunk. I was mad at my mother, mad at the son of a bitch who let me go through life without a father and mad at the world in general. I wanted to hit somebody or something and one of Alex’s projects got in my way. It was that apartment complex he helped construct before he got into residential construction.”
“In College Park,” she offered. “He showed it to me one time.”
“That’s the one. I had trashed one unit and had started on the second when Alex drove up. He tried to stop me and I damn near broke his arm fighting back. Then I puked all over his boots and really endeared myself to him.” Jack remembered all too well the angry kid he’d been. “He hauled me to the foreman’s trailer to call the cops and I passed out on the sofa. And when I woke up the next morning, I was in a bed in a house instead of in a jail cell.”
“He took you home with him?” she asked in disbelief.
Jack nodded. “Apparently my boyish charm and good looks got to him and he decided not to press charges—at least not if I did everything he demanded.”
“He blackmailed you?”
“He sure did. Where do you think I learned the fine art of extortion?” Another memory darted through his head, of Maddie and him in the cabin.
Maddie yawned and he glanced at the bedside clock. “I need to let you get some sleep.”
“No, tell me the rest of the story,” she begged, unsuccessful at stifling another yawn.
“Okay, here’s the condensed version. I got the Alex Prescott version of community service for vandalism, public intoxication and underage drinking. Oh, and for puking on his new boots. If I worked off the damage—and it was a hell of a lot of damage—he said he wouldn’t turn me in to the cops. By the time I’d sobered up and realized what I’d done, I was scared enough to take him up on his offer. The next year he helped me enroll at Georgia State and we eventually became partners. I still have no idea why he decided to give me a chance instead of turning my sorry ass over to the police. It would have been a lot easier and cheaper for him.”
“He was a good judge of character.”
“And I was a hell of a character back then.”
“You’re still a hell of a character.”
“And you need to go to sleep,” he told her when she yawned again.
* * *
Jack lay in the dark, trying to sleep, thoughts whirring through his brain. Thoughts of how soft her skin was and how she’d melted in his embrace. How tight she’d been when he pushed inside her and how she’d fought the pleasure then surrendered and enjoyed it. How she’d sighed deeply when she came apart in his arms.
How it had been so long since the last time he’d been with a woman before Maddie. How he’d enjoyed the hell out of being inside her, of having her on top of him, and now he was going straight to hell for falling in love when he was supposed to be protecting her and helping her.
She was in his bed where he’d wanted her all along. Was it selfish? Absolutely. Even a bit manipulative. But she’d been uninhibited and he knew for damn sure she’d have never been that way upstairs. Their arrangement might be “business,” but Jack had never shied away from mixing in a little pleasure.
Before Maddie, sex had always been for the sake of recreation rather than for procreation, and he’d found the latter to be an almost spiritual experience. Oh yeah, that was him all right.
Saint Jack.