Surrender Your Love (Surrender Your Love #1)(33)

I don’t know why, but the thought hit me the moment he regarded me coolly—his eyes clouded as though to hide his thoughts and emotions. My heart thumped hard against my rib cage, threatening to burst out of my chest. My palms turned clammy, and a thin rivulet of sweat trickled down my spine.

Stay calm, Stewart.

I knew answering his question would lead to more questions, until there were no secrets left. I had never told anyone, and I sure wasn’t ready to share the dark sides of my past with Jett. My throat constricted with fear. I buried my fingers into the soft grass and ripped it out, barely acknowledging that the action was revealing more about me than a thousand words.

I wasn’t ready to tell him the whole truth, so he had to make do with the little I could give him.

“We moved a few times.” I cleared my throat, forcing the tremor away. “I’ve always liked the notion of having a stable family home. I figured by selling beautiful houses to people I might be helping them find stability in their lives. It was a stupid dream. About a week into the job, I realized the whole business was all about money.”

His long fingers tucked a stray strand of hair behind my ear. The movement was so natural, it felt as though he had done it—touched me—a hundred times before. “You still like your job though.”

I nodded and smiled. “I do.”

“Because you want to change the world,” he whispered as he moved closer, cupping my face with his hand and forcing me to look at him. “It wasn’t a stupid dream. You won’t be able to change the world, Brooke. But your example might just change the people entering your life.”

His index finger traced the contours of my face, leaving a tingling sensation behind. The air was thick with the scent of wood and grass, but I all I could focus on was Jett. He was sitting so closely, I could smell his manly scent and take in every detail of his face and body. The barely visible laughter lines beneath his stunning eyes, the faded scar on his chin, the hard muscles of his arms. Those were all things that made him real. Beautiful. Perfect. I wanted to ask him about them so his memories would be mine.

“Hey, did you ever play football in high school?” I asked cheekily and slightly out of breath as my gaze swept over his broad shoulders.

“What?” He shot me a questioning glance. And then a deep chuckle rumbled in his throat as he probably caught on to my subtle implication. “As a matter of fact, I did. I’m glad you noticed it.”

I rolled my eyes at the sudden onset of heat in my cheeks.

Well done—inflating his oversized ego even more, Stewart.

“I bet you were the book nerd who hung out with the whizz kids,” Jett said.

“What makes you think I wasn’t the cheerleading type?” My brows shot up. He was spot on, but that didn’t please me. For some reason I wanted him to think me hot and desirable. I wanted him to think he might have competition.

“Nah, you weren’t that boring.” His arms moved around my waist to pull me closer as his green, heated gaze descended into my eyes and heart, infiltrating me to the core. The way he was looking at me, I felt everything that mattered fade away. The only thing that existed was the moment we shared.

Jett’s lips lowered onto mine, almost brushing them, but not quite. “You were clever and stunning, yet you didn’t know it.”

“How do you know?” I breathed.

“It’s not hard to guess. Girls like you keep boys at arm’s length. I think quite a few of the boys tried, but none succeeded because you didn’t realize just how gorgeous you were.”

The guy certainly had a way with words. I blinked rapidly, intoxicated by the scent of his skin. He smelled of expensive aftershave and something else. Something manly. Something—

Him.

My lips parted, begging him to stop torturing me by being so close. Begging him to kiss me.

And he did, ever so gently. Like tiny butterflies brushing my skin with their soft wings. I groaned inwardly at the sheer torture. God, I wanted him so badly it hurt.

“Some guys might be into cheerleaders and flaunted beauty. I’ve always liked a challenge, and you were the kind of girl I wanted but couldn’t have,” he whispered.

He flicked his tongue over my bottom lip a moment before his mouth conquered mine in a long and heated kiss. He circled my tongue, sucking it deep into his mouth, as his hands roved over my body. I shuddered in his embrace, and my head fell back as I moaned with the storm rising within my abdomen. His hand tugged at my shirt, jerking it out of my slacks in one quick motion. The soft pressure of his calloused fingers undoing buttons set me on fire with the promise of what they might do to me.

What the hell was I doing?

This place wasn’t secluded. Anyone standing above us or on the other side of the lake could see us. I should walk away, not let him have me in a public place where everyone could see us. I wasn’t an exhibitionist, and doing it on a patch of grass with god-knows-what crawling up my skin wasn’t my thing either. But my physical needs were getting stronger, screaming for release. What would it be like to sleep with someone I really wanted?

In an unexpected moment of lucidity, I poked a finger in his chest and tried to push him away, but my attempt was a feeble one.

“Not here,” I mumbled.

“Why not? No one’s here,” Jett whispered, not backing off. The pressure of his mouth on mine intensified. His fingers skimmed downward from my neck to the sheer material of my now exposed bra, circling the pink bud I’d dreamed he’d caress ever since meeting him. I arched my back against his rough hand, closing the space between us, vaguely aware that if he continued his delicious torture I’d be lost.