A Daddy for Jacoby(32)

The need to breathe had her breaking free from his mouth, but the woodsy, masculine scent of his skin called to her and she buried her face into his neck.

She couldn’t believe this was finally happening. Kissing Justin, being kissed by him, was just as wonderful as she’d dreamed it would be. The strength of his arms made her feel safe, the power in his kiss made her feel wanted.

And she wanted more.

“Justin…”

Seconds later, he scooted her off the counter and moved the two of them deeper into a dark corner of the shadowy kitchen. His mouth came down on hers again in a sizzling kiss until he suddenly broke free. They stood, with Gina pressed between the lower cabinets and his body. His breathing, short and fast and brushing over her ear, matched her own. His hands tightened for a moment before they dropped to right her clothing and he stepped back.

“What’s going—”

He placed his fingers at her mouth. “I thought I heard—” A long moment passed before he dropped his hand. “I guess it was nothing. Look, we can’t… We shouldn’t be doing this.”

“Why?”

Had she really said that aloud? Gina bit hard at her bottom lip, the innocence of her whispered question sounded so naive, so inexperienced even to her ears.

He took another step back but kept his voice low. “The list of reasons could take all night, but for starters, how about the fact our IQs are farther apart than Cheyenne and Miami?”

“This coming from a man who has the complete works of Shakespeare and volumes of poetry by Byron, Shelley and Keats on his bookshelf?”

“How do you know that?”

“Jacoby took me on a tour earlier, remember?”

“Speaking of Jacoby…reason number two. We aren’t exactly alone here.”

Shock washed over her as she realized the little boy might’ve walked in on them at any moment. No wonder Justin dragged her into the kitchen. “Oh, I didn’t even think… I was so caught up in what we were doing…what you were…”

Her voice trailed off as a shaft of moonlight made it possible for Gina to look into Justin’s eyes. For a moment there was something soft and pensive there, then he blinked and she saw nothing but emptiness.

She jerked out of his arms. Grabbing her purse and coat, she started for the front door. “I should go.”

“Gina, this…this isn’t going to happen again.” He started to follow her, then stopped. “It can’t happen again.”

But she wanted it to. She wanted to kiss him again with every fiber of her being and she could’ve sworn he’d wanted it, too.

“Well, I guess we’ll have to keep that in mind if we ever find ourselves alone in the dark again.”





Chapter Seven





One week. Seven days. One hundred and sixty-eight hours. Ten thousand and eighty minutes since he’d seen the woman who’d given him one damn fine, soul-stirring, libido-reviving kiss.

Yeah, Justin had just figured that out in his head.

Not that his mental calculations helped in his struggle to keep his mind on his job as he prepped for the dinner crowd at The Blue Creek Saloon.

He was also trying—unsuccessfully—to forget what he’d said to Gina after forcing himself to pull away from her mouth, her touch and out of her arms.

And it wasn’t because of the way his body responded to the first woman he’d held in his arms in three long months. It was because she was the one woman he couldn’t have.

The fact she’d left for a week in the Caribbean with her girlfriends the next day wasn’t helping. It should. That whole “out of sight, out of mind” thing, but it wasn’t.

He’d hurt her.

He’d seen it in her eyes when she’d looked at him, heard it in her voice. But it was for the best. She’d been laying on the daddy hero worship a bit too thick and when she’d touched him, turned his head to face her, he’d thought he’d telegraphed the message “back off” loud and clear.

Apparently she’d read his stare differently.

And before they’d ended up in a tangle of clothes and quilts in front of his fireplace, he’d had to do something, say something, to knock that starry-eyed look off her face. Just like he’d done that afternoon after she’d stepped forward and provided an alibi for him when the sheriff thought Justin was somehow responsible for the fire that destroyed the Dillon family home.