Lucky Stars (Ghosts and Reincarnation #5)(21)

“Why not?” Jack asked.

“Because she, whoever she is, will know I’m with you.”

“And?” Belle felt her eyes grow wide at that question, thinking the “and” was obvious but Jack kept talking. “Belle, people are going to know, very soon.”

“They’re going to think –” Belle started but Jack cut her off with a squeeze of his arms.

“I don’t give a f**k what they think.”

“Well, I do,” Belle told him.

“You shouldn’t.”

He was right. She shouldn’t.

Perhaps there was still some Old Belle hanging around.

“I know,” she admitted softly. “I still do.”

He studied her face and then he sighed.

Belle instinctively felt she’d forged an advantage so she took it.

“Can we please have a little time?” she asked quietly. “Just for, you know, ourselves?”

She watched his face grow soft before he replied, “Of course,” and Belle relaxed on top of him for half a second before he spoke again. “I’ll go get your things.”

She went solid in horror before declaring, “You can’t get my stuff.”

His mouth did that twitching thing again before he asked, “Why not?”

She had no ready answer. She just didn’t like the idea of Jack gathering her stuff, of which there was a lot. She was very girlie. There were tons of bottles and tubs and things.

He might think she was high maintenance.

She didn’t want him to think she was high maintenance (even though she was).

And worse, what if he missed something?

“You just can’t,” she returned.

This, bizarrely, made him start chuckling. She felt the sound in her belly and the feeling had nothing to do with his body shaking with laughter beneath hers.

“Poppet,” he said. “If you don’t like the idea of people knowing about us yet then I don’t like the idea of you roaming the halls in the morning looking like you’ve been thoroughly f**ked.”

Belle gasped and her hand flew to her hair.

Was that what she looked like?

What did that even look like?

Oh goodness gracious! Her mind breathed in horror.

“It’s a good look,” Jack went on, his eyes smiling again as he watched her face. “But it’s my look. I gave it to you. I’m the only one who gets to see it.”

He had a point.

And what he said made her feel all warm and squishy inside.

She still didn’t want him to go get her stuff.

Belle looked to his bedside table and saw it was early. The party undoubtedly went late. Belle knew a bunch of people were spending the night (they had, like, a gazillion bedrooms). Still, she couldn’t imagine anyone was up yet. Belle was an early riser. By his instantly alert behaviour, she could tell Jack was too.

She looked back at Jack. “It’s early. No one will be up yet. I’ll hurry.”

“Belle –” Jack started to protest.

She broke in, “I promise, I’ll be really fast.”

“I’d prefer –” he began again but Belle leaned closer to him.

“Please, Jack. I’ll be quick.” When he seemed unrelenting, she got even closer and repeated, “Please?”

At her plea, he lifted a hand to the side of her face, his thumb moving to slide along her cheekbone and she knew she’d won.

Therefore, she smiled.

His eyes dropped to her mouth right before he smiled back.

At the sight, she knew she’d been wrong.

The smile in his eyes that didn’t reach his mouth wasn’t the most beautiful thing she ever beheld.

His returning her smile while giving into her crazy, neurotic wishes was.

“All right,” he muttered and she couldn’t help it (and didn’t try), she got even closer and brushed his mouth with her own before starting to push away but his arms tightened. He brought her back so she was crushed to him.

Then his hand sifted into her hair at the back of her head and he put pressure there until her mouth was on his. Then he gave her an open-mouthed kiss that was hot and wet and sweet and very, very long. So long, he curved her body around so she was on the bottom again, her arms wrapped around him and he was on top.

When his head lifted, she was in a daze. Not only her spine and scalp were tingling but other places where tingling besides and she forgot all about going to her room.

“Hurry,” he muttered his demand in a growl against her mouth, her desire (now significantly muted) to get her things came back to her and she nodded.

She scooted out from under him and got out of bed all of a sudden distressingly mindful of her nudity. She grabbed the first thing she could find which was his shirt. It was still partially buttoned so she quickly pulled it over her head and shoved her arms through. She then snatched up her panties and, back to him, slid them on under the voluminous folds of his shirt.

Her eyes went to the bed and as she feared, he was up on an elbow. The sheets were down to his waist. His broad, hard-muscled chest was on display. His chest was one of the myriad things she liked most about him. In fact, he had a great body which he did, indeed, have entirely at his command, in very delicious ways.

His gaze was on her.

She felt heat in her cheeks and she dashed to nab her dress and shoes.