Until We Touch (Fool's Gold #15)(53)

She reached for a chip. “I met Shelby Gilmore today.”

Jack looked confused. “Should I know the name?”

“She’s Kipling Gilmore’s sister.”

“The skier.”

“The Olympic gold medalist.” She tilted her head and grinned. “So in the superstar athlete hierarchy, does a Super Bowl ring trump an Olympic gold medal? I’m thinking not.”

“Your support is so heartening.”

“But it’s true. Kipling got those two gold medals on his own. You got your ring from being part of a team. And didn’t Sam kick the winning field goal?”

“Making me practically the water boy?” Jack asked dryly.

“Something like that.”

“Again, I revel in your awe of me.”

“It’s not about me,” she said, digging her fork into the beans. “It’s a town thing. I mean we have you and Raoul and Josh Golden. What if Kipling moves here? You guys can start a club. Once-famous athletes. OFA. You could have matching jackets and a secret handshake.”

“Or I could find a new masseuse.”

She chewed and swallowed the beans. “Cheap talk. You would be lost without me and you know it. I’m the one who keeps your fascia happy. And happy fasciae mean a happy body.”

“Truer words,” he murmured, then took a bite.

The banter continued. Larissa took comfort in the fact that even if Jack wasn’t hot for her body, he was still her friend. Which made him a nice guy. Which meant being in love with him made even more sense. He was sexy, he was smart and he was kind. How could anyone resist him?

She sighed. At this rate, she was never going to get over him. She needed a new plan. Maybe she would talk to Taryn in the morning and get her input on ways to seduce Jack.

They finished dinner and settled on the sofa to watch a movie. Dyna curled up between them and did a quick wash before falling asleep. At nearly eleven, Larissa walked Jack to the door.

Had she been trying to do anything else but sleep with him, she would have told him he was a blind moron not to see what was right in front of him. But given the subject matter, she wasn’t feeling that brave. So when he pulled her close and hugged her, she wasn’t expecting anything more than a quick squeeze from a friend.

Only Jack didn’t let go. Not for the longest time and when he did, his expression was both intense and almost angry.

“Larissa,” he said, then stopped.

She stared into his dark eyes and tried to figure out what was wrong. Was it his shoulder? His knees? Did he want to talk to her about—

“Ah, hell,” he growled right before he grabbed her upper arms and kissed her.

Nothing about the contact was gentle or sweet or tentative. He pressed his mouth against her hungrily, as if he needed everything she had. The pressure aroused her quickly and left her straining toward him. Except at the same time his lips claimed hers, his arms held her away from his body.

She thought about struggling; only before she could figure out a way to break his grip on her, he touched her lower lip with his tongue and nothing else mattered. She parted for him. When he swept inside, she felt the tingles from the top of her head down to her toes. It was erotic electric shock therapy, with the result of full-body quivering and mind-emptying pleasure.

She met him stroke for stroke and lost herself in the feel of his deep kiss. Once again she struggled to get closer, but he held her firmly away from him. As if he wanted to make sure there was no other contact. Which made no sense. Not that she was going to think about it now, she thought.

Her body began to melt. Need pulsed and grew until she thought she might have to whimper. If he hadn’t been holding her, she probably would have fallen right there.

He released her and she instinctively leaned against him. Their bodies touched everywhere. Chest to breast, thigh to thigh, erection to—

Erection?

The physical proof of his desire made her wrap her arms around him and start to laugh. Finally! They were going to do this. She would have glorious nights in Jack’s bed, pleasing him and being pleased. She could lose herself in him.

In the back of her mind, a voice whispered there was supposed to be a plan. A reason that making love with him was a good idea, beyond how it would make her feel. But the voice was small and easily ignored.

Jack stared at her. “You’re laughing.”

“I know.”

“This isn’t going to happen, Larissa.”

“Why not? We both want it to.”

He shook his head and untangled her arms. “There are a thousand reasons and you know every one of them.”

And with that cryptic statement, he was gone.

* * *

JACK HAD SPENT a lot of bad nights in his life. There had been all the times he’d worried about Lucas surviving to see another day. The emptiness after his twin had died. The confusion and hurt when his parents had left.

In college he’d gone through nights of physical pain from the game, the occasional tossing and turning because of how a relationship had gone and when Taryn had lost the baby, he’d spent hundreds of hours wondering how things would have been different if she hadn’t.

But he couldn’t remember the last time he’d stared at the ceiling because of a damn hard-on for a woman he couldn’t have.

Time had passed too slowly and he’d been up and in the shower by five. There wasn’t a basketball game that morning, which put him in his suit and subsequently his office long before six.