Jacked Up (Bowen Boys #4)(17)

That did it. She wasn’t going to take any more of that shit. “We agreed? In what frigging universe did that happen? I agreed to nothing! You just ordered me around and expected me to comply. I told you I don’t do shit on command!” she yelled at him, going up on her tiptoes and jabbing at his chest with her finger.

“Shut it and listen to me,” Jack ordered menacingly, but she was too far gone to stop now.

“No way in hell! We agreed? Ha! That’s so rich. As if I had a chance to get a word in. You’ve done nothing but shoot orders at me and now you think you can come to my work and start bullying me? Well, let me tell you, mister, I won’t—”

“Quiet, pet,” he interrupted her, the cords at either side of his neck standing out. The guy looked bigger and scarier by the second, but she didn’t let it intimidate her.

“Oh, and newsflash, buddy! There are a million places I’d rather be too, hell included, than with you. I’m sorry being stuck with me is such a burden, that you find me so repulsive and unbearable that you can’t stand being around me, but don’t worry. I liberate you from it! Beat it and don’t let the door hit your ass on your—”

Suddenly Jack cupped her neck and brought her to him, pressing their lips together.

Surprised, Elle froze. God, for such a hard man, he had soft lips.

“Finally,” he said after releasing her mouth.

Then it dawned on her. Talk about adding insult to injury. “You kissed me to shut me up? How dare you—”

But she couldn’t continue because he took her mouth again, and this time he didn’t just press his lips against hers. This time he forced his way in, kissing her deep and hard. Thoroughly. His stubble rubbing her skin. And suddenly she wasn’t clutching his arms trying to get him off but holding on to him for dear life.

His speech skills were limited, true, but when it came to kissing, he sure knew what to do with his mouth.

When he released her, she was dazzled and her lips felt puffy and on fire. He was so close that she could feel his breath on her, cooling her. His ice-blue eyes were ablaze.

They stayed silent for a long second, their harsh breathing the only thing she could hear even though they were in a packed airport.

“You drive me insane,” he growled, his voice gravelly, his gaze never leaving hers.

“Same here, buddy. And so you know, I’m not okay with you kissing me to shut me up.”

“Tough shit. Try to be less annoying and don’t fight me. Talk less and listen more.”

Man, he needed manners. If she went on a rant, he would kiss her again, which she wasn’t too much against, but it would defeat the purpose.

“We need to leave, pet. You’re going into your supervisor’s office and putting in for holiday time. Now.” His tone brooked no argument, yet it wasn’t as cut-and-dried as before.

“Do you have a clue how notoriously understaffed airlines are? I need to file dozens of forms to ask for personal days, let alone a vacation.”

“Get family leave. You need a family crisis for that. I say this constitute a crisis.”

She looked at him. Yes, he did constitute a crisis. A major one. “I can’t leave right now. I need to wait for the * who put a restraining order on me.”

The corner of his mouth tilted in a rare half smile that was gone in an instant. “What did you do? E-mail him to death too? Cyberstalk him with inconsequential e-mails?”

How sweet. He knew how to crack a joke. “Nope. I reserve that rare honor for you. And those e-mails were not inconsequential,” she found herself blurting out, her voice barely there as she finished the sentence.

He didn’t answer, his eyes like laser beams going through her.

“Getting time off is not a good idea. If I drop all the stuff I normally do, people around me will notice there’s something wrong.” Not to mention she would go ballistic if she wasn’t busy. She would never be able to sleep again. “And not only that, but how the hell are we going to explain your presence? What are we going to tell the Bowens?”

She didn’t want them involved in any manner. James and Max had two small babies. Christy was pregnant. Their hands were full without having to worry about her or babysit her. And they would the instant they found out about the whole Maldonado situation.

“I’ll tell them we hooked up.”

The absurdity of that statement made her burst into laughter. “And who would believe that?”

“Does it look like I can’t play the part?” he asked, pressing her flush against him.

Well, if that hard thing poking from below his waist was anything to go by, then no, he had no problem playing the part. But that was beside the point.

She couldn’t deny Jack pushed all her buttons, getting her hot and bothered with just a look. The problem was, whenever she was around him she felt trapped between wanting to kiss him and wanting to beat the shit out of him.

And she’d given up on bad boys.

“What about me being repulsive and unbearable? A burden?”

“’Repulsive and unbearable’ were your words, not mine, pet. And you are a burden, but not in the sense you think.”

“What do you mean?” A burden was a burden; no two ways about it.

He shook his head, looking pissed off again, and put space between them. “Forget it.”