The Billionaire's Temporary Bride (Scandal, Inc #3)(63)

He was surprised, and he was excited. She had caught him off guard, she could tell. That flicker in his eyes, that need, that was the real Jack. That was the man who was allowing himself to fall for her, the one who snuck glances at her when he thought she wasn't looking, the one who whispered her name in his sleep.

She wanted him too. She needed him, and she didn't want to settle for glances or slipped whispers, she wanted all of him, all the time. Maybe Jack was afraid to say he loved her, maybe he couldn't find the words, but the look in those blue eyes told Charlotte everything she needed to know.

As he looked at her, she felt sexy. She felt bold. She reached out and placed her hand on his hip, pulling herself against him. She wanted him. She ran her hand over his chest. She wrapped her legs around his waist and kissed him. His lips were so wonderfully smooth, and within a second, Jack had his arms around her and had slipped his tongue against hers. Charlotte closed her eyes as the warm thrill of Jack's embrace coursed through her.


"This is a pleasant surprise," he said between kisses. "I thought I'd have to bribe you to get you into the water."

"No," Charlotte said. She nibbled at his bottom lip and felt her joints weaken as Jack returned the favor. "Though I wouldn't be opposed to a little bribery."

Jack grinned. "You've already beaten me to my first offer."

"Think of another," Charlotte said.

"To keep you here?" He kissed her neck, and Charlotte felt another rush of desire. Jack slid his finger beneath her bra strap. "Have you ever been skinny dipping?"

Charlotte bit her lip and shook her head. "Is that an offer?"

"Maybe," Jack said. He slid the straps off her shoulders and reached for the clasp.

Charlotte felt short of breath as she waited for his next move.

"If you'd like. Of course, I'll need your help too."

Charlotte raised an eyebrow. "I don't know. I'm so terribly inexperienced at it. You'd have to lead me through each and every step."

She kissed him again, and Jack unclasped her bra. She felt it fall away, and suddenly she felt the thrill of her bare chest against his. She tapped the middle of his back.

"Unfortunately," Charlotte said, "you don't have a bra for me to remove."

Jack slid his hands over her hips. "Then you can move on to this step," he said.

Charlotte's heart raced as he pulled her panties down over her thighs and she felt the water against her sensitive skin.

Charlotte hooked her fingers under the waistband of Jack's bathing suit. With a quick pull, she had him naked too. She placed her hands on his naked hips and smiled.

"Now we're even," she said.

Jack kissed her collarbone and her sternum, cupping her breasts on either side of his face. With each press of his lips, warmth rushed through her chest. When Jack went lower, kissing her stomach, she shivered with excitement. Since he was fully submerged, she let herself gasp in excitement. As he moved lower, she pulled herself away. He surfaced a moment later.

"Did I do something wrong?" he asked.

"You have to breathe," she said.

"Don't worry, I won't forget," he said.

He slid back beneath the water and kissed her again. This time, Charlotte shouted and trembled in delight. Jack held one hand firm against her hip as he worked the other up and down her torso, sweeping his fingers against her stomach and cupping her breasts. Charlotte gasped in delight as Jack worked his tongue against her. She ran her fingers through his hair. Her cheeks and her chest flushed with excitement. When he surfaced again, Charlotte grabbed his arm and nodded toward the bedroom.

"Are you saying you're done with skinny dipping?" Jack asked.

"For now," Charlotte said. "There's something I'd like to show you inside."

Half a minute later, they found themselves in the bedroom, tumbling into bed, doing exactly what honeymooners are meant to do.

The scent of the tropical air and the sound of the birds just outside the windows of the bedroom made Charlotte feel like there was nothing more natural than the feeling of Jack's body sliding against hers as she wrapped her legs around his sides and felt the muscles of his ribs flex with every movement inside of her. She felt beautiful, and wanted, and, as she lay there in his arms, she felt loved. Even if Jack didn't say it, she felt it, warm and bright as the tropical sun.

They lay there in bed for a long while, just listening to the waves crash against the cliffside below. Charlotte leaned her head against Jack's bare chest and listened to his heart beat as he ran his fingers through her hair.

"I have another gift for you," he said. "And I don't mean sex. I mean I have something I got for you before the wedding."

"I can only look through one set of binoculars at a time," Charlotte joked. "Seriously though, Jack, you shouldn't have. This is too much already. I feel like I'm living in a dream."

"I think you're going to like this one."

"You've already spent so much on the wedding and this vacation, and I don't have anything for you." Charlotte felt like a broken record.

"How about this, if you think it's too much, I'll return them."

"Them?" Charlotte asked.

"A matching set," he replied.