She wrinkled that dainty nose of hers. "You should really think about hiring a housekeeping service."
I chortled and kept stretching. "That's a bit pricey for me."
She rolled her eyes. "Oh, please. You know what's priceless? Having time to spend with your family and your friends. Running a small business is no joke, Abby. You're spreading yourself too thin. Hire help for home. Take off some of that burden."
Was she right? Would spending a little more money each month ease up the stress and time crunch I constantly felt?
A loud clap startled me. I glanced toward the front of the room where Jack and Finn now stood. They had entered while we were chatting and had completely bypassed us. Taken aback by the way Jack had gone out of his way to avoid me, I frowned and wondered what the hell that meant.
"All right, ladies. Let's get started." Jack began the class with his usual review of our previous meeting, a short lecture and demonstration of the new technique he was teaching. Once we had watched him perform the maneuver with Finn, Jack had us pair up and practice.
Bee and I squared off with each other. She had the worst form imaginable. I mean—it was shocking how badly coordinated the poor woman was! Normally, Jack stopped by to correct her but not tonight. He stayed near the front of the class and did everything possible to ignore us.
Finally, Finn stepped in and saved me from taking Bee's knee to the face by grasping her waist and tugging her back at the last second. "Whoa, killer! Watch it with that knee. You almost bruised one of my favorite girls."
"One of, huh?" Bee asked with a laugh. "Sounds like you have quite a long list."
"What can I say? I never forget a beautiful face." He winked and then stepped behind me. "You need to adjust your stance. You're off-balance, Abby."
"Oh!" I issued a soft gasp when Finn grasped my hips, his long fingers spanning my waist, and adjusted my positioning. His well-defined chest pressed to my back as he clasped my wrist and showed me a blocking move. The scent of him, the pleasing notes of chamomile and cedar, filled my nose.
"See?" He made sure to stay close to me—so close it was almost inappropriate—for a drawn out moment. When he finally stepped back, he flicked one of my earrings. "You shouldn't be wearing these hoops, sweetheart. It's dangerous." His amused gaze landed on Bee. "Especially when Miss Mayhem is your partner."
"Ass!" Bee playfully punched his arm, drawing an exaggerated ow from his mouth.
"Remind me to add a five dollar fine to your account."
"For what?" she demanded.
"Oh, it's a new policy. Mattie suggested it to me, and I ran with it this morning. If we hear you cuss, you owe the gym five bucks."
"For reals?" Bee asked, eyes narrowed.
"There's a sign at the front door. The new policy is right there in big, bright letters." Grinning, he left us to continue practicing. "Work on that block, Abby."
Bee and I continued battling each other, but I couldn't stop thinking about the way Jack was basically pretending I didn't exist. I wasn't stupid. I knew exactly what Finn had been doing. He was trying to make Jack jealous—but why?
A strange sensation crept up my spine, invaded my chest and squeezed my heart. For all of Jack's beautiful words and sweetness toward me, he hadn't yet taken me anywhere. Since that explosive kiss in my kitchen, we had spent both nights since at my house. Sure, he had been publicly affectionate with me at my shop, but why wasn't he reciprocating here at his place of business?
Was that what this cold shoulder tonight meant? Was I going to be his secret? Was there something about dating me that made him nervous or uncomfortable? I didn't want to think it was that but anything was possible.
Or was it something else? Was he worried that if his large female clientele learned he was off the market they would go elsewhere? Was he ignoring me and making me feel this way because of his bottom dollar?
I didn't want to believe anything like that was true, but as the class continued, I couldn't dismiss what was right in front of me. Although Jack wasn't openly flirting with the other women, he was all smiles and laughs. I tried not to be hypersensitive about it but I couldn't stop myself. Self-doubt welled up inside me until every single pore in my body was saturated.
Bee turned her back on me so we could practice an evasive move, one that required me to put my arms around her. Going through the motions, I fixed my gaze on Jack and the skimpily dressed nurse he was helping. With those tiny shorts and too-tight tank top, she looked like she would fit in on one of Besian's stages. She rubbed against Jack in the most suggestive way, her high, round bottom brushing against the front of his shorts, and smiled up at him with fluttering eyelashes.
The shock of what I witnessed overrode my common sense, and I lost my grip on Bee. She had been expecting more resistance from me and threw back her elbow too hard. I didn't stand a chance at blocking it. The pointy end of her bony little arm slammed right into my cheek and tossed me to the floor.
"Oh my God! Oh my God! Abby!" Bee shrieked like a panicked banshee and practically fell on top of me. "Are you okay? Are you bleeding? I'm so sorry! Shit. Shit!"
"Move, Bee." Jack's deep, calm voice cut through Bee's hysterics.
Blinking and wincing, I tried to sit up, but Jack's huge hands gently pressed on my shoulders. "Stay down, Abby. Let me look at you."
Anger surged through me. "Oh, now you want to look at me?"
He sat back on his heels, his eyes widening slightly. "There's no need for drama, Abby. Now let me see your cheek."
I smacked away his hand. "I don’t need your help. I'm fine."
His jaw tightened. "Fine." He rose to his full height. "Finn, get her an ice pack and put her in the office."
For some reason, the way he so easily issued orders just pissed me off even more. I shrugged off Finn's helping hand and climbed to my feet. Though I had been dazed by Bee's unexpected blow, I was no longer dizzy. In fact, I was so irritated and upset that I didn't even feel much pain. Adrenaline and fury fueled my steps.
Bee rushed after me, following me to the women's locker room. "I'm so sorry, Abby. Let me take you to the emergency room. You probably need to have that checked out."
"I'm fine." I didn't want to tell her that my mother had hit me way harder than that as a child. Not wanting her to be wracked with guilt, I stopped packing my bag and gave her a hug. "I really am okay, Bee. It was an accident. I'll probably bruise, but it's okay."
"It's not okay." She looked like she was about to cry. "You're the second person I've hurt in this class. That's it." She slashed her hand through the air. "I'm done with this self-defense crap."
"Bee, this one was my fault. I wasn't paying attention. I was distracted."
"By that skank rubbing her ass all over Jack?" She easily guessed the cause. Knowing it had been that obvious hurt me even more. If Bee had seen the way that went down, everyone else had too. No one would ever believe that I had a thing going with Jack.
Well. That I used to have a thing with Jack.
"It doesn't matter. Obviously, I was wrong about us. I thought…well…it doesn't really matter what I thought." Because he's just like all the rest of them.
"If he does you dirty like this, he's a rotten bastard."
I smiled sadly. "Now you owe ten bucks."
She snorted softly and rubbed my arm. "I'll pay a thousand times that if meant that you wouldn't get hurt."
"Too late," I murmured. "I already am."
Bee blinked rapidly, her eyes shimmering for me. God, but she was the sweetest soul I had ever met. Was her empathy heightened because she had recently gone through something similar with Kelly? Did she remember only too vividly how awful it felt to realize the man you were head-over-heels for wasn’t as perfect as you had imagined?
"Let me take you home. You shouldn't drive after I nearly knocked you out."
"I'm driving to the shop to finish up the inventory audit." I made that last minute decision because I didn't think I could handle being alone in the hous
e where Jack had made me feel so good only a short time ago. "It's a few blocks. I can handle it."
"If you're sure…"
"I'm sure."
"Okay." She gave me a quick hug. "Call me when you have a chance. We'll find a time to get together."
"Will do." Grabbing my backpack, I left the locker room and headed for the exit. The self-defense class still had twenty minutes or so left in it. Did Jack even care that I had been hit? Would he even realize I was gone?
Loud, heavy footsteps echoed in the empty gym behind me. I didn't have to turn around to know it was Jack. The prosthesis Finn wore around the gym had a different sound to it when he ran, with one step slightly lighter than the other. These were heavy, racing footfalls, and there was only one other man in the gym at this time of night.
"Where the hell are you going?"
"Home." I kept moving forward, my teary-eyed gaze obscuring my vision. "Away from you."
"What does that mean? Why?"
Aghast at his cluelessness, I spun around to face him. "Are you serious? You just treated me like I was nobody. You didn't even acknowledge my presence in there. You acted like I didn't matter. Are you embarrassed to be with me? Am I your dirty little secret?"
"What? Don't be ridiculous, Abby. I tried to help you after you got hit—"
"After I got hit," I repeated. "It took an elbow to the freaking face for you to even acknowledge my presence!"
"That's not—"
"You know what, Jack?" I held up my hand to stop whatever lame ass excuse he was about to lay on me. "I'm tired. I'm hurting. I'm leaving."
"No, you're not. I'm not letting you walk out of here when—"
"Excuse me?" I had had just about enough for one night. "I don't need your permission to do what I want. I'm a grown woman."
"You aren't acting like one."
Pushed over my limit, I snarled, "Fuck. You."
"Fuck me?" he repeated tightly. "Okay. Fine."
I gasped when Jack swept me up off the ground and tossed me over his shoulder like a damn caveman. My bag fell from my hand and hit the ground with a loud thwap. "What are you—? Put me down!" I smacked his back. "Right now, Jack."
Clamping an arm across my kicking legs, he didn't say a word. He carried me across the gym to the men's locker room, kicked the door closed and locked it behind him. Once we were locked inside, he lowered me to the ground and grabbed the bottom of his T-shirt. He jerked it up and over his head and tossed it aside.
"What are you doing?" I couldn't believe what I was seeing when he toed off his running shoes and peeled out of his socks.
"You wanted to fuck me."
"Are you—?" I blinked when Jack stripped out of his shorts and boxer-briefs. He sported a raging hard-on that pointed right at me. "You're insane! That's not what I meant, and you know it."
"Apparently, I don't know anything, Abby. I thought I was doing the right thing in class, but clearly I messed that up." He backed me up against the door and planted his hands on either side of me. Lowering his face, he peered into my eyes and kept me from running. "You are not a nobody. You are the most special person in the whole wide world to me, Abby Kirkwood."
I gulped. "But you—"
"I messed up. I'm sorry." His forehead touched mine. Our breaths mingled, and I didn't dare speak. I wanted to hear what he had to say. "I knew that I wouldn't be able to give the rest of the class the attention they needed if I got close to you. I can't think when you're close. I'm consumed with you, Abby." His fingertips moved along the bruise forming on my face. "It's dangerous business in there, as you now know."
My eyelids closed when Jack peppered gentle kisses to my aching cheek. Although it would be so easy to forgive him, I wasn't ready yet. "You let that dirty blonde nurse rub her ass all over you."
"I didn't let her do anything. I pulled away as quickly as possible, but I couldn't just drop her on her face, Abby." Concern darkened his green eyes. "How bad does your cheek hurt? Do you think we need to head out to an ER?"
"I've had worse."
His mouth settled into a grim line. "I hate that we have that in common."
"Parents who knocked us around?" He nodded. "It was a long time ago for me, Jack. I hardly even think about her anymore."
"I think about Pop beating the shit out of us every single time I see him."
"Yet he lives in your house—"
"He doesn't live there," Jack hastily corrected. "I tolerate his presence because of Finn. He's got that big, soft heart that makes it impossible for him to turn his back on the old bastard. Once Pop is healed up, he's out of the house and on his own again."
Jack brushed his lips against mine, seeking my forgiveness. "I'm sorry, Abby. I never wanted to hurt you, but I did."
The anguish in his voice was easily discernable. Now that I understood what he had been thinking, it was simple enough to see how it had gone pear-shaped. I flicked my tongue along his lower lip and sucked it between my teeth before biting down just enough to make him hiss. When I released his lip and soothed the nip with my tongue, he issued a throaty groan. "Be up front with me next time, Jack. Tell me what you're thinking."
"I've learned my lesson, Abby. It won't happen again." Tilting his head, he studied my face. "What we have isn't a secret, sweetness. I want to climb up onto the roof right now and tell everyone that you're finally mine. But why did you jump to that conclusion? Why would you think that me giving you some space during class meant that I wanted to hide you?"
I traced the tattoo on his chest that linked together the initials of his brothers with the Marine Corps insignia. "There was this boy in high school…"
"I see," he said as my voice trailed off. "I'm not some stupid boy in high school, Abby. I wouldn't do that to you." He hesitated before asking, "Was it the race thing?"
The humiliation of that awful experience washed over me, the brutal waves of it just as painful and cold. "His parents did not approve, and he sure as hell wasn't ready to challenge them on it. I'm just glad I wised up before I did anything I would regret."
"You know our differences don't matter to me or anyone in my family. It's not an issue for us so you can stop worrying about that right now. All right?"
Glad to have that awkward conversation out of the way, I nodded. "Okay."
He slipped his hands under my shirt and caressed my ribs. "Be honest with me, Abby. Are you dizzy?"
"I really am fine. Bee hits like a girl."
He chuckled and kissed my neck. "She knocked you flat on your perfect, perky ass."
"She got lucky."
"Uh-huh." He nuzzled the curve of my throat and grasped the bottom of my shirt.
When he started to drag it up my belly, I stopped his hand. "Jack?"
"You're the one who issued the invitation."
"That wasn't an invitation. I was telling you off."
"Sounded like an invitation to me," he murmured.
I didn't even try to stop him anymore. My resolve crumbled when his lips traveled along my neck and his hand slipped inside my sports bra. With the speed and efficiency of a determined man, Jack had me stripped naked and barefoot in record time. Grasping the backs of my thighs, he lifted me up and guided my thighs around his waist. The stiff length of him probed my folds but he didn't try to enter me yet.
Claiming my mouth, Jack sneaked a hand between our bodies and played with my clit. He swirled his fingertip over the tiny pearl hidden there, using the lightest bit of pressure to drive me wild. His tongue stabbed against mine, and he tested my entrance.
When he encountered the slick nectar gathering there, he groaned into my mouth. "You have the wettest, hottest pussy, Abby."
Jack's frank remark made my cheeks blaze but he didn't care. He sucked the very tip of my tongue while gliding his middle finger deeper inside me. "Your choice, Abby. My fingers or my cock?"
I wrapped my fingers around his steely shaft and pressed it between my sensitive folds. "Fuck me, Jack. Show me that you want me." I kissed him ha
rd and deep. "Only me."
Gripping my hips, he aligned our bodies and thrust up into me. Head thrown back, I moaned at the wicked invasion. Jack licked a long trail along the curve of my exposed throat and sucked hard on my skin. Goosebumps raced along my flesh, my skin prickling and buzzing as he did such naughty things to me. His teeth raked across the spot he had been tormenting, and my pussy clenched his shaft.
I wound my arms around his broad shoulders and enjoyed the feel of his muscles rippling beneath my fingertips. He displayed his incredible strength as he held me up and pounded into my slick sheath. I tried not to make too much noise—the echo in the locker room was horrendous—but there was no stopping my reaction to him. With one smoldering look, he made me come undone. There was no hesitancy or demure shyness when I was intimate with Jack. He wouldn’t stand for it. I sensed he found my silence something of a dare. He wanted me screaming his name and totally out of control.
As good as Jack felt hammering into me, I couldn't make it over the edge. I stayed right there, so close to an orgasm I was shaking and panting. Proving that he was attuned to my needs, Jack slid an arm around my waist and pulled me away from the door. I clung to his shoulders as he carried me to the nearest long bench, his cock still buried deep inside me, and placed me gently on the metal surface.
Our bodies separated just long enough for him to straddle the bench. Jack slid home again, and I moaned at the incredible feeling of his shaft gliding in and out of me. He grasped my ankles and lifted them to his shoulders, tightening my passage and making it possible for him to go even deeper with every stroke.
Pressing his thumb to my lips, he silently urged me to lick at it. I did exactly what he wanted and then sighed with such pleasure when he started to rub my aching clitoris with the slicked pad of his thumb. I gripped his forearms, my nails biting into his skin, and whispered his name again and again. "Jack. Jack."
"That's it, baby." Showing just easily he could multi-task, Jack pinched my nipple with his other hand. I arched my back and whimpered at the delicious arc of discomfort that zinged right through me. My pussy throbbed now, and I rocked my hips to meet every one of his thrusts. His swirling thumb moved faster, flicking tight circles around my clit.