Chapter Twenty-Six
Lauren’s warm, sweaty body stuck to the hard length of Jack’s side. Their legs tangled together, their breathing heavy. It hadn’t taken much for Jack to get her naked and in his kingsize bed.
After he’d backed her into her office and taken her up against the wall, he’d bundled her into his car and headed for his house. She’d tried unconvincingly to tell him that she couldn’t just shut up shop; she had a business to run. But he ignored her feeble excuses, pushed her out the door, and had her purring like his luxury sports car in record time.
She knew she should have stopped him. Had convinced herself it wouldn’t happen again. But she justified her lack of self-control by telling herself she’d needed this one last day with him before she moved on. Her heart pounded and filled with emotions she needed to shut down before she dived into them and drowned. She reached for her locket, a strong reminder of the consequences if she invested her heart completely.
Touching her fingers, Jack stopped her fidgeting and held the locket in his hand. The tarnished silver, in his palm, looked small and delicate. “I’ve never seen you without this, and I don’t know if you realize it, but you constantly touch it. Especially when you’re uncomfortable or you have something on your mind.” He dropped the locket and cupped her face in his hands.
“I know you’re not feeling uncomfortable.” His heated gaze slid down her exposed, naked body. “So I’m guessing you’ve got something on your mind, and judging by the seriousness on your face, you’re not thinking about the pornographic things you still want to do to me.”
Lauren chuckled, trying to laugh at his joke, but she failed miserably. Jack tilted her face up toward him, and his eyes bore into hers, willing her to open up to him.
“This locket is a cheap piece of jewelry I found at a seaside market. It’s what’s inside that’s priceless.” Her voice wavered. “It holds a lock of Abby’s hair.” Jack pulled her in closer and kissed her forehead.
“It’s a reminder of how much I’ve lost. After losing Abby I needed something tangible, something I could see and touch to keep me from falling into the same trap.” Feeling Jack stiffen, she glanced up at him and gasped with surprise at the fierce frown on his face.
“And you still think I’m a trap?”
She shook her head. “No, but we both know it’s not forever.” He opened his mouth to speak, but she cut in before he could say something he didn’t really mean but thought that she wanted to hear. “It’s okay. It is what it is. You’ve been exactly what I needed to open my eyes and start living again.” She kissed the side of his jaw. “Thank you.”
He untangled himself and rose from the bed. Although the room was balmy, she shivered from the absence of his body heat.
Jack shoved his legs into a pair of black boxer briefs, turned to face her, and dug his hands on his hips. “Did you justthankme?”
“Yes?” Her voice rose on the word like a question.
“You’re thanking me for releasing you from theMr. Prettytrap? So now that you’recuredyou’re open to relationships with men who happen to be successful and-or good-looking?”
She hadn’t exactly put it that way. He wasn’t the commitment kind of guy. Shouldn’t he be happy she wasn’t expecting more?
“No, don’t answer that. I don’t want to know.” He picked up his discarded jeans she’d had the pleasure of removing earlier and tugged them on. Opening a drawer, he pulled out a clean black t-shirt and pulled it on.
Lauren rose from the bed, wrapped the sheet around her body, and scanned the room for her clothes. It looked like her time with Jack was truly over. Her heart sank to the pit of her stomach. This was what she wanted. She only wished it didn’t have to end on bad terms.
She put her clothes on and searched for her shoes. Jack picked them up from under the bed and handed them to her, his shuttered expression unreadable. A lump formed in her throat and threatened to suffocate her.
“Jack…” Her voice cracked on his name. She couldn’t find the words to say goodbye. “Let’s go.”
* * * *
Pulling into the parking lot behind Lauren’s building, Jack parked next to her car. Her tires had been slashed, and spray painted on the bonnet was the wordslut.
A bunch of colorful profanity spewed from Jack’s mouth as he stormed out of his car, slamming the door behind him. Wanting to get a closer look, Lauren hurried out and joined Jack.
His phone was pressed to his ear as he spoke with the police.
Circling the car, she took in the damage. The Toyota Corolla wasn’t anything fancy, but
she took pride in looking after it.
Lifting a hand to shade her eyes against the sun, she scanned the parking lot, not really sure what she was searching for, but the small parking area reserved for her and Jaime’s cars was empty.
Someone had come to her place of work and vandalized her car. An icy shiver traveled up her spine. “Who would do this to my car?”
Jack ended his call and put the phone in his pocket. “There’s a police officer in the area.
They’ll be here soon.”
