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“You’ve already done that,” he reminded her. “Why don’t you mix it up this time?”
“So, what? Just say whatever pops into my head?” Her expression was a combination of wariness and amusement, suggesting that she thought he was losing his marbles a little bit. Hell, considering how badly the unnamed force in his head pushed at him to keep her attention right now, he probably freaking was.
Not that it was going to stop him.
“Go for it,” Jackson drawled, dishing up a smirk to provoke her. “Anything you want.”
Carly tipped her head at him, the warmth in her eyes turning fierce. “Tu sei l’uomo più bello che abbia mai visto.”
The sexy velvet of her voice wrapped around each intonation, and even though he had no idea what she was saying, every last one of Jackson’s nerve endings smoldered at the sound of the words.
“Anything else?” he asked, the low tone of his voice shocking him. He knew he should take a step back, that daring her like this was going to lead to trouble and he should stop. But then her lips parted, and the words that rolled out seemed to pulse through his blood with each hypnotic inflection.
“Amo il modo in cui mi guardi. Mi fa sentire bella.”
Jackson’s eyes flared, and he closed the space between them without realizing he’d done it. “Are you going to tell me what any of it means?”
“No.” The single syllable fell from Carly’s lips on little more than a throaty sigh, but she raised her chin in a defiant lift, turning her back on the counter to face him.
Christ, the heat coming off of her was incredible, and all he could think wasmore. He reached down and caught one of the strands of hair tumbling over her shoulder, sliding his fingers all the way down to the ends before tucking it back behind her ear. “No?”
“It was nothing, really,” Carly breathed. “Mostly gibberish.”
“Mmm.” His fingers brushed her cheekbone, and he stared down at her, not giving an inch. “Say it again.”
Her eyes dropped to his lips, but she didn’t hesitate with her words.
“Tu sei l’uomo più bello—”
Jackson captured her words mid-sentence, his mouth brushing hers in a hot, unyielding stroke as her lips parted over a sigh. His fingers tightened in her hair before he moved his palm to cup her face. The kiss was like a low fire, begging to be stoked, and Jackson obliged on nothing but impulse.
His tongue swept over Carly’s bottom lip, testing and teasing as he deepened the kiss. Her mouth vibrated against his as she released another small sigh, and it tore through him like an avalanche, prompting his hands up into the thick fall of her hair. With a demanding stroke of his tongue, Jackson searched her mouth with even more intensity, kissing her harder, then harder still, until…
A loud tap on the glass of the back door made the two of them fly apart as if they’d both been scorched.
“Oh!” Carly crossed one arm tightly over her chest and covered her mouth with her opposite palm, staring up at him with wide, holy-hell eyes. Micah, who Jackson had totally forgotten was on his way with the jackhammer, stood with his hands in his pockets outside the sliding glass door. Although his vantage point had been somewhat blocked by the new drop-off created by the missing deck, the uncomfortable way he stuffed his hands in his pockets and refused to look through the glass told Jackson all he needed to know.
Micah had seen everything.
“Carly, listen, I’m really sorry. I don’t—”
“It’s okay, really.” Her raspy voice was suddenly level and cool. She inhaled a slow breath, and the swell of her breasts beneath the pink cotton of her T-shirt did nothing to improve the how-you-doin’ status of Jackson’s hard-on.
She continued. “I think it’s probably for the best if we agree to forget that that happened.”
Not fucking likely!His inner voice snapped to life, but his rational side countered fast. There was no denying that it hadn’t been a run of the mill kiss. Okay, fine, it had come within inches of being a life-altering experience. But wasn’t that all the more reason he should forget about it?
A woman like Carly couldn’t be good for him if he wasn’t interested in anything serious, because everything about her wasseriouslyaddicting. Walking away wasn’t just a good idea.
It was absolutely necessary. For both of them.
Jackson cleared his throat and ran a hand over his barely-there crew cut. “Okay, sure. But I really am sorry.”
“Not at all.” Carly replied quietly. “So, we’re good?”
“You bet.”
Jackson tasted the lie for the rest of the day.
