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“Dreams don’t come true by themselves, Lili, you’ve got to work at them. You think I wasn’t scared to go to Paris, to open my first restaurant, to jump into a new venture? You have to take what’s rightfully yours and the first step is acknowledging your needs.”
How had she ever thought Jack Kilroy was just a charming rogue with depths as shallow as shoreline pools? With that all-knowing gaze and terrifying confidence, he had a way of wrong-footing and challenging her that had her seriously wondering if she could keep up with him.
“Luckily, I have you on hand to fulfill all my needs,” she said, infusing her voice with a healthy dose of sultry. It was a cheap play but she wasn’t above a little manipulation of her own. She was just getting accustomed to how much power she wielded over him.
He frowned in response. Damn.
She squirmed in his lap. He hitched a querulous eyebrow. Double damn.
“Stop pushing, Jack.” She made to get up, but he held her fast in his sure grip, a place where she usually felt only safety. Now she felt pressure to perform, to live up to Jack’s expectations of balls-out passion. To say his faith in her potential touched her was an understatement but she wasn’t ready to throttle up to Jack’s speed and grab the wheel. Mute with emotions she couldn’t name, her throat sealed up.
“Sweetheart, I don’t like when you go all quiet. I prefer it when you’re shouting at me and telling me what a dick I am. At least then, I feel like we’re communicating. You spend far too much time inside your head.”
“No, I don’t,” she protested feebly.
“Yes, you do. And you’re not one for visitors. Talk to me.”
She wanted to be honest with him because his amazing forthrightness deserved that respect. Those eyes filled with a heaping spoonful of compassion and intelligence made it, not exactly easy, but a touch less difficult.
“Jack, these last few weeks have been some of the hardest and most humiliating of my life.”
His face fell. “Lili, love, I know it’s been rough for you and I’m not the easiest person—”
She stopped him with a touch of her fingers to his sensuous lips. “But they’ve also been the hottest and most exciting. I’m loving this time with you, but Madre de Dio, could we just take it slow?”
“I’m not so good with slow,” he said. “Except where it counts.”
Yes, Jack knew how to take it slow when it suited him, and she gladly reaped the benefits of his consummately torturous skills between the sheets.
“We’re not finished with this conversation.” He hadn’t gotten his way, but he was being magnanimous about it. His lips curved up in that killer smile and all the tension uncoiled from his body, except for a lovely, gratifying pressure against her butt. Her reward for winning this round.
“So what’s on the menu for today?” she asked, relieved to have escaped a brewing argument.
“Milk-braised pork shoulder with garlic mashed potatoes,” he said, laying shivery kisses along her collar bone. “Spring peas with lardons and mint.” Kiss. “Portabella stuffed with apple chutney.” Kiss. Moan. That last one was her.
“Stop, you’re turning me on.”
He nuzzled her neck. “I know, you’re so easy. As my official taster, I insist you stop by later to give me your approval. What’ll you be up to?”
“Yoga class, sex, staff schedules, paperwork, sex, more paperwork...” She grinned. “I thought I’d take Jules shopping. Hit some of my favorite vintage stores.”
“I really appreciate you making the effort with her. She needs a friend right now.” His body drew taut once more. “Will Tad be sniffing around as usual?”
“He can’t help having a little crush. The Kilroy gene pool is irresistible.”
Her light tone made no impact on his dark expression. Whenever Jack visited Jules at Lili’s parents’ house, invariably he would find Tad had got there before him. He hated the idea that Jules might be confiding in a guy she barely knew instead of the brother who had her best interests in heart.
“Your cousin better not take advantage,” he said gruffly. “She’s vulnerable right now.”
Lili could see how off balance Jules was and was trying to get to know her, even so far as gifting her a couple of pregnancy books but she barely glanced at the covers. Her lackadaisical attitude to the most momentous thing to ever happen to her worried Jack. The contrast between the siblings was startling. Jack was so open and emotional compared to his closed-off sister.
“Something, or someone, happened to her in London,” Jack went on, his frustration plain. “I’m not sure why she’s here if she won’t talk to me about it.”
“Give her time. She’ll get there.” Patience was the least of Jack’s virtues and his propensity to think everything could be fixed, usually with sheer Kilroy will, had put his relationship with Jules into a curious holding pattern. Jules stubbornly resisted and refused to be specific about her needs; Jack got frustrated and pushed, and the cycle started all over again.
She nibbled on his ear to ease the strain in his rigid body. It was one of the areas she’d committed to memory as a Jack weak spot, and that, combined with a butt wriggle, got the response she required.
“Lili.” Low. Lusty. Then, “Evil woman.”
