All Jacked Up (11 page)

“Talk?” She stared at him, confused. “Jack, what’s going on?”

“Give me a minute here, okay?” He set her down only long enough to pull a pair of sweats out of a drawer—his trousers and boxers were still where he’d dropped them in the other room—and yank them on then took her hand and led her into the kitchen.

“Are you going to tell me what this is all about? What do you want to talk about?” She moved away from him. “If it’s bad news just give it to me right now.”

“Not bad. I think.” He stared into the fridge. “Beer?” he asked, his voice shaky. “Or I’ve got wine.”

“Um, beer’s great. I love beer.”

Why did he know she’d say that? Good for Darcy. He opened two bottles, handed her one and nudged her out through the French doors on to the patio.

“Sit here,” he told her, pulling out a chair from the patio table.

He took the chair next to her. Darcy’s skin was still flushed from the orgasm and Jack noticed his hands were not quite steady as he took a long pull from the bottle. When he looked at Darcy she was staring at him.

“Why are we sitting out here?” she asked. “I mean, you’ve got a great yard and I love looking at sunsets but—”

Jack held up his hand. “I know, I know. We get together and a Hellfire missile doesn’t create as much heat. We take the edge off and we’re back burning up the sheets in seconds.”

She laughed, a tinkling sound. “I’d say that’s really well put.”

“So,” he went on, digging for the right words, “the reason we’re not in bed on sweaty sheets.” He rubbed his hand over his face. ”I want to do this right and I’m so scared I’ll screw it up. It’s just… Darcy, when we get naked I can’t think, can’t make my brain work, and I need it to work now.” He drank some more beer.
Smooth
, he kept telling himself.
Don’t just dump it on her. Apologise for being an ass. Work your way into it.

Then he blurted out, “I’ve missed the hell out of you this week. I know I acted like the biggest jerk in the world to you and you have no idea how much I regret it. If you tell me to get lost I will truly understand.” He took one of her hands, lifted it to his mouth and kissed it. “I was so wrong about everything. All of it. When I said we had nothing in common, I mean. You said that it was just sex and that’s what I wanted it to be.”

“Jack,” she began.

He shook his head. “No, let me finish. I talked to my closest friend about it, and he made me see that I was looking at everything all wrong. Looking for the wrong things.” He played with her fingers. “Last Sunday night I went to a barbecue at Mike and Carly’s. They’re friends of mine, probably the closest ones I have. They fixed me up with someone they thought was my perfect woman.”

“You brought me out here to tell me about a
date?”
She tensed and tried to pull away.

Jack tightened his hold on her hand. “No, no, no.” He wanted to bang his head on the table. He was doing this very badly. “See, she was the image I’d spouted all these years. The one everyone accused me of putting my life on hold for. But you know what, Darcy?” He looked at her earnestly. “What a surprise to find out there was nothing there. No sizzle. Barely even polite conversation. All I could think about was you.”

“Me?” she squeaked.

“Uh-huh. Mike pointed out to me that I might possibly have my head screwed on backwards.” He looked off at the sunset. “He said he thinks I’m in love with you.”

“L-love?” She picked up her beer and took a long drink.

Watching her neck muscles flex as she drank almost made him pull her back into the house again.

“Uh-huh.”

“He
thinks
you’re in love with me? Okay, that’s what your friend said. What do
you
say?”

“I say there’s no thinking about it. I
am
in love with you. Finally admitting it felt like a cement truck fell on me, but, Darcy? You’re what I want.” He lifted her hand and kissed the knuckles. “I
love
you, Darcy O’Connor.” He waited. “Darcy, say something. Anything.”

She took a sip of her beer. “I thought we agreed we were all wrong for each other. Not each other’s type. That this was just sex.”

He shook his head. “Maybe that’s what I wanted it to be at first, because to tell you the truth, I think you frightened me. I was so far out of my comfort zone with you. And I wanted people to think…wanted them to think…”

“That you were the guy who could get the girl everyone else wanted?”

He hated the tinge of bitterness in her voice. “Maybe. Okay, yes, at first. But then there she was and I didn’t want her. I wanted
you
. Just you. And people don’t have the kind of sex we do without feeling something strong for each other.” He waited again. “Darcy? What’s going on in that head of yours?”

She studied his face. “I was scared, too, Jack. Really scared. All my life I’ve been the odd-man-out. But I realised today that I don’t want that anymore.” Her lips quirked in a little smile. “Except with you. That’s why I came to find you tonight.”

His heart turned over and did a funny two-step. “You did? It is? Listen, can I tell you that I wanted to rip Terry Milburn’s balls off and stuff them down his throat today? I wanted to say ‘stay away, she’s mine’.”

“I’m still going to wear my hair like this,” she pointed out. “And dress the way I do.” She grinned. “But I can always pull out a little black dress for button-down occasions.”

“Only if you want to. Because, Darcy, I swear. I love you just the way you are.”

She frowned. “Are you sure it’s not just the sex talking?”

“No.” He grinned. “Although I won’t turn it down.”

She smacked his arm. “Be serious. This is an important moment here.”

“It’s important to me, too.” He tried to put everything he was feeling into his voice. “I know we just met a week ago, and we can take things one step at a time, but, Darcy? Now that I’ve got my head out of my ass I don’t plan to let you go.”

The way she looked at him he wondered if she could see clearly into his soul. Then she smiled and leaned towards him.

“Don’t worry, Jack. I love you, too.”

He felt as if two tons of pressure had been lifted from him. “You do?”

“Uh-huh. And yes, we’ve only known each other a week and we’ve got a lot to learn about each other. But I’m game if you are.” She looked at him intently. “And I’ve just got one question.”

“What’s that?” he asked. “This better not be tricky.”

“Can we go back in the house now?”

Jack let out a cry of triumph, swept her up in his arms and carried her inside.

“A woman after my own heart,” he told her. And as he bent his head to kiss her, he amended, “A woman who
owns
my heart.”

“And a man who owns mine,” she said in a soft voice, lifting her mouth to his.