Stalking the Pharmacist (5 page)

She turned to look at him. He tapped his
chest with his finger as he started to speak.

“I got married twenty years ago to a
selfish little bitch. I thought she wanted me but soon found out it was just
the football fame and money side of things she was interested in.”

Ash felt her eyebrows fly high on her
forehead, and her eyes widened.
Seriously?
The man in
front of her, despite her initial reservations, was obviously lovely—and bloody
gorgeous. What kind of woman would only want him for his money?

“You’re kidding me?”

He shook his head, his eyes serious as he
continued to stare at her.

“We have two teenage sons and they live
with their mum in the city. I talk to them every couple of days and they
come
visit every few weeks. My ex and I are pretty civil,
but she was never the right person for me.”

All the strength in Ash began to drain
away. This man was so honest and blunt, not to mention totally fucking hot. How
was she going to withstand his advances if he chose to pursue her?

Maybe a little of her own history would put
him off?

“I was married for five years to a man with
small-man syndrome.”

Jack flinched. “Ouch.”

She shrugged, trying her best not to
grimace as feelings of inadequacy flowed over her.

“As I became more successful with work he
became more controlling, more emotionally abusive. In the end, I practically
ran away and can’t imagine ever trusting a man again.”

She eyed him, needing to get her point
across. She wasn’t good enough for these men.

“Jack, you and Scott are obviously great
guys, but you’re wrong if you think I’m this perfect mate. As my ex-husband
would tell you, I’m fat, lazy, bad in bed, and selfish. You don’t really want
me. No one does.”

Jack laughed,
then
coughed to cover it as she glared at him.

How could he laugh when she’d just admitted
all of her faults to him? Did he really think she was joking?

He stepped up to her and slipped his hands
around her waist, gripping her large ass and pulling her into the cradle of his
pelvis.

“Sweetheart, you are beautiful, and fiery,
and everything about you is a fucking huge turn-on. If your abusive idiot ex
convinced you that you weren’t enough woman for him, then that’s his problem.
It was he who wasn’t enough for you. You are more than enough for me and my
brother.”

And that was the other thing! She wasn’t
being shared between two men!

“About that.
You can’t honestly think I’ll just fall
into bed with you guys…”

Jack’s blue eyes sparkled with mirth as his
mouth descended, effectively shutting off all communication between her brain
and her ability to speak.

His kisses were like magic. They made her
arms encircle his neck to hold him close, and all thoughts vanished. His soft
lips made her moan as her eyes slid shut and she let herself be carried away in
a maelstrom of sensation.

When he finally lifted his head, she
couldn’t remember what she’d meant to say.

“How ’bout I pick you up tomorrow and take
you out for lunch? I can tell you more about my brother then.”

He kissed her gently on the nose, turned, and
bounded down the stairs while she fell back against the door, her knees weak as
water.

“What about Scott?”

Jack grinned up at her and waved. “Get
inside so I know you’re safe, and I’ll see you at noon tomorrow.”

Ash sighed and nodded, giving in to her
body’s need to lie down. She unlocked the door to her room and collapsed onto
her soft bed.

So Scott had some secrets, did he? Ash
sighed and gently ran her hands over her full breasts and ample thighs. How did
Jack make her feel so sexy and desirable? She’d never felt that way before.

She undressed quickly and slid beneath the
covers. It was such a luxury to be in a bed that was made for her every day
with sheets she didn’t have to wash herself.

Her ex would never allow her to hire any
help for their home, yet she made enough money to pay for a cleaner, ironing
lady, and chef if she really wanted to.

She pulled the cover up over her head and
groaned aloud as her situation played around inside her head. Despite her
reservations, something just kept pulling her back to Jack and everything he
encompassed.

Boring old Ash and two
hot men.
Who would have
thought?

Chapter Four

Jack pulled up outside the café, his woman
in his car.

“Ready, beautiful?”

Ash frowned at him but nodded. For an
intelligent, once married woman, she sure was a skittish thing.

“What’s wrong?” He undid his seat belt and
jumped out of the car.

He rounded the trunk and stepped up to help
her out of her side.

“Nothing.”

Yeah
right.

“You frowned when I said,
ready beautiful
?”

She looked away as red slashed across her
rounded cheeks.

“I’m not beautiful, Jack. And I’ve never
handled compliments well, especially when they aren’t true.”

Oh
God, that bastard really did a number on you, didn’t he, sweetheart?

“Really, well…” Jack pulled Ash around so
that she was facing him, and held her tight against his body, sliding his hands
into the back pockets of her jeans. He gently thrust his pelvis in an obvious
way and looked directly into her eyes.

“Ash, you have a beautiful face, the
hottest ass I’ve ever seen in denim, and I cannot wait to get you naked and see
what the rest of you looks like.”

She slapped at his chest and tried to pull
away, but he could see the reluctant smile on her full lips.

“Come on, Ash. Let’s get something to eat
before I drag you back to my bedroom so I can feast on you.”

He grabbed hold of her hand and she gripped
him tight, her breath hitching as though she were nervous when he led her into
the café.

“Booth for two,” he said to the waitress,
who directed them to a corner that was perfect for secret touches. They slid
into place on the leather booth seat and ordered quickly. As the waitress left,
he grinned like a cat
who’d
just scored a saucer of
cream. He had her all to himself again.

“I almost don’t want to bring Scott into this.
I’m having too much fun with you myself.”

He grabbed her and pulled her along the
leather seat until they were hip to hip and he could slide his hand over her
thigh and grip the denim above her knee.

She muffled a squeal and pushed his hand
farther down her thigh.

Fuck, his hormones were high. He could feel
the adrenaline sliding through his bloodstream, his muscles bulking and
stretching with strength. The coiling tension
centered
deep in his belly, making his cock ache.

Gratitude flowed through him as he said a
silent prayer of thanks.

Over the past five years, his sex drive had
waned. He got bored so easily and the women he dated didn’t touch his heart in
any way. It was exhausting to make himself bed women so he could get enough
physical touch and intimacy to survive. But for Ashleigh, his body had turned
back into its twenty-year-old self.
All raging hormones and
grunt.
He’d trained this morning at the gym and had been able to lift
more than he ever had. He had a spring in his step too. There was something to
look forward to for the first time in years.

“Why do you have to bring Scott into
anything? Are you going to explain more about this perfect pair thing?”

He grinned at her, a fluttering of pride
springing to life. He’d never dated a woman with intelligence before. He’d been
happy if they could manage a little bit of common sense. But Ashleigh was
smart, very smart. She’d keep him and Scott on their toes.

“Ah, so someone did tell you about us?”

She nodded, glancing toward the waitress
who was dropping off their drinks.

“Rosalie told me about the family trait.
You and Scott are a perfect pair like Brandon and Tyler, right?”

He grunted and took a sip of his
cappuccino.

“We are. But we stupidly ignored all the
legends that told us to wait for our perfect mate, and we married the wrong
women for us. We’ve been paying for it ever since.”

With a slight frown on her face, Ashleigh
pulled her milkshake forward and took a long drink through the pink straw.

“What do you mean by that?”

Jack sighed, dread sinking his heart. It
seemed too early to be airing dirty washing. It could cause a rift, or worse,
give her an excuse to leave.

“Promise to hear me out all the way to the
end?”

She sucked harder on her straw, nodded, and
looked up at him with her big blue eyes. He groaned and shifted in his chair as
blood flowed to his rapidly thickening cock. Would she look up at him like that
when she sucked him? Would she even want to do that?

“
Agh
…” He rubbed
both hands over his face and tried to focus back on the topic at hand.

“I can tell you about my ex-wife later, but
that story’s pretty simple. We just couldn’t live together despite giving it a
good go. But my brother’s the one I want to talk about.” He took a deep breath.
“Scott’s ex isn’t as nice as mine.”

Ashleigh’s head came up and she shot him a
disbelieving look. “You said your ex was a selfish bitch.”

Jack rolled his head around on his
shoulders to release the tension talking about Kerry caused him. “She is. But
Scott’s ex, Kerry, is so much worse.”

Ashleigh returned to sucking on her
milkshake and made gesturing motions with her hands. Now that he’d started, he
had to finish it.

“Kerry
was
,well
—
is
—
degrading,
demanding, and
self-centered
. She got pregnant on the
sly so Scott had to marry her,
then
set about taking
him apart at every turn. I don’t know half of it because he doesn’t tell me
everything, but he was a broken man when they finally divorced.”

Their food was served and Jack picked up a
chip, munching on it in an attempt to fill the cold in his gut. He didn’t want
to tell Ash everything, but Kerry was beyond abusive.
Emotional,
physical at times, even screwing up Scott’s sex drive to the point that it took
years to even get him back to dating.

Ashleigh picked up her chicken wrap and
began eating, chewing thoughtfully.

“So, he’s a bit of a tortured hero huh?”

A
tortured what?

Jack cocked his head and stared at the
little smile playing across her lips. Did she actually like the idea of fixing
his brother?

“Huh?”

She laughed and Jack’s brows lifted up
high. What a sound! Like music designed just for him, it filled him with
pleasure to hear it and see her so happy.

“A tortured hero in a book is the main
character who has all the qualities a hero should have. He’s intelligent, sexy,
has a great sense of
humor
. But he’s been tortured
and needs lots of love, affection, and sex to help him heal. He’s every woman’s
dream, really.”

Ash snapped her mouth shut and blushed,
looking away like a child who’d got caught with their hand in the candy jar.

Didn’t
mean to say that much, Ash?

“I’ll take your word for it. I wouldn’t
know shit about book heroes.”

Ash looked back at him, her eyes like huge
saucers, waiting for something.

“What?” He picked up his fork and kept
eating. This woman sure was a puzzle.

“I…umm…feel a bit stupid. I’m assuming
things I shouldn’t.”

Jack shrugged his big shoulders. He doubted
it.

“You’re pretty cluey, as smart as Scott
probably, so I doubt you’re wrong.
Whatcha
assuming?”

He watched her pick at her food and chew
with a frown creasing her forehead. He couldn’t stop the automatic response to
that as he reached over and smoothed the lines with his thumb, cupping her
beautiful face in his palm when she turned toward him like a flower to the sun.

“Fuck, you’re gorgeous.”

Her cheeks grew redder and she glanced
away. “Please don’t lie to me, Jack.”

He laughed, loudly enough to draw
attention. He didn’t care. Let them look. He was on his first date with the
woman designed just for him. He couldn’t be happier.

“You’re kidding me, right? I don’t
lie
, Ash. When I say you’re gorgeous, I’m understating it.”

He turned his body so that he could look
directly at her and lowered his voice. “And if I could be kissing you while
being balls deep inside you right now, I would be.”