Naturally Naughty - Leslie Kelly [55]
“Does Imelda Marcos like shoes?”
He chuckled. “My firm designed the new Great Lakes Mall. I managed the project.”
She gave a little whistle of appreciation. “Nice. Anything else?”
He named a few more buildings Kate instantly recognized, particularly the stores and shopping centers. “Sounds like retail’s your niche.”
“Mmm-hmm. If you ever decide to open a new Bare Essentials, let me know.”
If only you knew…
“How’d you get into architecture? Didn’t Daddy want you to follow in his footsteps and become a lawyer?”
“I prefer to build things, not tear them apart, which is what lawyers seem to spend a lot of their time doing.” He flipped their omelets onto two plates and carried them to the table. “I really built things when I was going to college. I worked for a construction company in L.A. every summer.”
“I somehow pictured you surfing your way through college.”
“Ha! I tried it once and the damn board almost tore my ear off. After I wiped out, it hit me in the head. I still have the scar.” He turned his head, pushing his hair up with his fingers. Kate bit her lip. Unable to resist, she stepped closer, until the toes of her sandals nearly touched his bare feet.
His hair was still slightly damp with sweat from his workout, and his skin still glowed with energy. She gulped, trying to ignore her response, and examined the thin scar that ran from just under his earlobe into his hairline.
If she wasn’t mistaken, she might have kissed that spot during their interlude at the theater. Her heart skipped a beat.
“Ouch,” she murmured.
He seemed to notice her sudden intensity, and her closeness. Her face was inches from his neck, and she inhaled deeply, smelling his musky warmth. She closed her eyes briefly, remembering what it had been like to kiss him. To touch him.
Lord help her, she still wanted him so much she could barely stand up. She wanted to nibble on his neck, to taste his earlobe, to feel his body get all sweaty again—preferably while it was on top of hers. Inside hers.
“You ready?” he asked, letting his hand fall to his side.
She nodded dumbly. “Uh-huh.” Ready for just about anything.
“Do you like it spicy?”
Spicy? Oh, yeah, she loved it spicy. “Yeah. Real spicy.”
“I think there’s Tabasco sauce in the fridge.”
Tabasco? Kate shook her head, hard, and realized Jack was watching her with an amused, knowing look on his face.
He’d been talking about hot and spicy eggs.
She’d been thinking about hot and spicy sex.
Please, floor, open up under me and swallow me whole.
“Kate?”
She raised a brow, trying to pretend she hadn’t been picturing some of the spicy things the two of them could do on the kitchen table. Or counter. Or floor. “Huh?”
He reached for her, his hand brushing past her hip as he touched the handle on the refrigerator door. She jumped out of the way, noticing the way his hand tightened on the handle, as if he were exerting some great effort. Possibly for control? Was he as affected as she by their closeness?
There was only one way to find out. She reached out and touched the thin scar on his neck. He flinched and glanced at her. “It must have hurt,” she said softly.
Jack didn’t pull away as she moved closer, standing on tiptoes until her lips brushed his neck. Remembering the way he’d kissed her hip in the shower, she couldn’t help kissing that hot, damp, male skin. Slipping her tongue out, she savored the faint salty flavor of sweat from his workout. She sighed at how good he tasted to her. Her touch elicited an answering groan from him, but he didn’t move away. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there to kiss it and make it better,” she murmured as she moved her lips higher, kissing a path up to his earlobe. She stepped closer, for better access, sliding one foot between his, until his thigh was nestled between her legs. Kate closed her eyes briefly at the very intimate contact.
He muttered a soft curse, as if he could take no more. Catching her around the waist, he lifted her higher, pressing his leg tighter against her sex as he lowered his mouth to hers. Their kiss was explosive. Hot and wet. Deep and