The Naughty List Bundle - Kylie Adams [302]
Georgia put her arms around him and rested the side of her face on his chest. He cupped the back of her neck, tangling his fingers in her soft curls.
He smiled when she said, “You’re the best person I’ve ever met.” But then she added, “You make me feel so inferior.”
Jordan abruptly pushed her back so he could scowl into her face. “What the hell are you talking about?”
She lifted her shoulders in a slow shrug. “I know it probably bothers you to want me. I got pregnant at sixteen, I’ve already been divorced and I dance in a bar.” Her smile was sad and fleeting. “I’m hardly anybody’s idea of a ‘higher standard.’”
Rage washed over him, making him break out in a sweat. His vision narrowed to her face, a face he loved. He gave her a quick, sharp shake. “Don’t you ever say anything like that again!”
“Jordan!” She glanced around, reminding him that they weren’t alone. “Someone will hear you.”
It took all his concentration to lower his voice, to temper his fury. Tears filled her eyes again, slicing into him like the sharpest blade. It was her vulnerability that gained him some control. He pulled her into his chest and held her tight. “I never thought,” he whispered against her forehead, “that I’d meet someone as beautiful as you. Do you know what I see when I look at you, Georgia?”
She shook her head.
“I see a woman who will do anything she has to in order to take care of the people who depend on her. A woman with enough strength and courage and honor to beat the odds, and still be so incredibly sweet that it breaks my heart just to look at her.”
Georgia’s self-conscious laugh teased along his senses. He felt her wipe her eyes on his shirt and wished he was alone with her. She filled him with lust, broke his heart with her gentleness and humbled him with her strength.
“You make me sound like a conquering Amazon,” she whispered.
He put his mouth close to her ear. “From the moment I saw you,” he breathed, relishing her scent and her softness, “I was so hot to have you I nearly ground my teeth into powder. That’s never happened to me before. I stay so aroused I ache, but I only want you.”
Her hands fisted in his shirt. “Me, too. I want you so much, it scares me.”
He didn’t want her to fear him, but he’d explain that to her later. “I think you’re the sexiest woman I’ve ever met. And the more I got to know you, the worse it became, because your sexiness is earthy. It isn’t just about your gorgeous body, or the way you move or how you look at me. It’s you. Everything about you, Georgia. Do you understand?”
She nodded. “All right.”
Jordan suddenly felt someone behind him. He jerked around and found Morgan and Gabe both breathing down his neck.
“Hey,” Morgan said, as if he hadn’t just intruded. “You two are embarrassing everyone, me included. Why don’t you find a room somewhere?”
Gabe shoved Morgan. “You’re so crude.” Then to Georgia: “Put him out of his misery, sweetheart. Jordan isn’t used to this kind of excitement. Sawyer says it isn’t good for his heart.”
Georgia covered her face and laughed. Jordan thought about tossing his brothers into the lake. But then Morgan whispered, “You know, the gazebo is real private. Everyone is getting ready to eat and I can keep the kids occupied if you two want to go…talk things over.”
Jordan looped his arm around Georgia and pulled her to his side. He peered around the yard. Zenny and Walt and Newton waved to them. Georgia groaned, but waved back. Howard and Jesse were arguing—as usual.
Morgan’s enormous dog, Godzilla, had the kids well occupied. Lisa, Adam and Amber were all petting him and Godzilla rested on his back in doggy bliss, his tongue hanging out of the side of his mouth. Godzilla looked more like the missing link than a pet, but he was about the sweetest creature Jordan had ever seen. Even Honey’s calico cat liked the dog. She sat next to Lisa, getting her own pet every now and then and rubbing her head against Godzilla’s hip.
“Will you look at my mother?” Georgia said in awe.
Jordan followed the direction of Georgia’s