The Love Wager by Lynn Painter

Chapter

TWENTY-SIX



Jack


            Jack took off his jacket and dropped it on the bed, tired and frustrated at the situation.

            Hallie was here for her sister’s wedding, so that was the priority, he reasoned as he undid his tie and yanked it off. Of course she would stay and help out, he mused, untucking his shirt with a jerk and undoing his buttons. What kind of a sister would she be if she didn’t?

            And the fact that her douchey ex-boyfriend was helping, too, had nothing to do with his sudden foul mood.

            He knew it was all part of being a bridesmaid, but as he continued to undress, he had to admit to being selfishly disappointed. The entire weekend had led up to that night, for them, and after hearing her say that she had feelings for him, he’d been champing at the bit to spend the entire night worshiping her in their king-sized bed.

            He wanted a whole night before the weekend came to an end.

            Jack slid off his belt and was unbuttoning his pants when he heard the knock at the door.

            It couldn’t be her. He wanted it to be, but there was no way she was finished with her post-reception tasks. If it was her, it just meant she needed something from the room.

            He dropped the belt on the pile of his clothing and walked over to the door.

            When he pulled it open, Hallie was standing there. She looked focused. And . . . nervous? He raised an eyebrow. “What’d you forget?”

            “That we only have a few hours left.” Her eyes went down to his chest, then his stomach, and he felt her gaze like a touch as she looked at his unbuttoned pants. She took a deep breath, raised her eyes to his face, and said, “I want to feel everything before we go back to normal, Jack.”

            He wanted to say they didn’t have to go back to normal. He needed her to know that what he wanted from her was a hell of a lot more than texting and being each other’s wingmen. Instead, he heard himself say, “Don’t you have to help your mom?”

            She shrugged and said, “I told them I had to go do something important.”

            “Such a little liar,” he said.

            “I wasn’t lying.” She raised her chin, and that tiny defiant motion made him feel some kind of way. “And my favorite part of hotel night was when you offered to let me use your toothbrush, by the way.”

            “What?”

            “We were, um, finished,” she said, stepping into the room as he moved back and held the door, “and instead of passing out or doing whatever a buzzed person might do during a one-night stand, you asked me if I was okay. You looked into my eyes and waited for my answer, and after I said I was fine, you offered to let me use your toothbrush.”

            The door slammed shut behind her, and he said, “I still can’t believe you remember that night.”

            She said in a breathy voice, “I think about it all the time.”

            He felt warm, like he was burning up, and all he could see was her. Hallie Piper was surrounding him, filling him, and he could feel her in his every molecule. His arms went around her, to her zipper, as his mouth came down on hers.

            “Jack,” she whispered, and the sound of his name on her lips made him fucking insane. He opened his mouth over hers, needing to taste her, and as always, kissing Hallie felt like some kind of reward.

            Hot, wet, and like a gateway drug, her kisses sucked him in with the promises of things he’d yet to feel. Her teeth and tongue responded to him like they’d been jolted awake, and he groaned into her mouth as she made him burn.

            He started lowering the zipper on the back of her dress, his fingertips grazing her soft skin, but then he froze when he felt her fingers on the button of his pants.





Hallie


            One twist, and the luxurious suit pants fell to the floor.

            Her heart was in her throat, not because she was some nervous teenager but because it had never felt this . . . intimate between them before. No tipsiness, no jokes, no rush to the finish; it was just Jack and Hallie, alone in the dark hotel room with their true feelings.

            “God. Hal,” he bit out, his voice tight and teeth clenched as she touched him.