Part 4 (1/2)
”Huh,” he murmured, watching a slow blush creep up her cheeks. ”I'm afraid to ask.”
”You should be,” she said slowly, as if savoring every word. ”Cause none of it was good.” She glanced behind him and waved at someone. ”Nice to meet you Jack, but I have to go.”
Before he could ask her what her name was, she was sliding by him, her hand lingering a few seconds on his arm. That piece of skin felt as if she'd branded him, and it took another five minutes before she took the stage with his cousin for him to learn her name.
Donovan James.
It was insane. But in his mind, she was already Donnie.
And she was already his.
Jack shook off the memories, his T-s.h.i.+rt totally soaked, his hair plastered to his head. Thunder rolled across the sky now accompanied by lightening. Looked like the storm wasn't letting up anytime soon.
He eyed the door once more.
With a sigh, he scooped up his gear and went inside, expecting a flood of angry words thrown his way. Instead, he was greeted by a backside he knew better than his own, barely covered by a lime green bikini.
Donovan was bent over, her foot propped up on a chair, and she hissed in pain as she tried to clean the bottom of her foot.
”What are you staring at?” she muttered, inhaling a big gulp of air as she twisted to the side, angling for a better way to get the job done.
”Your a.s.s.”
”Wow. Some things never change.”
”Just being honest.”
”Well stop staring at my a.s.s, Mister I'm-going-to-be-a-senator. Not real appropriate for someone in your position.”
”What? Senators can't enjoy looking at a nice piece of a.s.s?”
”Not mine,” she replied.
”Not yet.”
”What?”
Jake tossed his bag and moved toward her, slicking wet hair from his eyes. ”I'm not a senator until November.”
”You're pretty sure of yourself.”
”I'm a Simon. Comes with the territory.”
She snorted and muttered, ”Yeah.” And then whimpered. ”Ouch.”
”Can I help?” He wasn't expecting a resounding h.e.l.l yes, but it was pretty obvious the cut was bad, and she doing a poor job of cleaning it.
”Nope. You've done enough.”
”What the h.e.l.l did I do?” he asked, irritated with her att.i.tude.
”I wouldn't have cut my foot if you hadn't shown up.”
”I'd like to know how you came to that conclusion.”
She whipped her head back but never got a chance to ream him out, because her good foot slipped along the floor and the chair she was leaning over began to topple.
Jack grabbed her before that round b.u.t.t of hers landed on the floor, and he righted the chair before that followed her down. For a few moments her soft curves were flush against his body, and Jack took his time before he set her down, b.u.t.t on the chair.
She covered her b.r.e.a.s.t.s even though her top covered what needed to be covered (barely), and Jack's mouth thinned. ”I've seen them darlin'. Trust me, I'm not interested.”
Lies. They seemed to be coming easier these days. Christ, he'd make the perfect politician after all.
He was off kilter and didn't like it one bit. ”Give me your d.a.m.n foot,” he said gruffly.
”I can do it. You don't-”
But Jack was done playing games. Done with the back and forth.
”Give me your d.a.m.n foot so I can finish cleaning it and get it bandaged. Okay? Enough of the att.i.tude. I'm tired, and I need a beer. But before I can help myself to a nice cold one, I'm going to clean and bandage your foot because if I don't, it will get infected. And I sure as h.e.l.l don't want to play nursemaid for the next three days.”
He thought she was going to argue with him, and on some level maybe he was looking forward to that, but a few seconds ticked by and then she lifted her foot.
”Fine,” she said, voice low. ”It's the least you can do.”
”How's that?” he said, eyebrow raised as he reached for her.
”Like I said earlier. It's all your fault anyway.”
Jack reached for the antiseptic. ”That's something that hasn't changed.”
”What's that exactly?” Her voice was all sugar, and he gritted his teeth, ignoring the hiss of pain when he applied the burning liquid. He glanced up, noting how dark her eyes had gotten. ”You still like to get the last word in.”
A heartbeat pa.s.sed.
”I'd have to agree with you on that point.”
He concentrated on getting her foot cleaned and bandaged but had to wonder about all the other things that were still the same. And maybe a few that had changed.
And then his mood darkened, because really, what was the point in wondering about something he would never know?
Chapter Six.
If Donovan was an actress, she'd be up for an Oscar because she'd just given the performance of a lifetime. h.e.l.l, Julia Roberts had nothing on her.
She'd let Jack put his hands on her. PUT HIS HANDS ON HER. And she hadn't given anything away.