Part 5 (1/2)

And was that some kind of c.o.c.ky smile on his face?

”You're not having s.e.x with anyone.” She blinked. That darn dimple of his was enough to drive her crazy. ”Or so you said.”

”Well I sure as h.e.l.l am not sleeping with you and according to most of America, including your mother, that's a good thing. You know, because Donovan James is so evil, and Jack Simon is the f.u.c.king bees-knees.”

”What's my mother got to do with it?”

But Donovan didn't hear that question. Her mind was spinning a mile a minute and the more she thought about the double standard, the more angry she got. ”You're like this...this golden G.o.d who's going to wave his magic wand and become the next political dynamo in Was.h.i.+ngton. I bet half of them believe you'll cure cancer or negotiate world peace. Christ, I bet they think rainbows live in your b.u.t.t, and we both know that isn't true. I've never read a negative story about you. It's insane and so not fair.”

He was smiling, and G.o.d help her, but every single one of Donovan's lady parts was suddenly alive and buzzing. Her b.r.e.a.s.t.s felt heavy, and if he wasn't looking directly at her, she'd have snuck a hand between her legs. The ache there had been dull and throbbing all night, but right now? With her blood boiling and naked-Jack-chest inches from her?

She was about to explode.

”What's so funny?” she snapped.

”Nice to know you're keeping tabs on me.”

”I'm not.”

She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her hair and clamped her mouth shut. No point in getting into it with Jack. She'd never win that game. He'd always been good with his words.

And his hands.

A silent groan echoed inside her head.

G.o.d, and his tongue .

He set down the cooler. ”I made you a sandwich and there's a couple of cold beers in here, too.” He regarded her for a few seconds. ”I found your stash of chocolate, so I tossed one of those in.”

Surprised, Donovan, glanced at the red cooler. ”You didn't have to...I mean, I was going to head back for lunch.”

”I know I didn't have to, and I also know you ran out of the house as soon as I woke up.”

”I didn't...” Her voice trailed off at the look in his eyes. Jack's bulls.h.i.+t meter was kicking in, and she knew it.

”Donnie, we're stuck here for a few days. We may as well make the best of it. We're both adults.” He shrugged. ”Let's forget about the history and just try to get along. Do you think you can do that?”

”I'm not sleeping with you.”

Okay. Where the h.e.l.l did that come from? So much for the Oscars. With one panicked move, Donovan was up for a Rotten Tomato award and man, did she deserve it.

If Jack was amused by her statement, he didn't show it. In fact, he ignored it completely which confused the h.e.l.l out of Donovan.

”I'm gonna get some snorkeling in. You wanna join me?”

She was shaking her head before she could form an answer. ”Uh, no. My foot is swollen and I'm...well.” She held up her book. ”I'm going to try and make a dent in this.”

”Okay.”

She pulled her Gucci gla.s.ses back onto her nose, relieved that she had some kind of shelter from those intense eyes and settled back onto her beach chair.

Jack turned without another word and for as many seconds as it took for him to stride back to the water, she had a magnificent view of his broad shoulders, naked back and tapered waist.

She watched him get his gear on and head into the water, his body fluid and strong and....

She groaned, the throb between her legs insistent and her mouth dry, her hand slipped beneath her bikini bottom when he went under the water. She was slick and hot, full of need. Images of Jack above her, inside her, mouth at her breast and hands on her body a.s.saulted Donovan's mind. She sank lower into the chair so there was no way he could see what she was doing.

As Jack Simon crested the water and swam out along the coral reef her fingers gave her some relief. She rubbed and caressed and pressed into that part of her that was engorged and swollen with need.

But it was a hollow feeling. An o.r.g.a.s.m by her own hand didn't hold a candle to the kind of response Jack could coax from her with just a look. And as she shattered against her palm, a single tear wove its way down her cheek.

She would never have that again. At twenty-nine, that was a sobering thought.

Chapter Seven.

”How's the foot?”

Jack tossed his empty beer into the cooler and glanced at Donovan. Her long hair was tied back, her face free of makeup. Her days here had given her a golden glow, and he was struck by how feminine and fresh she looked. Truthfully, she didn't look a day past five years ago.

”It's fine.”

That d.a.m.n book was still in her hands, held in front of her face like a s.h.i.+eld, the same place it had been every single time he'd looked her way.

”Maybe I should take a look at it.” He was goading her but couldn't seem to help himself.

”Nope. All good.”

Huh. She was as p.r.i.c.kly as a porcupine. Jack supposed he should just leave well enough alone, but he couldn't. Her little slip up earlier had been on his mind for the past few hours.

”I'd have to have s.e.x to be pregnant.”

Seems as if he wasn't the only one not getting laid these days, and that made him think of all sorts of things that he shouldn't be thinking about. He knew the s.e.xual chemistry between them was still there. That was something they'd never lost. It was simmering beneath the surface, and if not handled properly, it would explode.

h.e.l.l if she asked him what he'd seen out in the water he wouldn't be able to answer her because truthfully, all he'd seen were images of her naked and wet, mouth bruised from his, legs open and ready.

He wanted her. Plain and simple. With two days to go, that was pretty f.u.c.king inconvenient.

No way was he going there with her. At this point, Jack wasn't sure either one of them would survive a second go in the bedroom. From day one, they'd had a volatile relations.h.i.+p. They loved and then they hurt and then they made up. He supposed it was inevitable that it had ended so badly.

That last argument had been ugly, and they'd both said some things. Jack had left, p.i.s.sed off and freaked out by the depth of his feelings for her. A woman who drove him crazy and a woman who was as stubborn as he was. Tucker had talked him down from that one. Told him that it was normal to feel as if you were losing everything when you were gaining the world. It was the universe's way of keeping you humble.

When he'd come back to his beach house the next day, she was gone. Derek was still there, his buddy had been on hand for the entire ugly thing, and he'd handed Jack the Dear John letter and a stiff scotch.

f.u.c.k it. Time to leave and think of something else.

Jack got to his feet and packed up the cooler. She'd eaten the sandwich he'd made, and he noted the chocolate bar was gone, too. The beer however, she'd left for him.