Nathan was growing up much too quickly, and she missed the little boy who used to hold her hand and look upat her as if she were the most important thing in his world.
"Are you ready to go now?" Jack lowered his face to the top of her head. "I want to get you out of here beforeCal comes over and hits on you again."
He wasn't really fooling her. She could hear the pain in his voice. "What hurts?"
"My shoulder," he answered as they moved toward the parking lot, "like a son of a bitch."
"I don't understand why you guys don't wear pads." She held up a hand. "Don't say it. I know. Pads are forsissies."
Jack opened the passenger-side door for her. She moved to get inside but looked back across the field one lasttime at Nathan. "He's growing up too fast," she said as she watched him walk in the other direction with BrandyJo on his arm. "He was always so rowdy and independent. I couldn't take him anywhere cause he'd just run off.
So I got one of those leashes you put on little kids so you don't lose 'em. I always felt so much better knowinghe was on the other end of the leash. I'd give a hard tug, and he'd come rolling out from wherever he was hidingfrom me." She grasped the top of the car door that separated her body from Jack's. "I wish I could just give hima tug now and make sure he stays out of trouble."
Jack put his hands on the outside of hers. "He's a good boy, Daisy. He'll be fine."
She looked up into his eyes and he leaned forward and gently pressed his mouth to hers, easing into a kiss soslow and sweet, it just seemed to melt her heart. He smelled of sweat and grass and Jack. His thumbs brushedover the backs of her hands as the tip of his slick tongue touched hers. Jack took his time, and the kiss turnedmore deeply intimate. It touched places deep in her soul that recognized hint. This was more than a mating ofmouths. More than the hot rush of sex that demanded to be satisfied.
When he pulled back, he looked at her the way he used to all those years ago. His guard down. His wants andneeds and desires unmistakably clear in his green eyes.
"Come home with me," he said as his hands moved to cover hers in his warm palms.
She swallowed and the corners of her mouth turned up. She didn't have to ask what he had planned. "I thoughtyour shoulder hurt?"
"Not that bad."
"I could massage it for you."
He shook his head. "You need to save your energy to massage other things."
Chapter Nineteen
Daisy ran her hands across Jack's smooth shoulders and pushed her fingers into his knotted muscles. Shemassaged his back and ran her thumbs up and down the indent of his spine. A bead of water dropped from hiswet hair, slid down his back and was absorbed in the thick blue towel hung low on his hips.
The drive from the park to Jack's had taken less than ten minutes. Usually it took fifteen, but Jack had runseveral stop signs and blown through a traffic light.
At present, he sat on a ladder-back kitchen chair next to the dining room table. His legs straddled the seat whilehis arms rested across the top rung. He'd insisted on taking a quick shower to get rid of the grime before he'd lether touch him, and when he'd come out wearing nothing but a towel, she'd about jumped him then and there.
"How's this feel?" she asked as her palms slid down his hard muscles, then up again.
"Like something I could get used to." The heat from his skin warmed her hands, and she felt the contours andtextures as she learned the definition of him all over again.
"Daisy?"
She looked down at the back of his head. The dining room light shone through his dark hair, picking out strandsthe color of coffee. "Hmm?"
"When we were at Lake Meredith, you said you've missed me." He reached up and grasped her by the wrist. "Isthat true?" He looked over his shoulder at her. His intense gaze told her the answer was very important to hint"Yes, Jack. It's true."
He pulled her arm down around his chest and said, next to her right cheek, "I missed you too, Daisy Lee. Allthese years I've missed you more than I knew." His placed his free hand on the left side of her face. "More thanI ever wanted you to know."
Her chest got light and achy, and she lowered her mouth and said against his lips. "I love you, Jack."
He closed his eyes and let out his breath. He was quiet for several long moments then he said, "I have alwaysloved you. Even when I didn't want to."
"Turn around," she whispered.
His eyes opened. "What?"
"Stand up."
As soon as he stood and turned toward her, she put her hand on his shoulders and pushed him back down again.
"I don't know what happens next for us," she said as she pulled up her dress and sat in his lap facing him. Hespread his thighs and her bottom hit the seat of the chair. Her bare feet hung over the sides. "Whatever it is, Iwill always love you. I can't help it."
His hands slid up and down her thighs as his green eyes looked at her through his lashes. "I'll show you whathappens next." His palms moved to her waist and his fingers searched the lie on the side of her dress.
She settled more firmly between his legs and asked, "is that a tent pole or are you happy to see me?"
A blatantly sexual smile pushed the corners of his mouth upward. "Both. Wanna see?"
"Oh yeah." She moved her hands from his shoulders and down his chest. Her palms covered his nipples and sheleaned forward and kissed the side of his throat. The thick towel and the thin layer of her panties separatedthem.
Jack tugged and the top of her dress loosened. "Raise your arms," he told Daisy. She did as he asked, and he slidthe dress above her waist and pulled it over her head. Her hair fell free about her bare shoulders, and Jacklooked into her brown eyes, at the passion staring back at him. He tossed the dress on the floor, then covered hernaked breasts with his hands. Her puckered nipples poked the centers of his palms and he brushed them with histhumbs. Her lids lowered a fraction and she licked her lips. He knew her. He knew the weight of her against himand the beat of her heart in his palms. He knew the sigh of pleasure on her lips and the scent of her skin.
This was Daisy. His Daisy.
"Are you sure your shoulder doesn't hurt?"
Shoulder? He didn't give a shit about his shoulder. The only pain he felt was in his groin. "Nothing hurts as badas wanting you." Every fantasy he'd ever had had begun and ended with Daisy Lee. Now here she was. Exceptfor a strap of silk panties, naked in his lap. If he had his way, she would never leave.
Her soft hand slid down his belly and she pulled at the towel around his waist. She unwrapped him like aChristmas present, then reached inside and closed her fist around his erection. He was so hard he throbbed. Hesucked in his breath. He looked at Daisy, past the rose-colored lips of her breasts, down her tan abdomen andbelly button to her tiny white panties. Within her small hand, she held his thick shaft. She brushed her thumbover the head. Lust pulled his gut into a hard knot and he had a difficult time drawing air into his lungs. Hewrapped his hand over hers and moved it up and down, sliding within the soft velvet of her palm. She leanedforward and kissed his throat. Her warm moist tongue leaving a trail of fire.
He raised her face to his, and his hungry mouth slanted across her lips. He gave her hot, feeding kisses; therewas nothing tender or soft in what he gave this time. The moment his mouth touched hers, it was greedy, amaddening chase and follow. A slick advance and retreat of hot tongues and mouths. She arched into him,crushing her hard nipples into his chest and shoving her crotch against his erection.
He wanted this. He wanted it every damn day of his life. He wanted the drive of her tongue in his mouth, theweight of her in his arms, the catch in his chest when he looked into her eyes or buried his nose in her neck.
He wanted her. All of her. Forever. He loved her. He'd always loved her.