He’d been completely detached since the accident and this was the first sign of life she’d seen from him in 17 months. He shut down completely if she attempted to talk about Deborah, and what had happened, so she tried to focus on the present. And the idea that her cousin might just be coming back to life after all this time. Everyone in the family had practically given up on trying to reach him. She couldn't wait to tell her Aunt Marie, Jack’s mom, that she’d actually witnessed what passed for flirting on Jack’s behalf. Auntie M would be psyched.
“What? I was helping you out. You’re always complaining that I avoid dealing with the public like they’re a bunch of lepers, so I gave them a tour. What’s the big deal?” Jackson said, stepping back onto the sidewalk next to her, he held up his arms in an ’I can’t win’ gesture.
Jack had no idea what he was doing exactly. He was so far out of his depth he felt like he’d stepped into another dimension. For so long, his only focus was on getting through each day without losing his mind. Nothing really existed for him outside of work, and avoiding all thoughts of the past. Then, with just a heated look, this girl had him thinking about the future. Maybe not the forever kind of future. He couldn’t really contemplate that. But he could definitely seeing himself spending some time trying to get her into his bed. Well, a bed anyway. And that was more planning than he’d done since his world blew apart.
All he knew for sure was that when he’d been with Lacey, he’d felt like the door to his dark prison had opened a crack, letting in a glimmer of light. Watching her leave had been like seeing that door slam shut, leaving him in darkness once again. Maybe permanently this time. Feeling alive for these past few hours made him realize just how dead inside he’d become, and he wasn’t ready to go back there. Not at all. If he could just stall for a few minutes, maybe he could see her smile again and figure out a way to ensure that she wouldn’t walk out and leave him feeling empty again.
He wanted to look at her some more. Maybe catch her watching him again with those furtive hot glances she’d been sneaking at him all afternoon. Those looks made him incredibly hot, and he hadn’t been even lukewarm in years. He was actually having fun with her, and he couldn’t remember the last time he’d done that.
At one point during the tour, Lacey had been leading the way up the porch stairs to the third row-house. He had been following close behind her, trying to make out the shape of her ass under those loose jeans without looking like a complete letch, when she’d balked at the door.
“It’s not locked,” he’d said, nearly running into her back on purpose. He was certain that he’d left it unlocked when he’d been here earlier, checking on the hardwood shipment that had been delivered the day before.
“If it’s not, then it’s doing an awfully good impression of it,” she’d replied, giving the handle a really good yank. It hadn’t budged.
The most normal thing in the world would have been to ask her to step out of the way, so he could get his manly hands on the damn thing. Use some brute force to impress her. Instead he found himself reaching around her from behind and gently moving her hand out of the way so he could give it a try. It still wouldn’t move. He must have accidentally locked it.
But then he was practically wrapped around her, and it hadn’t felt awkward at all. It had felt absolutely fucking great. Better than anything. Like he was exactly where he was supposed to be. Despite their great difference in height, their bodies had fit together perfectly. And if he hadn’t been mistaken, she had actually angled her body toward him rather than trying to minimize their contact.
It was completely crazy, but he was pretty sure that if her mother hadn’t been waiting impatiently behind them, he would have put one of his arms around her waist so he could bring that round ass flush against his suddenly hardening cock. But her mom was there, so he reluctantly disentangled himself from her sweet body.
“I guess it is locked.” He cleared his throat and waved his hand toward the side of the building. “I’ll go around back and unlock it from inside. Wait for me, okay?”
“Are you sure you don’t want us to come with you?” Lacey had said.
Had it just been his imagination, or had her eyes looked a little glazed from those three seconds of contact? He’d hoped so. Brushing up against her had made him positively horny as hell. He’d needed the few seconds it had taken to run around back to catch his breath and adjust his jeans.
Now he had to attempt to explain what was happening to his nosy cousin, when even he wasn’t sure what was going on. He knew Serena was just concerned, and he appreciated it on some level. But mostly he resented being put on the spot like this. He didn't need to share everything, did he?
People had been trying to get him to open up for the last 17 months, but he just wasn’t the sharing type. He dealt with things internally and didn’t see what yammering on about his feelings really accomplished. Unfortunately, she would not let up until she dragged something out of him. So, he resigned himself to revealing as little as possible, and hoped she’d be content with that. If she knew he was still sporting a major boner even thinking about the locked door incident with Lacey, she’d be on the phone with his mother in a heartbeat, planning a June wedding.
“Don’t you dare play innocent with me!” Serena poked him in the chest to emphasize her point. “You were into her.”
“Give me a break. I was nice to both of them. Maybe I was into the mom. Come to think of it, she was pretty cute.” He rubbed his chin as if considering his options. ’What do you think? Am I Cougar Bait?”
“I think that particular cougar would eat you alive,” Serena said dryly.
“You’re probably right about that, but what a way to go,” He waggled his eyebrows at her suggestively.
“Gross!” She punched him in the arm this time. “Quit trying to distract me. You liked her, didn’t you? That Lacey girl.”
“Ouch. You’re so violent. No wonder you’re single.” He rubbed his arm where she’d punched him and pretended to cringe away from her. Man, what did he have to do to change the subject? Usually bringing up Serena’s single status was a surefire way to get her to focus on herself, but he could see from the enraged expression on her face that she would not be deterred from the subject at hand. He had to admire her tenacity. No wonder she was such an excellent real estate agent.
“Oh, I’m going to go ballistic all over your head in a minute if you don’t explain yourself,” she said, raising her briefcase over her head and preparing to brain him with it.
All her efforts to seem cool and elegant were gone and she was just his bratty little cousin again. He much preferred her in real estate professional mode. Much less painful. “Okay, okay. I thought she was cute,” he admitted. There, hopefully that would satisfy her and she’d let it alone. “What was your first clue? The way I followed her around like a puppy for an hour and a half? Or the way I bulleted down the street after her when I thought she was going to leave without saying good-bye.” He rubbed one hand over his face in embarrassment.
“I don’t get it. I know you want to win this really stupid pissing contest with your equally stupid brothers, but why lie to her about why you want her to call?”
“I don’t know. I just panicked. I’m out of practice with this shit. I just realized how completely idiotic I must have looked chasing her down the street, and I didn’t want her to think I was pathetic.” Had he really been out of line? What if Serena was right and he’d hurt Lacey’s feelings? That had never been his intention. He wouldn’t purposely hurt a girl if he could avoid it, especially one who made his jeans tent like this. He’d just wanted to save some face and maybe give her a reason to call him that hadn´t required putting his feelings on the line. Was that really so wrong?