His shoulders shook with laughter as he cupped her cheeks and gazed into her emerald-green eyes. “I love you, Pepper Wilson. I love you so much it hurts. I love you so much I can’t sleep at night. I love you so much I—”
Her lips were on his before he could finish. She kissed him so greedily he was gasping for air by the time she released him, but the dizziness didn’t leave him, because now she was tearing at her clothes, pieces of fabric whipping in front of his eyes and landing on the floor. Until she was gloriously naked. Naked and beautiful and his.
All his.
“Wait.”
Pepper froze at his command, complete perplexity on her face. “What?”
He was a crazy stupid bastard for stopping them, but he didn’t want this to happen right there, where the shouting and anger and betrayal was still fresh and raw.
He jerked his T-shirt off, dragging the fabric forward over his head. Her eyes flashed with interest until he handed it to her. “Put it on.”
“You’re…” Her nose wrinkled in that adorable way he loved. “Why?”
He snuck the neck over her head and she slipped her arms into place in spite of her confusion. Once she was covered, he caught her by the hand, pulling her toward the door. “We’re going out.”
She snorted, but slipped her feet into sandals. “Crazy man.”
“I have this apartment I need you to check out.”
“Sure. No problem.” She stood in the elevator next to him, one hip cocked to the side and mischief all over her face. Fingers stroked his bare chest as they waited to arrive at the parking level. “I have no underwear on, you know.”
Jack chuckled. “Hold that thought.”
Pepper was astonishingly silent during the entire drive to his place, and the trip to his door. Once she was through the entrance, though, her curiosity obviously couldn’t be contained any longer. “Jackjack, you’re a nut. We were like three seconds away from having sex.”
He stepped up to her, reaching down to cup her ass and lift her in the air against his body. She tangled around him like a vine, arms to his neck, legs around his hips. All of them connected and so nearly skin-to-skin his cock was ready to explode.
But he looked into those big eyes and saw a hell of a lot more than just freaking awesome sex.
He touched his lips to hers. One second. Pulled back just enough that when he spoke their mouths still touched, like they were breathing the same air. “And now I’m going to make love to you. And then we’re going to talk about where we want to live.”
Pepper grinned. “You were hopelessly romantic for a second, dude, and then you lost it.”
He didn’t fucking care. “I love you, Pepper.”
She smiled at him. A full-out Pepper heart-on-her-sleeve smile. “I love you, too, Jack. Now let me have Big Jac—”
He drowned out the rest of her words with his lips.
Emma
The morning sun spilled over the tenth-floor hotel room, and like a cat, Emma was curled up in the corner of the couch, steaming cup of tea in her hand. Her third of the day—the one trouble with being on the West Coast. Even now at not-quite seven a.m. she’d needed to be up for hours to keep in touch with the rest of the team back in New York.
What was supposed to be a two-week trip had extended for a bit longer, but she was enjoying the change of pace. There was nothing quite like New York, but then there was nothing like Paris or London—all of the places she’d lived over the years had their own unique flavor with wonderful things to enjoy.
She stared out the windows of the corner suite, gazing down at the beach and the paved boardwalk running along the entire length of the hotel. A long dock extended from the beach, the water simmering around the solid structure. The trip had been a great way to break up her routine, coming out to San Francisco for the charity benefit.
A reluctant smile tugged her lips. Not that she could call anything in her world routine. The trip had turned out far more interesting than she’d expected.
There were still two wine glasses on the coffee table, an empty bottle on the small bar counter. Not as many as a week ago. Partying that hard wasn’t something she did very often anymore, but her new friend Suz had brought out the devil inside.
Last night they’d simply shared a bottle of wine and chatted. That was something sorely missing in her life. Friends who weren’t part of the industry, or models trying to get ahead as they showed off the latest fashions. The world of design was glamorous and star-making, and both exciting and tedious at times, but Emma loved every second of it. At least the way she worked the industry.
Secrets. She had them, and as long as she did, things should continue to be amazing.