With his every inhalation, Keely’s scent teased him. Warm. Flowery. Womanly. He leaned closer, drawing in a deeper breath. When their gazes clashed and Jack saw raw desire swimming in the amazing blueness of her eyes, he stopped fighting the inevitable. He framed her face in his shaking hands and said,
“F*ck it,” before he smothered her mouth with a blistering kiss.
Chapter Eight
She was kissing Jack Donohue. Kissing him like crazy. Kissing him like she’d fantasized about after he’d kissed her so thoroughly at Colt and India’s wedding reception.
It was so much better when they were both sober.
Keely slid her hands beneath his suit coat up his muscular back. Oh man. Such a hard-toned body.
Such an insistent mouth. The hint of cologne on his heated skin wafted up from his open-collar shirt.
Drugged. She felt utterly drugged by his masculine scent and the sheer power of his body pressed to hers.
Jack wouldn’t let their lips part for more than a second before he dove back in for another mind-blowing kiss. His tongue was hot velvet and smooth as whiskey as it glided and stroked and teased. He seduced her, reduced her to a trembling mass of need with just the power of his avid mouth.
“Sweet Jesus, Keely,” he muttered against her lips. “I want you so f*cking bad.”
“Jack—”
He kissed her chin. “Steamy, raunchy sex is a more productive outlet for our frustrations than flinging insults.”
“I agree,” she moaned when his lips slowly feathered down her throat, hitting every sensitive spot with unerring accuracy.
Jack sucked the tender slope between her shoulder and her collarbone, letting his breath fan the damp spots as his tongue licked to the other side.
The gentle sweep of his thumb in front of her ear as his firm lips and sharp teeth assaulted her neck caused her whole body to quiver with unbridled lust.
“I want to hike up your skirt and f*ck you right now against this wall. Raw.” His mouth brushed the shell of her ear. “Hard.” He blew oh so softly. “Fast.”
Her sex moistened and clenched with want.
Then she and Jack were face to face. His wild eyes didn’t fit his matter-of-fact tone. “Say you’ll let me do every dirty thing to you I’ve ever fantasized about.”
“You’ve imagined having sex with me?”
“Always,” he admitted. His rough whisper launched another blissful shiver through her. “Since you were barely sixteen.”
Keely blinked at him, trying desperately to believe his incredibly sweet bullshit. “Strange way of showing it, GQ.”
“We both know you would’ve lorded it over me. I fought it. No more.” He pressed his pelvis into the cradle of her hips, letting his cock rub her belly button. “Say yes.”
As if she could possibly say no. Keely raked her fingers down his back, wishing her fingernails were leaving scratches from his shoulders to his tight ass. “Yes.”
Jack’s never-ending kisses morphed from brutal to sweet. Passion tempered with unexpected tenderness. Her head was buzzing. Her blood was humming. Her body was doing the boot scootin’ boogie.
The kiss waxed and waned, burned and soothed, so she almost didn’t hear the giggles. When the noise finally registered, louder, Keely managed to break her lips free.
“Jack. We have an audience.” She peered over Jack’s broad shoulder. Her nephews and nieces were gawking at them.
When she attempted to extricate herself, his possessive embrace increased. “Who cares?”
“They’ll tattle to everyone.” Keely caught the eye of Kyler, the self-appointed ringleader. “Keep this to yourself, okay?”
Kyler’s enormous grin revealed two empty spots where his front teeth had been. “No way.” He raced down the hall in front of his entourage. In the main room, he shouted, “Hey, guess what?” The crowd quieted. “Aunt Keely and Jack are kissin’ in the hallway!”
Laughter broke out.
Kyler snatched his moment in the spotlight as his due. “And they were kissin’ so much they didn’t even notice us. We waited, but it didn’t seem like they were ever gonna stop. They were kissin’ forever.”
Keely groaned. Her forehead fell to Jack’s chest. “See? Now everyone knows we were sucking face.”
Jack kissed her crown. Twice. “And we’da gotten away with it too if wasn’t for them meddlin’ kids.”
She snickered and looked up at him. “I never would’ve pegged you as a Scooby Doo fan.”
“I have Scooby Doo boxers.”
“Aren’t you full of surprises?”
“You’ve no idea of the surprises I have in store for you.”
“Bring it on.”
He made a low, sexy noise in his throat and his eyes flashed heat.
“But first, we oughta face the curious crowd, huh?”
“I suppose.” Jack stepped back. He kissed her knuckles, and gestured for her to go first. “After you.”
“Huh-uh, bucko. Together in a united front.”
“As soon as this party is over, I’m hauling your ass back to the apartment to celebrate our engagement.” His insistent voice tickled her ear. “Don’t even think about chickening out on me, cowgirl.”
“I am so ready for you to prove you’re cock of the walk, GQ.”
“Let’s get this over with.”
Catcalls and wolf whistles greeted them as they crossed the threshold. Someone shouted, “Speech!”
Someone else shouted, “Toast!” Yet another person shouted, “Let’s see another kiss!”
Jack sensed her unease and murmured, “Trust me to handle it?”
“No.”
He chuckled. “Tough. There’s no way to get out of it now, and I don’t want you slipping up and calling me Jack-off in a fit of pique.”
“Fine. Just…don’t embarrass me on purpose or anything, okay? I hate that.”
“Hey.” He blocked her from the crowd’s view. He held her chin and peered into her eyes. “Keely. I’d never do that.” Jack’s mouth brushed hers in a kiss so sweet and earnest her fears vanished.
More catcalls.
Jack led her to the front of the room behind the cake table. Keely kept her gaze focused on Jack’s striking profile.
“Thanks to everyone for coming today. And Kyler, buddy, you’ve got incredibly bad timing.”
Laughter.
“The truth is, I’ve been gone all week, and I was extremely late getting here today, which didn’t please my intended at all. And she shared that displeasure with me. Several times. Loudly.”
More laughter.
Her stomach roiled. Damn him. He’d sworn he wouldn’t embarrass her.
Give him a chance. Trust him like he asked you to.
Keely inhaled and let it out slowly.
“Which comes as no surprise to most of you. Keely and I haven’t exactly been… What’s the word I’m looking for, buttercup?”
“Civil?” she supplied.
Another round of guffaws.
“Yes, we haven’t exactly been civil to each other over the years. So we were more shocked than anyone when our feelings for each other changed in such a short amount of time. But the fact of the matter is, I’m absolutely crazy about her, and she feels the same about me.” Jack’s questioning gaze hooked hers.
She blew him a kiss. “Keep going, Jack darlin’, you’re startin’ to get back in my good graces.”
Muted laughter.
“I speak for both of us when I say we’re happy to be here amidst our families and friends, celebrating what we both wanted but never thought we’d find. Thank you.” He brought Keely’s left hand to his mouth and kissed her engagement ring.
She laid her palm on his cheek; her fingers traced the hollow beneath his cheekbone. She would’ve been content with that little PDA. But Jack wasn’t.
He curled his hand around her neck and yanked her forward for a prolonged kiss that damn near melted her fillings.
While she basked in the moment, pressed against Jack’s body, his mouth controlling hers with possessive kisses, and clapping surrounding them, Keely almost wished this engagement was the real deal.
The photographer snapped a billion pictures. Keely’s face hurt from smiling. Her feet hurt from wearing heels. And somehow through it all, Jack found a way to keep her laughing, as well as lacing every sentence with sexual innuendo.
It was enthralling. It was scary as hell because there was no going back now. They’d be lovers before the end of the night, guaranteed.
After the party ended, Keely shooed Jack away to spend time with his family while she helped clean up the party remnants.
“I have to say, Jack’s little speech completely changed my mind, K.”
Keely folded a pale lavender satin tablecloth. “Changed it about what, AJ?”
“About how you and Jack feel about each other. It was very romantic. Funny. Sweet without being silly.” AJ snatched the tablecloth, stacked it with the others. “But I’ll confess—the biggest convincer? You two making out when you weren’t aware anyone was watching.”
She froze. “Omigod. How many people saw that?”
AJ shrugged. “Enough.”
“Great.”
“We all thought it was.” She sighed. “Reminds me of when me and Cord first hooked up. Man. We could not keep our hands off each other.”
Keely snorted and pointed to AJ’s distended belly. “You still can’t keep your hands off each other.”
“True. It’s great to be me.” She grinned.
Carolyn bustled in with a cardboard box. “Okay. The kitchen is cleaned and this is the last of my stuff to take home.”
Since her mom’s hands were full, Keely hugged her from behind. “Thanks for everything. You rocked it, Ma. It was a fantastic party.”
“I thought so, yet I’m glad we’re only doin’ this once.” Carolyn yawned. “Lord, I’d better get home before I fall asleep standing up. AJ, darlin’, you need a ride?”