“One down, three to go.” He turns a smile onto me, and I bring my hands together in front of my face and look to the sky.
Then jump when I feel someone at my ear. “Site safety first, Annie. Where’s your hard hat?” Jack’s voice wipes away ninety percent of my stress, even if it’s slightly scolding.
“I’m having a disaster with the roof.” I turn around to face him, scanning the surrounding area for peeking eyes, so I know how friendly I can be. Just when I think the coast is clear, I spot Richard wandering down the street, a definite look of interest on his face. I step back and swallow, returning my eyes to Jack. He’s spotted Richard, too, and has also moved back a step.
“Where’s the crane?” Jack asks, clearing his throat.
“Stuck in Westminster.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Richard chuck something in the skip and make his way back to the building.
Jack sags a little when he’s out of sight. “I’ve fucking missed you this week,” he declares, sounding a little despondent. As always when he seems so worn down, I stop and wonder what he’s contended with to make him sound so disheartened. But only for a second, because I try not to think about his wife and focus on the fact that I can make Jack feel better. It’s been a long, busy week for both of us, except we haven’t been busy with each other, either at work or privately. It’s positively sucked. It’s not really that long, but millions of years, too. That’s a problem I’m beginning to fear now. I want him every day. Every hour. Every minute. “Can you make it to the St. James’s Hotel for four-thirty?” he asks hopefully.
“Yes,” I confirm, as if there would be any other answer. “I’ll climb up on top of this extension and get the roof on myself if I have to.”
He laughs lightly, the low, sexy sound, as always, bringing a huge smile to my face. Jack’s laughs are like melted chocolate—smooth and addictive. I can’t get enough of them. “No need.” He claps his hands loudly and whistles to Bill, pointing down the road.
I look over my shoulder and gasp. “My crane!” I screech, watching it round the corner up ahead. “My crane is here!”
“Let’s get this roof on, baby,” Jack says quietly, striding off toward my crane.
I grin to myself, watching him fly into authoritative action, shouting orders as he goes. God, what I would do to have him alone right this minute. I look down at the screen of my phone and start to count down the minutes to four-thirty.
*
I run up the steps of the hotel, nodding to the bellboy as I pass, checking my phone for the room number Jack sent me. When I reach the door, I knock as desperately as I’m feeling, and then start patting down my hair and brushing down my black shift dress. I don’t get nearly enough time to sort myself out after rushing here. The door swings open, Jack seizes my wrist, and he yanks me inside, slamming the door behind him. I yelp, startled, as I’m hauled into him. I’m yet to see him properly because everything is a blur from the speed of my movements.
“You’re two minutes late.” He snatches my bag and tosses it aside, then dips and grabs me under my thighs, pulling me up to his body. I yelp again, but it quickly transforms into a giggle when he runs through the sitting area and launches us into the air.
“Jack!” I scream, delirious, sinking my nails into his shoulders, which I now note are naked. We land on the softest bed I’ve ever been in, and his mouth is immediately on mine. I haven’t had the chance to indulge in his face yet, nor appreciate the fact that he’s naked, but when I find his lips on mine, I let the losses slide. I coil every limb around him and kiss him with everything I have, filling my sense of smell with his scent. I sink into the mattress on a happy sigh, shifting my palms to his bristly cheeks and holding his face firmly.
“Damn, I’ve missed this,” he says into my mouth, moving his lips to my cheek and pecking his way up to my ear.
I flex my hips, feeling his condition push into my thigh. “I can tell.” He bites my earlobe and gets himself to his knees, collecting my arms from around his neck and shoving them above my head, holding them there, his torso suspended over me. And now I have his face. His gray eyes could have fireworks exploding in them, and his smile breaks records in the brightest category.
“Hello,” he says simply, though low and husky and drenched with longing. Just one simple word.
We stare at each other for the longest time, Jack suspended above me, his thighs straddling my tummy, his hands holding my wrists down. And we just grin at each other, both happy to admire each other for a while. When he raises his eyebrows, I raise mine. When he teasingly pushes his groin into my tummy, I reciprocate by flexing my hips up. And when he seductively licks his lips, I lick mine. Both of our smiles stretch wider.
“Well done with the roof, baby,” he says, keeping me restrained.
I smile. “Doesn’t it look fab?”
“Amazing.”
“But I didn’t come to talk about roofs.” I make it clear. “How long have I got you?”
“How long do you want me?”
My eyes narrow, and the word forever tickles the end of my tongue, waiting to drop out. But I hold it back, unwilling to spoil our precious time together with the ache of the unknown. Besides, I’m certain he knows already. “Long enough to ravish you.”
He nods a little. I think it’s in understanding, not only to my voiced answer, but to the answer I’m holding back, too. “Before we get to ravishing, I have something for you.” He plants a chaste kiss on my lips and frees my arms, getting off the bed and strolling through to the lounge area. I prop myself up on my elbows and follow his path with my eyes, held rapt by his wide, naked back and perfect arse. “Come on,” he calls.
“But I’m comfortable here,” I complain, pouting.
Jack looks back to me sprawled on the bed and smiles, flicking his head in silent demand that I go to him. I do, now curious of what he has for me. Padding my way into the separate lounge area, I find him sitting on the couch. He pats the seat next to him, and I sit beside him, all the while keeping my questioning eyes on him. He produces a Selfridges bag and holds it out to me.
“What’s this?” I ask, gingerly accepting it.
“It’s for you.” He sits back and gets comfy. “Open it.”
I grin down at the bag and start to pull the bow loose, flicking my eyes between Jack and the yellow bag as I find my way in. Once it’s open, I peek inside, discovering something wrapped neatly in tissue paper. I pull it out, set the bag aside, and place the package on my lap, then start to peel at the stickers securing it all together. I pull the tissue paper open and find a small pile of black lace.
“You bought me underwear?” I ask, lifting the bra and holding it up.
“Do you like it?” He sounds apprehensive.