But all of a sudden, the kiss took a hundred-andeighty-degree turn into something much more powerful than a mere thank-you peck on the lips. In fact, for one fleeting moment, Beth thought the ground was rocking beneath her feet.
Her mouth was covered by his.
He tasted like...well, like Jack. Just as she had always known he would. He tasted hot...and sexy, and the reality of what they were doing made her blood curdle. He opened his mouth and it seemed to her that he was beckoning for her to do the same.
This, she knew, was no longer just a simple little kiss between friends.
It was leading them somewhere—fast. Somewhere neither of them needed to go. Frankly it was going against every rule in her book. She had to end it now. She had no choice. Too much was at stake.
Immediately pulling away, Beth fought to regain her equilibrium. “I—I don’t know why I did that,” she stammered.
Jack gave her a scorching glance that seemed to penetrate right through her.
Then without so much as a single word of warning, he groaned deep in his throat and jerked Beth back against his hard, solid frame in less than a heartbeat.
A second later his mouth came crashing down to claim hers.
This time, when the earth moved beneath her feet, Beth knew exactly what it was happening. But this time, instead of fighting it, she simply clung all the tighter to Jack and prayed that the moment didn’t end too soon.
Because she knew without a doubt that she was going to hate herself when finally it did.
This was not part of her plan.
Nor could it ever be.
But since the moment was already out of her control, she saw no reason why she simply couldn’t enjoy it while it lasted. Without a doubt, it was going to be the last time she ever let things go this far between herself and Jack.
For heaven’s sake, he was her best friend. She felt almost guilty for enjoying his kiss.
It was just plain weird.
And yet unforgettably wonderful at the same time. Why else would she be pressing her body against his as though she wanted to become a part of him?
The weirdness she could handle.
But the part that was unforgettably wonderful—the part that was making her feel all hot inside—she could not.
She had to make sure this never happened between them again.
Chapter Three
Unfortunately Beth couldn’t stop what was happening between herself and Jack, nor did a secret part of her really want to. And it was clear that Jack had no immediate plans to stop the kiss. She was trapped in the clutches of a sweet, agonizing hunger.
She moaned from the pressure of his lips on hers. It was the absolute craziest moment of her life. But what made it even crazier was the fact that, thus far, it was also her most thrilling.
But it was all a fluke. A faux pas, to be sure. Something that definitely shouldn’t be happening.
Only it was.
Big time.
They were over the line, no doubt about it.
Someone needed to regain control of their outrageous behavior before it was too late.
It was probably already too late.
Jack deepened the kiss and again Beth moaned. Her response, as insignificant as it was to her, only seemed to ignite Jack’s passions all the more. Keeping her pinned against him, he pushed his tongue into her mouth.
After the first shock waves of desire subsided, Beth began struggling to free herself.
She soon realized that her efforts in gaining her freedom were to no avail. Jack’s hold on her was so much stronger than her puny effort, and she remained lodged in place against him.
She was on fire. This was getting really serious now. Someone had to do something—and quick.
Finally, Beth gave up, surrendering herself to the emotions surging through her body. Slipping her arms around Jack’s neck, she did what she thought he wanted and opened her mouth to him.
And then, just like that, within the matter of another heartbeat, without the slightest warning of what was to come, he released her.
Startled, Beth stumbled back. “Why did you kiss me like that?” she asked.
Sucking in a deep breath, he shrugged. “Look, you were the one who kissed me first. I just followed your lead.”
“But I didn’t kiss you like that.”
His hands went to his hips. “Well, you most certainly did.”
“W-well, I certainly didn’t mean it,” she stammered defensively. Frankly she’d never kissed a man like that in her whole life. Normally she was an old-fashioned prude when it came to such things—which was probably why she was, technically speaking, suffering from old-maid syndrome. But had she behaved prudently this time? Oh, no. This time she’d let herself go with all the abandon of a lovesick schoolgirl. And just how well was her good old friend Jack handling all of this? Like any typical man. He was trying to place all the blame on her.
Well, by golly, this wasn’t her fault. Not entirely, anyway. She certainly hadn’t forced him into kissing her. She had made her choices; he had made his. “Look, Jack,” she said, “I was just trying to express my gratitude to you.”
Without looking at her, Jack passed his hands through his hair. “Yeah, well, that’s some kind of gratitude you have there, Beth,” he said. “You ought to have it bottled as a lethal potion.”
Beth’s face burned with indignation, which came as a surprise to her, considering she was dealing with Jack. Ordinarily she would have had a laughable comeback for a remark like that from him. But for some reason she was completely speechless.
Looking down to smooth out the fabric of her straight black skirt, she said, “Look, I won’t ever let something like that happen again.”
“That’s fine, Beth,” he replied. “Only, there’s one thing...”
She looked up. “Oh...?”
He gazed at her intently. “Frankly, I’d like to know who taught you how to kiss like that,” he said.
Beth gaped at him. “What?”
“You heard me. That was some damned kiss.
Where did you learn to do that?”
“I—I don’t know what you mean,” she said.
“Come on, Beth,” he drawled in that deep, sexy voice of his. “Women like you don’t generally kiss a man like that.”
“Like me? Now what is that supposed to mean?” she asked indignantly.
“Take it from your old pal Jack,” he said patronizingly, taking her by the shoulders and pulling her to him. “Women who have a strict moral code like you don’t open their mouths like that when they kiss a man for the first time.”
“Oh,” Beth said. “Did I open my mouth?”
“Yeah,” he said, a gleam coming to life in his eyes. “You sure did.” He was still holding on to her shoulders. “Just tell me who the guy was who taught you to kiss like that? To tell you the truth, Beth, I never realized that you had gotten that serious with any of the guys you dated.”
Beth frowned at him while trying desperately to make some sense of the moment. What was his problem anyway? No one had taught her to kiss like that. She had sensed that he wanted her to open her mouth, so she had.
Besides he had no right getting so personal with his line of questioning. They might be good friends and all, but enough was enough.
“I’m not going to answer that question, Jack. It’s too personal even for you.”
Suddenly it was Jack’s turn to gape at her. His hands went slowly to his hips. “Is that a fact?” he said, narrowing his eyes as he studied her. “Well, for your information, I always thought we shared everything—even the personal stuff.”
“Not everything, Jack,” she said. “Some things are too private to share with anyone. There’s always been certain topics that we’ve avoided between us.”
He continued to stare at her openmouthed. “I was never aware of that. Would you mind giving me an example of what you mean?”
“Uh... yeah... well, of course,” Beth said, pausing for a moment to
gather her thoughts. “Okay, I’ve got one,” she added quickly, suddenly gazing up at him with a surge of confidence. “Your little black book. The one you always carry with you. I’ve never questioned you about the names written inside.” She shrugged. “I’ve always thought it was none of my business.”
“My little black book...” he repeated in astonishment. “Jeez, Beth, I didn’t know you had questions about it. What is it that you want to know?”
Unnerved by this whole line of questioning, Beth sighed heavily.
It wasn’t that she hadn’t ever wondered about all those women whose names she knew he had written down inside his address book. A secret part of her had always been curious about them. But she was smart enough to fill in the blanks. Besides, Jack had never been one to talk about the ups and downs of his love life. Unlike what she had always done with him. Of course, compared to his, her personal life had a “G” rating. Well, now it looked as though she was going to get her chance to see if she could handle the nitty-gritty details of his love life, after all. “Why do you always carry that address book with you?” she asked, keeping a close guard on her emotions.
Jack laughed, then held up his hands in surrender. “I don’t anymore,” he said. “And I haven’t for a long time.” He raised his arms above his head in a gesture of surrender. “Go ahead, check it out for yourself.”
No way, Beth thought, but in spite of her best intentions to the contrary, her gaze automatically slid down the length of him, giving his lean-muscled body a thorough shakedown. It turned out to be a big mistake on her part. Giving Jackson Kincaid a shakedown of any degree was bound to cause a volatile reaction in any red-blooded woman—a reaction that even she, his best friend, wasn’t immune to. Without warning, Beth’s stomach bottomed out and that red blood of hers raced through her veins at record speed, causing her to feel hot and flushed all over. And to think Jack actually wanted her to frisk him. Well, he could forget that. For heaven’s sake, if she touched him now her entire existence would suffer a meltdown.
Sliding her tongue over her bottom lip, she forced a smile. “Look, Jack, I don’t need to check it out. If you say you’re not carrying your little black book with you, then I believe you. Subject dropped.”
Not for Jack, it wasn’t. He ignored her reply and instead stood with his feet spread apart, his shoulders back and his hands still placed behind his head. “No, go ahead,” he said. “Frisk me. I want you to. I want you to see for yourself that I’m clean.”
Frisk him indeed!
Her mouth grew as dry as powder.
“I don’t need to frisk you, Jack. I believe you.”
“I know. But I want you to frisk me anyway.”
“I don’t want to.”
“Why not?” he asked, giving her a questioning look. But his hard, solid body remained poised for the shakedown he was expecting to get from her.
Beth’s heart was pounding in her throat. “Why do I need a reason? Can’t I just say I don’t want to?”
“No,” he replied. “If you don’t have a reason, then you’ve got to frisk me, Beth. Those are the rules of this game.”
“Who says there are rules?”
“I do,” he replied.
Why wasn’t she surprised, Beth wondered with a smirk.
Finally she rolled her eyes. How was she ever going to get herself out of this one? If she didn’t do as he wanted, then she would have to give him a reason. And for the life of her, she couldn’t come up with one good reason—other than the fact that she felt she was going to lose something of herself if she touched him in any way at that moment. But there was no way she could tell him that. After all the horsing around they had done over the years, he would think she was going nuts on him.
Damn Jack anyway, for putting her on the spot this way. She felt as though she was standing barefoot on hot, smoldering coals. Frankly, it felt as though Jack was the devil himself, smiling down at her. She wanted to run, but she didn’t dare move a muscle.
Finally looking up, Beth found that the devil himself was still gazing down at her from his checkme-out position. “Well, what are you waiting for?” he asked.
For hell to freeze over, Beth thought. But obviously it wasn’t going to happen now. Sighing heavily, she said, “Okay, Jack, you win.”
He gave her a broad, sexy grin. One that would have completely shattered her composure if she hadn’t been his best friend. It was at times like these that Beth was glad that she was oblivious to him in that way. It was probably the one factor she had going in her favor at the moment Of course, her stomach sank to the 8oor, but that was nothing new. Certainly nothing to be concerned about.
Scantly breathing, she stepped up to Jack and began to lightly pat down the sides of his body, starting, of course, right under his armpits just as she’d seen the cops on television do. After all, if she was going to do this, she was going to do it right. By the book.
Her heart was pounding like mad. She felt breathless and couldn’t believe what she was doing. More importantly, she couldn’t believe what it was doing to her. This was Jack, for heaven’s sake. Touching him had never been a problem for her before today. Something was incredibly wrong here.
It seemed that only a moment had passed, but already Beth had managed to inch her way down the outer part of Jack’s firm body, all the way down to his shoes, in fact. Since this was a frisk down and she’d told herself that she was going to do it right, she paused only long enough to take a deep, steadying breath before placing her hand on the inseam of his jeans. Inch by inch she forced her fingers to crawl upward until she reached his midthighs. And then, just like that, as though the devil himself had placed a freeze on her, she stopped the whole process cold turkey.
Her hands began to tremble. She broke into a sweat. She thought the lump in her throat would surely close off her air passage, strangling her to a slow, agonizing death right there at his feet.
Okay, she told herself. This had gone far enough. Too far, in fact. Jack had pushed this gag to the limit, and they both knew it. Under no circumstances could she have brought herself to move her hand upward another centimeter, not even if she had been guaranteed all the money in the world.
Slowly Beth rose on wobbly legs, only to find the object of her immediate thoughts grinning down at her as if he knew what she was thinking.
It was just like Jack to thoroughly enjoy putting her in an awkward position like this. He often teased her about being old-fashioned and gladly took every opportunity that came along to help prove his point.
“See,” he said a moment later, still grinning at her. “It’s like I told you. I don’t have that little black book on me.”
In spite of her shaken condition, Beth managed to shrug. Because if Jack wasn’t going to be rattled by all of this, then, by golly, she wasn’t going to be, either. “I couldn’t care less,” she said. “It’s Karen who thinks that it’s some sort of a status symbol with you.”
Tilting his head back, Jack laughed out loud. “And you believe her?”
“Well—no—I didn’t say that,” Beth replied indignantly.
“Then why did you frisk me?”
Beth gaped at him. “Because you wanted me to.”
“It proved my point, didn’t it?”
“Well...yes, but—”
He grinned. “Now that we’ve got that settled, let’s get back to the other thing.”
Beth frowned. “What other thing?”
His grin broadened. “The thing about where you learned to kiss with your mouth open. You never answered me when I asked you about it.”
“Oh, that other thing,” Beth said begrudgingly. She shook her head. It was obvious that he wasn’t going to leave the subject alone until she answered him.
“Okay, Jack,” Beth said, “since you seem to need an answer, I’ll give you one. It just so happens that I never open my mouth when kissing a guy for the first time. True, I did on this one occasion, but only because I thought it was what you wanted me to do. Af
ter all, if I can’t trust you with a simple little kiss, then whom can I trust?”
“That was no simple little kiss,” he said determinedly, heatedly.
Beth sighed heavily in defeat. “Well, if it wasn’t, then it was intended to be. Listen to me, Jack, I can’t believe that we’re going to let one little kiss get us all worked up like this. Frankly I thought we had the capacity as friends to rise above something like that.”
Jack glanced off at a distance for what seemed the longest time. Finally he turned back and gave her the slight resemblance of a smile. “I can rise above it. I just don’t know if I can forget it. But for our friendship I’ll put it on the back burner.”
“That’s a great idea,” Beth replied in relief. “Let’s both put it on the back burner. We can always deal with it later.” She knew that something had passed between them. Only, she didn‘t’ know what. And, frankly, she didn’t want to know.
“We’re going to have to deal with it later,” Jack said in that deep voice of his. “Especially if you want to make that baby.”
Beth flushed. “Oh...right.”
Eventually she and Jack got around to eating the meal she had prepared, and later, after they had decided that she would make arrangements for them to get married as soon as possible, Jack went home, promising to pick her up the next evening to attend Karen’s party. Karen’s get-together was going to be a good opportunity for them to tell all their friends what they were planning to do.
Beth went to bed that night feeling well-organized and in control of her life once more. Everything was going according to plan.
Her friendship with Jack was strong...solid...dependable. It could withstand anything.
Anything, she believed, but their falling in love.
Jack drove across town to his condo in the hopes that he would be able to fall into bed and go right to sleep. He was still suffering from jet lag due to his recent trip abroad. But at the moment he found himself suffering from a lot of other things, too. And they all had to do with Beth. For the time being, at least, he didn’t want to think about it. Tomorrow he’d try to figure out just what kind of a mess he’d gotten himself into. For tonight, he just wanted to get some shut-eye.
Shotgun Groom Page 4
