Promise Me (43 page)

“Do you like it?” he asked as he pressed a kiss to my neck.

I nodded. “It’s perfect.”

I felt his hands lift to the tie at the back of my neck, and within a few seconds the top of my dress fell to my waist. His hands slid around my stomach, sliding over my bare skin and warming it with his touch.

“You’re so beautiful,” he murmured as his lips pressed kisses along my neck and shoulders.

I tilted my head to give him access to every inch he wanted, basking in the feel of his skin on mine. Jack gently turned me in his arms, his eyes glancing down at my bare breasts before shifting up to meet my gaze. Then his hand reached up, and I felt his knuckles skim my jawline.

As gracefully as I could, I brought my hands to my waist and pushed my dress down so it fell to the floor and pooled at my ankles. Then I stepped back and kicked off my heels. Wearing just lace panties, I stood before Jack, drinking in the lust in his eyes.

Without a word, I pushed his jacket from his shoulders, and then I started to undo each of the buttons on his shirt. He pulled off his bowtie, which he’d apparently loosened on the way upstairs, and tossed it to the ground. Once I’d gotten all the buttons undone, I moved to his pants as he shrugged off his jacket and shirt, and pulled his t-shirt off over his head.

We worked in tandem from there, me unzipping and sliding his pants down while he kicked off his shoes, then his pants, and he finally pulled off his socks. It was a lot of layers, but once they were all gone, I was rewarded with Jack’s tan, toned body that looked even more enticing in the dim light of the room.

“I’m feeling really greedy,” I told him as my eyes raked over the bulge in his boxers. “Kind of like a kid in a candy store.”

He smiled. “I know the feeling. I want to go slow, but I have a feeling my thirteen year-old self isn’t going to be able to hold back.”

“Your thirteen year-old self?” I questioned, looking up at him.

I saw that his cheeks were flushed. “Yeah, the kid who thought about you way more than he should have when he was first learning about how things worked downstairs.”

“Me?”

“I told you I loved you for a long time. Some of it was innocent, and some of it was downright indecent. I couldn’t help it. And that was before you looked like this. Did you want some champagne?”

I wasn’t sure if he was stalling because he was nervous or if he was just being polite.

“Not right now. Right now I just want you.”

“That is the right answer,” he said softly, and then he covered my mouth with his, making me forget that there was even a world spinning outside our hotel room.

* * *

“Why does brunch have to be so early?” Jack asked as he helped me down from his truck and laced my hand with his.

“It’s eleven in the morning,” I told him as we walked up the driveway to his aunt and uncle’s front door.

“It’s early,” he said, clearly pouting because we hadn’t been able to stay in bed as long as he’d wanted.

Apparently he’d enjoyed the night before as much as I had, and he hadn’t nearly gotten his fill. In all honesty, I hadn’t either, but I also hadn’t wanted to be late for the brunch his aunt was hosting for their family who’d come in town for the wedding.

“Don’t be a baby,” I chastised him playfully. “We always have later.”

“This is true,” he said optimistically. “How long do you think is socially acceptable for us to stay?”

I gave him a look as we reached the front door and he opened it, revealing a mix of smells that made my stomach growl. I would have been hungry anyway had it not been for the two rounds Jack and I had gone that morning, but now I was famished.

“I’d say we need to stay for at least a few hours.”

Jack groaned, like I’d just told him we needed to spend the next few hours pulling weeds. He was such a baby.

“Hey,” I said, turning to him and dragging him to me by the sides of his polo shirt. “No pouting. Maybe we can sneak away and make out later.”

“In my old bedroom?” he asked, suddenly excited. “Because that would be so hot.”

“If that’s what turns you on, then sure. Whatever you want.”

He grinned. “You’re so good to me.”

“Okay, enough of that,” Deena said, interrupting our little bubble where it was just Jack and me. It honestly felt like we’d existed almost exclusively in that place for the past two weeks, and neither of us wanted to leave.

“Hey Aunt Deena,” Jack said with a smile as she came over and hugged us both.

“Oh, Kate, I love your dress.”

“Thank you,” I told her.

I’d felt self-conscious about attending a function with Jack’s family, so I’d gone shopping a few days earlier. I’d dipped into my savings for my dress for the rehearsal dinner, the one I wore to the wedding, and the one I had on for the family brunch, but it had been worth it. I’d wanted so badly to look like I fit in with him and his family, and everything I’d picked out had worked out perfectly. And Jack thought I looked hot in it all, so that was a plus.

“Why don’t you kids come in and eat. We’re just getting started, but nothing’s really all that formal, so just grab a plate and sit anywhere you like,” she said with a smile. “Oh, and Jack, I left some of your mail in your room. Make sure you grab it before you leave.”

“Oh, I will,” he said, smiling conspiratorially at me.

“I don’t even want to know what that means,” Deena said to us both, making me blush. I couldn’t believe Jack had said that in front of her.

“Nothing you need to worry about,” Jack told her, but it couldn’t have sounded less convincing.

“I’ll see you kids in a few minutes,” Deena said, giving us a pointed look. “And I guess if I can’t find you, I’ll know where to look.”

Oh God. That was embarrassing.

“Great call. I think I’ll go check out that mail now,” Jack said loudly.

“Stop it,” I hissed at him, but he just laughed.

Deena shook her head at us, but she was smiling as she left the front hall.

“I can’t believe you said that to her,” I said to Jack once his aunt was gone.

“Oh, she knew I was kidding.”

“But you weren’t,” I said, as he grabbed my hand and tugged me toward the stairs.

“I was mostly kidding. If I sneak in a few kisses when we’re alone, sue me.”

“I won’t sue you for that.”

He looked over his shoulder and grinned at me. “I figured you’d say that.”

When we got to his room, I took the opportunity to look around while he went over to his dresser. I loved having a peak into the part of his life I’d missed, and it was on full display via trophies and awards, pictures of him and his friends, and the posters he’d put up years earlier but hadn’t changed out since he’d started college.

I picked up a picture of him and his best friends, the guys I’d met at the party he’d taken me too, and was looking at it when I heard Jack say my name.

“What’s up?” I asked, setting the picture down and turning to him. I started when I saw that his face was as white as a sheet. “Jack, what’s wrong?”

He swallowed as he held up a piece of paper. Then he blinked a few times, like he wasn’t sure what to make of whatever it was he was holding.

I crossed the room to him, and he handed it to me wordlessly. It was a hand-written letter, and the writing was hard to read, but as I started to make my way through it, I realized who it was from.

“Oh my God,” I said, my hand covering my mouth.

Jack had slumped down on the bed and had his elbows resting on his knees, his gaze fixed on the wall in front of him.

“He wants to talk to you,” I said absently as I read that part of the letter.

Jack nodded.

I re-read the words from the man who I knew Jack had dismissed from his life years earlier. It had been eight years, and his dad had never reached out to him before – until now. Now he was sorry. He was sober, and after years of denying the harm he’d cause to his wife and son, he wanted to apologize. He wanted to make amends.

“Jack, this doesn’t mean anything,” I told him as I sat down next to him. I took his hand in mine and squeezed it. “It doesn’t mean anything.”

“How did he know where to find me?” he said weakly.

“I don’t know.”

He looked over at me. “He’s still in jail, right?” he said, sounding completely freaked out by the fact that his father had reached out to him.

I knew that in his mind, he’d buried that part of his life, and he’d never expected it to come back and haunt him like it was now.

I nodded. “Yes, he’s still in jail. He’ll be there for a long time.”

Jack nodded. “Why does he want to talk to me? He hates me.”

“I don’t know, Jack,” I told him, because his father hadn’t gone into great detail about why he wanted to talk to him. He just said he wanted to make amends.

“The letter was addressed to me. It had
my
name on it. How does he know my name?”

I knew he was talking about the name he’d adopted when he’d moved to Texas.

“It’s public record. He could access it if he wanted to.”

“But why would he do that?”

“Jack, just throw it away,” I told him, because I hated seeing him like this. “Crumple up the letter and toss it in the garbage. You don’t have to respond to him.”

He looked away from me, pulled his hand from mine and laced his fingers together, but he didn’t say anything. I had no idea what to do. He looked completely distraught, and I wasn’t sure anything I could say would help.

“Hey, are you kids going to join the fun?” I heard and looked up to see Deena poking her head into Jack’s room. “I’m glad to see you’re both fully clothed. What’s wrong?”

Before I knew what was happening, she was crossing the room, and Jack had his arms around her. He was crying, and she was comforting him, and I knew as I looked on that it wasn’t the first time that had happened. Jack had told me how close he was to his aunt, but in that moment I realized just how close they really were. How many times had he cried to her before? How often in his life had she comforted him? And how glad was I now that she knew exactly what to do when I had been failing miserably at helping him.

After a few minutes, Jack pulled away from her, scrubbing his eyes with his hands. “Fuck, why does he still get to me?” he asked angrily as his aunt grabbed a tissue from the dresser and handed it to him.

“Kate, would you mind giving us a few minutes?” Deena asked me.

“Of course,” I said when Jack didn’t protest. “I’ll just be downstairs.”

“We’ll be down shortly,” she promised, and I closed the door behind me as I left the room.

I didn’t really want to be social, but as soon as I came down the back staircase that led to the kitchen, I was surrounded by members of the Kinsley’s extended family. I’d met them all the night before, so I said hello as I grabbed a plate and started to fill it, simply to have something to do. I wasn’t really hungry, but I could take a few bites so I didn’t draw attention to myself.

Unfortunately I didn’t get the chance to escape out to the pool deck like I’d hoped. Logan cornered me before I could leave the main area where everyone had congregated, so I sat with him and Kelly and a few of his cousins while I waited for Jack to come back downstairs. Thankfully Logan accepted the story of Jack and his mom needing to talk, and he didn’t ask questions.

It was almost thirty minutes later when Deena came up behind me and put her hand on my shoulder. She said that Jack was ready to leave and asked if I would meet him in his truck.

“Of course,” I told her as I lifted my plate to throw it away.

She took it from me and set it in the kitchen, putting her arm around me as she led me to the front hall. At first I thought it was her way of guiding me, but when I saw the weariness around her eyes, I knew it was more than that. She and I were the only people who truly knew what Jack had been through and how it still affected him. And even I hadn’t seen the gravity of it before I’d witnessed Jack break down upstairs.

“How is he?” I asked her.

“He’s okay. He’s a little shaken, but he’ll be alright.”

“Are you sure?”

She nodded. “He used to get this way a lot, years ago. It’s been awhile since I’ve seen him this upset.”

“He hates his dad.”

She nodded. “He does.
I
hate him, and I’ve never even met the man. He’s the worst kind of person as far as I’m concerned, and I don’t think I’ll ever forgive him for what he did to my sister and Jack.”

I let out a shaky breath. “How can I help him?”

Deena smiled. “Just love him like you’ve done all along. That’s all he needs.”

“Are you sure?”

She nodded. “I’m sure.” Then she hugged me. “Take care, Kate. I’m sure we’ll see you soon – maybe for Thanksgiving in two weeks. You’re more than welcome to join us.”

I smiled. “Thank you for the invitation, but I’m actually planning to go home for the weekend. I think it was a little bit of a shock for our mom when my sister and I both left home this year for college, so we’re going back to Indiana to see her.”