Sweet Obsession: Windy City Kink, Book 1 (13 page)

Jack’s face had been intent, his eyes narrowed, his mouth a grim line as he focused and moved, so gracefully for a big guy. His face shone with perspiration. He’d apparently been working out for a while, and pretty hard from the looks of it. Then she watched him take his friend and business partner to the mat in a smooth, annihilating move. Yipes! That had to hurt. But Adam was quickly up on his feet and they were fighting again.

They couldn’t possibly mean to hurt each other, but it was definitely physical and intense. And then in a heartbeat, Jack’s eyes met hers in the mirror. Before she could say a word, he was flat on his back on the mat.

“Oh my God!” She covered her nose and mouth with her hands and took a step forward, then stopped. Jack was already bounding up and bouncing on the balls of his feet.

“Shit,” he said to Adam who laughed.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

“Of course.” Jack shrugged and moved toward her. “I know how to fall.”

“Oh. Okay.”

“Did you just get here?”

“Yes. I came back to get some sketches I left here earlier.”

He nodded. “How’s it going? Got anything to show me yet?”

“As a matter of fact, I do. I was going to call you tomorrow.”

His eyes brightened. “Great! Wanna do it now? Or…” He slanted a look at Adam. “When we’re done here?”

“I didn’t bring everything with me,” she said. “Sorry.”

He wrinkled his nose, but smiled. “Damn. Okay, so maybe tomorrow we could get together?”

“Sure.”

“You have meetings all day tomorrow,” Adam reminded him, lifting one knee to stretch.

“Damn. I do.” He looked back at Sasha. “How about dinner?”

“It could wait until Saturday…or next week…”

“No. I can’t wait. C’mon, humor my impatience.”

She’d had lunch with him and managed to keep it businesslike. She should be able to do dinner. “Okay.”

“Hey, stay and have pizza with us,” he said. “We’re just going to spar a bit longer and then order in.”

“I already ate.”

“Huh. It is kinda late, isn’t it? Our day went long. Well, stay anyway and have a beer.”

“I don’t want to interrupt your…uh…workout.”

“You’re not. Just give me a few minutes to kick his ass.” He grinned.

“As if,” Adam returned.

They started at it again, and Sasha watched, fascinated by the skill and control they both showed. It didn’t take long to see that Jack really was superior to Adam, although Adam wasn’t exactly a pushover and got in a few good hits on Jack. She found herself gasping, holding her breath and grimacing as they appeared to pummel each other.

The physicality of it was masculine and tough, and yet there was a primal, exotic beauty to it, a sense of control and restraint. When they’d finished, she stood there smiling and shaking her head.

“What?” Jack asked after they exchanged oddly formal bows then walked off the mat. They turned and bowed again and each grabbed towels hanging on a wall. He wiped the sweat that dampened his hair.

“I could never do that,” she said. “It’s so aggressive.”

“It’s not, actually,” Jack said. He unwrapped the black belt from around his waist. “Aikido was developed as a way to defend yourself without injuring your attacker. It uses the motion of the attacker and redirects the force, rather than facing it head on. It doesn’t take that much strength. You could totally do it.”

“And yet you look very strong.” She eyed his muscles.

He grinned and reached for the hem of his loose shirt. When he pulled it up and over his head, revealing his bare chest, her mouth went dry. Oh sweet baby Jesus. His abs were a defined six-pack, his pecs taut, his shoulders and biceps round with muscle, and the bronzed skin gleamed damply. She watched a drop of sweat trickle from his throat down the center of his chest and her gaze continued on that path down to where the pants hung dangerously low on his hips. His obliques arrowed down toward a hint of dark hair at the edge of the white cotton. She swallowed a moan.

“It never hurts. But seriously, once you learn the moves and practice them over and over again, it becomes like a habit, something you don’t even have to think about. Someone comes at you and your body responds instinctively, almost.”

“I guess.” As she’d already observed, Jack had filled out a lot since he was eighteen, but now she’d seen him without clothes, she was all flustered and fluttery.

“It would be good for you to know,” he said. “A woman living in a big city is always vulnerable.”

Yeah, there were times she felt vulnerable, walking down dark streets at night by herself. She didn’t often frequent areas where she felt unsafe, but stuff could happen anywhere and sometimes it seemed like the news was full of violence and crime. But most of the time, she felt safe. “I don’t think I need it,” she murmured.

He smiled. “Any time you want to learn, I’d be happy to teach you some moves.”

Oh good. That suggestion brought forth all kinds of hot images of Jack teaching her moves—in bed, amidst tangled, sweaty sheets. Heat washed down through her body and her knees trembled.

“Pizza,” Adam prompted. “I was starving two hours ago.”

“Yeah, come on. We’ll order and then I wouldn’t mind a quick shower.”

“I should go,” she said, hoping her legs were strong enough to walk. “I’ll just find my sketches. I think they’re probably on your dining room table.”

“Don’t go,” Jack said. “I want to talk to you about the garden. I’ll just be a few minutes.”

He phoned in an order for an extra large Italian special with salami, peppers, onions and olives, then disappeared bare-chested into his bedroom.

She found her sketches at the dining room table. After slipping off her scarf and jacket and draping them over the back of a chair, she flipped through them as Adam too went to change, trying to control her shaky hands. She’d debated whether to come back for the sketches tonight when she ran the risk of running into Jack, or waiting until tomorrow. But she’d wanted to put everything together tonight so she could call him tomorrow and be ready to share her ideas with him.

Adam returned first and helped himself to a beer from Jack’s fridge. He held another one up. “Beer?”

“Um. Sure.”

“Want a glass?”

“No, that’s okay.”

Adam popped the top off and handed her the bottle, apparently quite at ease in Jack’s kitchen.

“So,” she said, searching for something to say. “You and Jack have been friends a long time.”

He nodded. “Yeah. Since college.”

“And you both do Aikido.”

“He got me started,” Adam said. “He’s way more into it than I am. But it’s good exercise. I was never much into sports.” He grimaced.

“You look pretty good at it.”

He shrugged and drank his beer. “I do okay. Jack needed that workout. This has been a stressful week.”

“Oh. How so?”

“We’re getting ready to launch a new product. There are a million things to be done. It’s crazy.”

She guessed running a multi-million dollar business did have a lot of stress. Jack had seemed pretty relaxed the other times they’d met, although he always gave that impression of energy vibrating just beneath the surface, of leashed power and strength, as if he was a guy ready to move, to take action.

Jack reappeared, now dressed in pair of softly faded jeans and a white T-shirt that hugged his broad shoulders and chest and hung loose over those flat abs. Now she’d seen exactly what was beneath that T-shirt, it was even sexier. He ran a hand through hair that was now damp from his shower and his high cheekbones wore a healthy flush from his workout. It made him look even more attractive.

“Oh good, you got a drink.” It was his turn to open the fridge and take a beer. “So show me what sketches you have.”

She slipped off the stool she’d perched on at the long counter and retrieved the sketches. She laid them out on the granite. “These aren’t complete,” she said. “I have more with different views, and I have pictures to show you too, of some of my ideas for plantings and furniture.”

He nodded, eyes moving as he studied the drawings. “This looks cool,” he said, using a long index finger to tap one paper. “I like the look of that screen. Almost like a shoji screen.”

“Um. Yes. That’s right.” She’d taken inspiration for that one from the simple décor of his dojo. “I wasn’t sure how you’d like that, or how far you’d like to take that Oriental feel, so I have a few variations on that. But I’ll have to show you the rest tomorrow.”

He looked up and smiled at her. “Can’t wait.”

The promise in his voice seemed to indicate more than just impatience to see the project designs, and her blood heated as it pulsed through her veins. Their eyes met and held, and then she dropped her gaze and nodded.

“We talked a little about what kinds of things you want to do out there,” she said.

Adam coughed.

“I’ve tried to incorporate space for entertaining but also for quiet time,” she continued.

“Good.” Jack nodded and straightened from where he’d leaned over the counter. “I trust that you’ll do what I want. But if you don’t, we’ll talk about it, right?”

You’ll do what I want.
His words and the firm tone of voice made her pussy squeeze hard, startling her. “O-of course. I want you to be satisfied.”

His eyes darkened and more heat slid through her body. Damn. Once again she had to forcefully drag her gaze away from his. She took a big gulp of her beer, almost choking on the fizzy beverage.

“One of the wholesalers I work with has a new line of outdoor furniture,” she said, her voice a little strangled. “I think it’s really beautiful and I’m hoping we can use it. If you like it.”

He nodded, his eyes still focused intently on her. “I guess we’ll see.”

Adam cleared his throat. “Uh. You two want me to leave?”

Her gaze flew to his face and her cheeks warmed. “What?”

He grinned. “I feel like I’m intruding on a very private conversation here. You two look like you’re about to jump each other.”

Her face burned and Jack scowled. “Shut up,” he snapped at his friend. “We’re just talking business.”

Unfazed, Adam leaned against the counter on the opposite side of the long island where she and Jack studied the sketches. “Sure, dude. Okay.”

“Okay,” she said. “I really have to go now.”

She set her nearly empty bottle on the counter with a clink and gathered up her papers.

“I’ll walk you out,” Jack murmured as he helped her into her jacket. He followed her to the elevator door and pushed the button. “Thanks for being so fast getting the designs done.”

“Well, these are just preliminary designs. Once we decide what you want, I have to do estimates, then with your approval I work on the final designs and scheduling.”

“I know.” He nodded. “One step at a time. So I’ll see you tomorrow.”

She smiled and nodded as she stepped into the elevator. When the doors slid closed between them, she sagged against the wall, as seemed to be her habit there. She looked at herself in the mirrored wall, her cheeks flushed, her eyes sparkling. Whoa. That had been…stimulating.

She headed home and walked into the duplex a short while later, her entire body still on high alert. She sighed and dropped her purse and the sketches on the dining table, then took off her jacket.

“That you, Sasha?” Kevin’s voice called from upstairs.

“Yep.”

His footsteps thudded down the stairs and he appeared wearing a cute skirt and sweater. “Got the missing sketches?”

“Yeah. Now I’m going to put everything together. Jack’s taking me out for dinner tomorrow night to go over them and make some decisions.”

“Dinner.” He folded his arms across his broad chest. “Huh.”

“It’s a business dinner. Do we have any cookies?”

“We need to go grocery shopping. The cupboards are bare.”

“Saturday?”

“Sure. I don’t have a dinner date tomorrow night, like you, but I can pick up McDonald’s or something.”

“Oh poor baby.” She patted his cheek as she passed by him with her drawings.

He grinned.

She headed up to her room and closed the bedroom door. Then she flopped facedown on the bed, her body thrumming with lust. For Jack.

Oh God.

She closed her eyes and fisted the duvet in one hand, pressing her aching pelvis into the mattress. Her hips moved in a needy rhythm.

She kept replaying some of the things he’d said, the way he’d said them, all quietly masterful, the way he’d looked, strong and masculine. Oh dear God.

I’d be happy to teach you some moves.

I trust that you’ll do what I want. But if you don’t, we’ll talk about it, right?

His bare chest, all gleaming with sweat. His bare feet beneath the hem of faded jeans. The focused intensity in his eyes as he sized up his opponent when they sparred. The primal male energy he exuded.

With a groan, she rolled to her back. She had work to do. She had to put Jack and his sexy body and hot eyes and compelling confidence out of her mind.