Jane's Gift (5 page)

The urge to feel those arms around her was so strong, but she tried to deny it. She tried to deny the buzz of electricity that seemed to surround them whenever they were together, the way his gaze lingered on her mouth when she spoke. As if he might want to kiss her.

Jane wanted to kiss him back.

Just once, just to know what it felt like to have his firm yet sensual lips pressed to hers. She’d kissed her fair share of guys—she hadn’t grown up a sheltered nun—but no man’s mouth had captured her imagination such as Chris’s did.

She had a feeling he would be an expert kisser, that he would know just what to do, just how to coax a delicious response from her. Would he taste sweet like the chocolate he’d been snacking on?

Dread filled her and she breathed deeply, desperate to focus on the movie, on anything but the man beside her. The date had been a mistake. She wasn’t ready for anything like this yet.

But then when would she get her chance? She was still young. Most twenty-eight-year-old women were having successful careers, single and dating or just married. They certainly weren’t the mothers of three, without a husband and with a multitude of scars that made it impossible to even imagine what it would be like to get naked in front of a man again.

Jane’s cheeks burned at the thought of getting naked in front of another man that wasn’t her husband. Getting naked in front of Chris.

The mere idea of it was frightening.

Chris leaned in, his mouth close to her ear yet again, and she swore she felt the brush of his lips against her flesh. “The movie’s terrible, don’t you think?”

Her cheeks warmed at his closeness and she hoped he wouldn’t notice in the dark theater. “It
is
pretty terrible,” she admitted. He pulled away from her, flashing a quick smile.

That smile sent a zing all the way through her body right down to her toes. Goodness, would she ever get used to seeing him, looking at his gorgeous face?

“A few people have already ditched this movie—not that I can blame them. Should we?”

Jane glanced around the theater, noticed that they were practically the only ones left. An older man sat at least ten rows below them and two teenagers were in the front row on the floor, their necks craned to stare up at the giant screen. That was it.

“What else would we do? It’s probably too late to see another movie. I need to get back to Mindy’s and pick up the kids.” Disappointment filled her that their date was ending early. She’d hoped for at least a couple of hours with Chris, away from the children.

“We could grab a coffee before I take you home,” Chris suggested, and she wondered if he wasn’t willing to end their time together just yet, either.

“I’ll be up all night if I drink caffeine.” Dammit, why did she phrase it like that? The look he shot her said that maybe he wouldn’t mind if she’d be up all night. Not the message she’d meant to send him. She was the one who’d wanted to be just friends. She knew that was the right course to take.

The attraction between them, though, was undeniable. With the heated glances they exchanged, how she shivered when he touched her, the subtle flirtation…

“They do have decaf, you know,” he teased, dipping his head close to hers for what felt like the millionth time. Again, that stray lock of hair fell across his forehead, giving him a little-boy look that she found sweetly endearing.

And smoking hot.

“Yeah, but if I’m going to a coffee shop, I don’t want to skimp and get decaf. I want full-tilt,” she teased back. It was easy with him, talking and joking. She liked it. Made her feel normal and carefree, like she used to be.

And that’s what she needed to focus on. The talking stuff, the friendly stuff. Not the intense, sexy stuff that made her skin prickle and her belly heat.

“Are you saying decaf is for wimps?” He cocked a dark brow, a lopsided smile tilting his mouth, and all of a sudden, she couldn’t resist. Jane reached out and, with tentative fingers, pushed the hair off his forehead. And just as she’d imagined, it was silky soft, sifting across her fingertips to fall back where it belonged.

Their eyes met, locked, and she was held captive, her hand frozen for the briefest second. He grabbed her by the wrist, pulled her hand to his mouth, and pressed a fleeting kiss to her knuckles.

Oh, God
. Shock froze her in place and she knew she should pull away, brush it off as nothing. But she couldn’t ignore the heat that coursed through her at the mere touch of his lips, and she swallowed hard, blinked slowly. Anything to try and bring back the normal, everyday emotions she lived with.

But they were gone, wiped clean by the touch of Chris’s fingers, the brush of his mouth.

“Jane.” He whispered her name, his voice achingly gentle, and her lips parted to answer him but nothing came out. The intensity of his gaze, the way he watched her left her paralyzed, speechless.

He let go of her hand and it dropped into her lap, her fingers tingling from his touch. He took it a step further by reaching out to cup her left cheek, his work-roughened fingers caressing her skin, and she drew in a sharp breath. She didn’t want him to feel her scars.

But he wouldn’t let her move away.

“Don’t be afraid. I won’t hurt you.”

Her eyes went wide as she stared up at him. His face hovered above hers, his hand tightening on her cheek as he drew her closer. Oh, he was going to kiss her, just as she’d imagined only moments before. Panic set in. Her breathing accelerated, her chest heaved with the effort, and she licked her lips in preparation.

Earning a quiet groan from Chris. Feminine power sparked within her. Who knew she had such an effect on him?

“I shouldn’t do this. But…you’re so beautiful.” His words made her heart flutter and she wanted to deny it, wanted to tell him how much better looking she’d been before the accident. When her skin had been clear and not covered with scars and she hadn’t been as skinny. When she could move with ease and dance and sing and have fun. Her hair had been longer, past her shoulders, wavy and so thick.

She was a mere shadow of her former self. She didn’t know if she’d ever be able to get that old Jane back.

“Chris, I—” she started, but he didn’t let her finish. His head swooped and his mouth captured hers, silencing her, swallowing her words.

She forgot what she wanted to say. Her mind had been wiped clean by the touch of Chris’s mouth upon hers.

And she never wanted this kiss to end.

Chapter Five

Her lips were soft and damp. They clung to his in a gentle, almost innocent kiss. A kiss that reminded him of those he’d experienced when he was thirteen and unsure of how to lay one on a girl.

It was sweet—
she
was sweet. Her lips tasted of salt and butter with a hint of chocolate. He broke the kiss, blew a soft breath across her mouth before he touched it again. He parted his lips, as did she, but no tongue played interference—not yet. He didn’t want to spook her.

He knew it was wrong, kissing her. Going against what she’d said only an hour or so before. Friends didn’t kiss—
especially
not like this.

But he couldn’t help it.

Chris approached her much as he would approach an injured animal or a scared child. Tentative, gentle, and so very careful. He didn’t want to go too fast, and she responded to his tactics. Jane tilted her head, angled her chin toward him, and opened her mouth just a bit wider.

“You taste sweet,” he whispered against her lips, and then decided to make a bold move. He swiped his tongue first at one corner of her mouth, then at the other. Her swift intake of breath told him she liked it.

It was time to take it further.

He slid his hand across her cheek, felt the scars there that ran along her hairline. They were puckered, soft and raised. All of a sudden, she jerked away from him, breaking the kiss. Opening his eyes, their gazes met, their heavy breathing in tandem.

“Sorry.” Shit, he blew it. Should’ve never touched her there. She was sensitive about her scars.

“It’s…it’s okay.” Jane shook her head, offered him a trembling smile. “I can’t remember the last time I kissed in a movie theater.”

“Want to do it some more?” He raised his brows. It was a joke…but not really.

“Um…”

“What’s the matter, Jane? Scared we’re going to get caught?” He meant it as a dare. Wanted to see if she’d take him up on it.

“Who’s in here to catch us?” she finally said, her lips curved in the barest of smiles.

He acted without thought, her words spurring him on. Curving his fingers into her hair, the wavy softness curled around his fingers and he cupped the back of her head, tilted her to his mouth so he could kiss her, deepening it in seconds.

Jane opened her lips to him, curved her body more fully toward him, and he blindly reached for the soda, shoving it into the drink holder to his right to get it out of the way. With jerky movements, he lifted the arm rest, shoved it up, and she shifted even closer, her knees bumping against his.

Reminding him that she wore a skirt. He could easily slide a hand up beneath the denim and touch her warm, tight-covered thigh. Yeah, he couldn’t go that far, though. Not yet, especially not in a movie theater. He wasn’t a teenager trying to cop a feel.

Yet he felt like one, making out with a pretty girl in his arms, trying to get to second base at the movies. He’d done something similar with his first serious girlfriend in high school. Eager to crush his mouth onto hers, put his hands all over her body, he’d tried anything and everything to get them alone.

He felt much the same with Jane now. Eager and fumbling and unsure of what she might want from him. Not wanting to push her too far for fear of scaring her off.

Damn. He needed to quit thinking and start kissing. Now.

So he settled his mouth on hers, touched the tip of his tongue to her barely parted lips. Her tongue darted out to meet his and he wanted to groan in triumph, crush her against him, feel her soft curves mold to his body.

But he didn’t. He kept his hand in her hair, clutched the back of her head, and held her mouth to his. The kiss went deep, then deeper, and he wished they were somewhere else, somewhere private, so he could hold her even closer, comfort her with soft words, ease her into this with subtle persuasion.

It was safer for her that they were in the theater. He couldn’t make any too-fast moves, couldn’t screw it up too badly.

Chris focused on the lush taste of her mouth, the sweet rasp of her tongue. Her small hands had found their way to the front of his shirt and she held onto the fabric, balling it in her fists, wrinkling his shirt front.

“I could kiss you all night,” he murmured minutes, hours later as he leaned his forehead against hers.

She cleared her throat and giggled. “I think you have. The movie’s over.”

“It is?” He glanced up, looked at the screen to see the credits rolling and music blaring, a definite signal the movie was long done. “You’re right.”

The lights brightened and Jane shifted away from him, guilt darkening her pretty green eyes. Her mouth was swollen and red from his kisses, her hair a mess from his hands. He smoothed down the front of his shirt, the fabric lumpy from her frantic fingers, and suddenly he was at a loss of what to say.

“We should go,” she suggested, her voice soft, her eyes downcast as she picked up her purse from the empty chair next to her. He stood, grabbing his jacket.

“Jane, are you all right about what—happened?” he asked. But any remaining words stuck in his throat. He certainly wasn’t upset over what just happened, but he wondered if
she
might be. He knew how she felt, yet he wanted more—which conflicted with everything he’d ever done with women throughout his adult life. Women who wanted more scared him. He always left before they could leave him first—it was easier that way.

For once, with Jane, he didn’t want to leave. The attraction between them was undeniable, despite what she said. He wanted to explore it further.

Would she let him?

“I’m fine.” She shook her head and looked up at him. “It was nice.”

There was that word again.
Nice
.

Chris didn’t want to be the nice guy. He wanted to be the hot guy she couldn’t resist, the man she wanted to spend more time with.

She confused him. But he had a feeling he did the same to her.

“Nice,” he muttered, feeling like an ass.

She saw his disappointment, he could tell. “Well, it was more than nice.”

“I’ll say.” He couldn’t resist behaving like a macho jerk. Grabbing her by the hand, he hauled her close, brought her right up against him so he could lay one on her pursed lips. The kiss was firm, even a little rough, his tongue doing such a thorough search of her mouth he heard her give a little whimper.

And when he released her, she wobbled on her feet, had to reach out and grab his arm to steady herself.

Yeah, he was real nice, all right.

…

Jane had never been kissed so thoroughly before in her life.

She stood in front of the entrance to the movie theater, waiting for Chris to bring the car around and pick her up. When they’d left the building, she’d been startled at the chill in the air, immediately wishing she’d brought a coat.

Chris had solved that problem by offering her his jacket, still warm from his body. It enveloped her, hung from her shoulders practically down to her knees, and she hugged it close, breathed deep his scent that lingered there.

Her lips still tingled from his ardent kisses. She pressed her fingers to them, noticed they were fuller, swollen even. She skimmed her fingertips along her cheeks, noticed they felt scratched by the faint stubble that covered his jaw.

She felt…alive. The blood sang in her veins, whirled and pumped through her body as if on a wild waterslide ride, and she shivered. Not from the cold, either.

No, more like from her intense reaction to Christian Nelson.

He’d seemed almost angry when she called their kissing nice. It had been a bad choice of words; she knew it the second it flew out of her mouth. And his reaction had only proven it. That last kiss he’d given her, it had been as if he was trying to prove something. Like he wasn’t as
nice
as she thought he might be.

And oh boy, it had been a doozy. Left her weak in the knees and mind, unable to make out the words he’d spoken to her as they’d left the theater.

Who knew a kiss could leave you weak and incoherent? She’d never experienced anything like it.

She wanted to experience it again.

Despite her earlier speech, despite the fact that she was worried about her children. She knew she should feel guilty. That she should put them first, as she’d been doing since she got out of the hospital. Working so feverishly to attend to their needs, forgetting about herself in the process.

She’d never felt as alive as she had when she’d been in Chris’s arms, his mouth on hers. Until he’d touched her face, her scars. That had freaked her out, almost caused her to ruin the moment. She needed to realize the scars were a permanent part of her. But it was so hard.

“Jane? Is that you?”

Jane whirled around to see a woman around her age standing before her, a black down coat engulfing her body. Jane squinted, knew the woman’s face was familiar, but the name wasn’t coming to her.

“Jane, that
is
you. It’s me, Audrey Daniels! How are you?”

Audrey wrapped her arms around Jane and hugged her tightly, and Jane had no choice but to hug her back. She remembered Audrey dimly from school—she’d been two years ahead of Jane and hadn’t paid much attention to her, really more a part of Mindy’s crowd. Jane had always been just the pesky little sister.

“I’m good,” Jane finally said once Audrey released her. “How are you?”

“Oh, you know. Life’s okay. I’m in the middle of a divorce.” Audrey scrunched up her face. “I’ve had some custody trouble with the ex, but we’re going back to court next month, so we’ll work it out, I’m sure.”

That’s right. Jane forgot how big a gossip Audrey was. And how she had no problem airing her own dirty laundry, either.

“I’m sorry about that. It must be tough.”

“Oh, not as tough as what you’ve gone through, I’m sure.” Audrey waved her hand as if to dismiss her troubles. “I’m so sorry to hear about your husband and what happened to you.”

“I’m okay; it was almost two years ago, and we’re getting through it.” Jane stood straighter, not in the mood for pity tonight. Not in the mood for reminders of Stephen, either. “It’s been hard, but I’m doing much better.”

“I’m sure.” Audrey
tsk
ed her tongue against her teeth, the look on her face clearly stating she didn’t believe Jane whatsoever. “I bet your children have suffered so, so much.”

Why did Jane get the sense that Audrey
wanted
her children to suffer? So strange. “My children have been doing wonderful thanks to the support from my family.”

Audrey nodded. “You guys have always been so close. How’s Mindy, by the way? I haven’t seen her in forever. I’ve heard rumors about her and Marty not doing so well.”

Jane forced a smile. “She and Marty are doing great.”

“Uh huh, I’m sure. So did you just come out of the movies? Who are you here with?”

Jane’s heart dropped to her feet. She didn’t want Audrey to spread the news around town of her date with Christian. “Um…I came with a friend.”

Wow. When push came to shove, she could evade pretty well.

“Sometimes it’s nice to go out and get some time without the kids, huh?” Audrey smiled. “We should all get together sometime. You, Mindy, and me. We could have dinner, some drinks?”

“Um, sure. I’ll talk to my sister and maybe we could work something out.” Yet another evasion.

Audrey’s smile faded as she scrutinized Jane carefully. “Wow, Jane, why is your coat so big? You’re drowning in that thing.”

“Oh, um…”

Just at that moment, Chris pulled up his truck to the curb. Jane turned at the sound of the engine, her eyes closing briefly when she saw him flick his head at her.

Audrey stepped up beside her, staring into the cab of the truck. “Is that Chris Nelson?”

“Uh, yeah,” Jane practically whispered. Oh, boy. It was gonna hit the fan now.

Audrey looked at her oddly. “I thought you said you came with a friend.”

“Um.” Jane didn’t know what else to say or how to explain herself. Caught in a sort of lie by the biggest gossip in town, what could she do?

“Are you on a date with him?” Audrey laughed; the high-pitched sound grated on Jane’s nerves. “He’s the biggest player
ever
. Trust me, honey, he’s dated everyone.”

“We’re not on a date. He’s a family friend like I said,” Jane protested, trying to send Chris an apologetic look. Audrey’s comment niggled, though. So had he really dated
everyone
?

“Sure, he’s a family friend. More like a partner in crime for your little brother the player. Give me a break.” Audrey rolled her eyes and waved, backing away from Jane as if she had a disease. “Have fun with that one, Jane. If you don’t watch it, he’ll break your heart.”

Audrey turned and walked into the movie theater without a backward glance, joining a man who stood inside waiting for her. She finally looked over her shoulder, shot a smug glance in Jane’s direction, and then they walked away.

Jane turned to look at Chris, who waited patiently in his truck. A sharp slap of wind hit her in the face as she went to the passenger side door and opened it, sliding inside the warm confines of the truck.

“Was that Audrey Daniels?”

He didn’t sound too pleased. Jane didn’t know what to make of that. Maybe Audrey left an unpleasant taste in everyone’s mouth? “Yeah, it was.”

“She, uh, talks way too much.” He shifted the truck into drive and pulled away from the curb, cruising through the parking lot toward the exit. “Did she tell you she’s divorcing Rich?”

“She did. I haven’t seen her in years.” Jane gazed out the window, watched the dim lights of the closed businesses that dotted the main drag pass by as he turned onto the highway. “Back in high school she and Mindy were good friends.” Jane didn’t think they were anymore, and she could understand why Mindy didn’t want to be friends with someone like Audrey. But were her secret fears true? Was Chris a total player who went through women quickly? He’d never indicated that he
wasn’t
looking for a commitment, but that didn’t mean much. They barely knew each other. This certainly wasn’t anything serious. She didn’t
want
it to be anything serious.