Page 77 of Redemption

She arched a brow at me and then shrugged out of her shorts and top. “That’s fine, if you think you can keep your hands to yourself.”

I prowled across the bed and pulled her into me. “Sweetheart, I have zero intention of keeping my hands to myself.”

The woman honest to God giggled and I decided it was a sound I would move heaven and earth to hear again.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Katarina

“This isn’t very professional,” I complained.

Jack had me pinned against the empty end stall in the stables, his mouth on my neck. My eyelids fluttered shut as he sucked on the pulse beneath my skin. God I loved it when he did that, my body turned to putty in his hands. For someone with hardly any experience he sure knew what he was doing.

“Feel free to make a complaint to HR,” he rumbled, before diving back down to my throat again. My hands began their own dalliance under his damp shirt. He’d been baling hay before I distracted him. I’d been innocently leaning againstthe wall, silently watching him. His back muscles flexed in a way that had heat churning in my gut and Imayhave sighed out loud, which drew his attention and well, here we were…

I raked my nails over him, I loved how solid he was. A wall of muscles covered in thick, tan skin that tasted like salt and sex. He huffed out a breath against my neck as I squeezed.

“If you keep doing that, I’m going to have to find something to restrain you with,” he groaned.

I giggled. “You wouldn’t dare,” I teased, an undercurrent ofdo itin my tone and I was so glad he caught it.

“Right, where’s that rope I saw earlier?” He glanced around and shackled my wrists.

“No!” I squealed, trying to pull them away and failing miserably. He gave me a look that said I was in for a ravishing and my excitement grew. He tickled me, I shrieked and giggled and we ended up on the floor of the newly cleaned stall, rolling in the hay.

“Kat? You in here?” Daisy’s voice rang out and my stomach dropped in fear.

“Shit,” I whispered and shoved Jack off me, leaping to my feet and frantically righting my clothing and wiping my mouth. I glanced down at Jack who was looking at me with a strange expression on his face. Emotion swam behind his eyes, a sadness floating in their depths that made me uncomfortable.

He got to his feet, just as Daisy appeared around the stall door. She frowned when she saw me and Jack clearly looking awkward, her mouth tightened in disapproval and that sinking feeling hit my belly once more. Although she’d let him into the house, she was still wary of him, and I knew she wouldn’t appreciate it if she caught us in a compromising position.

“Everything okay?” she asked, her piercing eyes flitting between us.

“Sure,” I said, a little breathlessly from all my efforts to act casual. I glanced at Jack who was still looking at me with that expression. A muscle ticked in his jaw before he turned away and grabbed the broom.

“Sure,” he said over his shoulder, the word clipped, and I cringed at the tension that now radiated from his shoulders. Guilt clawed at me, and I hated that I rebuffed him in front of someone but I didn’t know how I felt about him, about us. And I certainly didn’t know how to have that conversation with my sisters. I needed him to understand that this was complicated and I needed time to come to terms with it and figure out how to handle it.

“What’s up?” I asked, brightly.

Daisy continued staring between us. “Those men from the other day are back, just thought you should know.”

“Okay, I’ll be right down,” I said. This time at least I was prepared for them. I had a plan. It would be enough to pay them off and make them go away so I had some breathing room to plan what to do with all the other people we owed money to.

Daisy nodded and left the stables. There was an uncomfortable tension between me and Jack, the stall suddenly felt too small. I watched him continue sweeping, not facing me and I wanted to put my arms around him, tell him I was sorry for my panic, but I couldn’t move or form the words.

I turned to leave when he asked, “Want me to come with you?”

I shook my head. “Nah, I got this.” I tucked my hands into my pockets.

“I don’t doubt it,” he replied and his faith in me gave me the boost I needed to go and deal with these twoassholes.

They were on the porch, waiting patiently for me while Daisy glared at them and blocked their entrance to the house. Martin was there in his stupid suit with a smug smile and Muscles in tow.

“Ah, Ms. Cartwright, we meet again,” Martin said, like we just bumped into each other.

“That’s what happens when you keep coming to my property,” I replied, sharply.

Martin’s mouth pulled into a thin line of displeasure. “Well, by all means let’s make this quick. My money?”

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