Page 73 of Bursting With Love
He slid his hand beneath her hair and put his cheek beside hers. “I meant what I said about ravishing you,” he whispered.
Her eyes widened and her cheeks flushed. Jack was beginning to recognize the difference between Savannah’s embarrassed blush and her wanting blush. When she was embarrassed, her eyes narrowed slightly, and when she was turned on, the green in her eyes darkened, she grazed her lower lip with her teeth, and she breathed a little harder. As her teeth slid over her lip, Jack suppressed the urge to run his tongue on the pink trail they left behind.
The waitress brought their meals, but Jack’s mind was no longer on dinner. Savannah’s leg had been pressed against his for the past hour, and he’d done well ignoring the desire that mounted in his body, but he knew there wasn’t a chance in hell he’d be able to put anything solid in his mouth—besides any number of Savannah’s body parts. Savannah never looked down at her plate. Their eyes were locked on each other.
She licked her lower lip, and he could tell she was trying just as hard as he was to act appropriately. He wondered if the other patrons could see their secret intentions, too. He had to get control of his emotions. What kind of man couldn’t make it through a meal with his girlfriend? Girlfriend. He felt a smile spread across his cheeks.
“What?” Savannah asked.
“Everything,” was all he could think to say.
Savannah touched his cheek again. Jesus, everything she did turned him on. Focus, Jack. He needed a distraction to quell his desires.
“So, that was an interesting way to start our first real date.”
“Connor or Aida?”
“Both.” He took a sip of his wine. “I’m sorry he cheated on you. That must have been very hurtful.”
Savannah lowered her eyes and shrugged. “It’s kind of my fault. I should have stopped seeing him. I don’t know why I didn’t. I didn’t even really enjoy being with him for the last year or so, but...”
“You’re a little competitive. Maybe you thought you could change him, or you wanted to prove you could.” Jack didn’t know where the thought came from. It had been years since he’d assessed other people’s motives. He realized that parts of himself he hadn’t even realized he’d lost were coming back to him. After Linda’s death, he’d blocked out everything but the pain, anger, and guilt. As he relinquished those harsher feelings, it left space for his old self to fill itself in, and he was glad for the reminder. He felt like an old friend had stopped by to say hello, and he hoped that friend would bring more friends and stay longer. One day I really might be whole again. His response came naturally, and as he dissected it, he realized that Savannah was competitive, and he might be right on target. But when they were in the mountains, he’d also learned that she was sensitive and very, very feminine, and those traits would have left her hurt no matter what her motivation might have been. And he wanted to steal that hurt away forever.
“Maybe. I honestly don’t know. But after being with you, I don’t think that I’ve ever been in a relationship where I was this happy.”
He turned in his chair so he was facing her. “I feel the same way. I’ve never felt so fulfilled or so alive.”
“And you have a cabin in the mountains?” she asked.
Jack nodded. He’d been dead set on not revealing that fact, but when Aida asked him where he lived and he felt Savannah’s eyes on him, he answered honestly. “I do. I’ll take you there one day.”
“I’d love that. You’re so different than you were when I met you. Has something changed?” Her eyes searched his for the answers.
“Everything has changed,” he said honestly. “You sparked something in me that made me want to live again, Savannah. We haven’t really had the time to talk about what’s been going on, and there’s a lot I want to share with you.” He looked at their uneaten food. “Do you want to eat?”
She shook her head.
“Want to take it home for later?” he asked.
She shook her head with a different kind of hungry look in her eyes.
Jack knew that the minute they got inside Savannah’s apartment, he wouldn’t have a chance in hell of staying away from her sweet lips, much less the rest of what was beneath that body-hugging fabric, and he’d never forgive himself if he didn’t stop taking her every chance he got and treat her like she deserved to be treated.
“It’s a beautiful night. Want to go on a carriage ride through the park?”
Her eyes lit up. “I haven’t done that in years.”
