Page 9 of Jack (Big Hot Alphas 7)

Way more.

“Want to grab some dessert?” I say. “I saw an ice cream place a few blocks away.”

Claire looks at me, surprised, and doesn’t answer right away. She was probably expecting me to try and talk her into coming back to my room.

“That sounds…really nice, actually,” says Claire. “But I need to shower off first. Meet you in the lobby in ten minutes?”

Chapter Five

Claire

There are only a couple other people in the ice cream shop, and when we slide into one of the old-fashioned booths, it feels like we have the whole place to ourselves. There are too many delicious-sounding flavors to pick just one, so Jack and I settle on ordering a mini scoop of four different flavors—pistachio, salted peanut butter, triple chocolate, and rhubarb—and agree to share all of them.

As delicious as the ice cream is, though…Jack looks even more delicious.

I know I shouldn’t let myself think like that. I’m still sticking to my guns: I’m not going to hook up with him. A little bit of kissing is fine, but I’m not going to let it go beyond that.

I mean, what’s the point? He lives two states away from me.

“So tell me more about you, Claire,” Jack says, setting his spoon down on his napkin and leaning against the back of the booth. “So far, I know that you’re a second grade teacher, you’re an excellent swimmer, and you’re terrible at water fights…”

I scoff. “Hey. We called a truce.”

“Okay, okay. I take it back.”

I eat a spoonful of chocolate ice cream, then lick the spoon clean. “What else do you want to know?”

“What’s your family like? What kind of music are you into? What are your deepest, darkest secrets?” Jack grins. “You know. All that good stuff.”

“Oh, jeez.” I laugh. “Okay. Well, I come from a small, close-knit family. I have one sibling, an older sister…”

As I tell Jack more about my life, he listens attentively. I feel like I’m just droning on and on, but he seems genuinely interested and keeps asking me questions.

When I ask him more abouthislife, I learn that he comes from a close-knit family, too, and that he’s a big hockey fan. He also tells me about the work he’s been doing with his school district—it’s obvious from the way he talks that he’s passionate about making sure everyone has the same opportunities, especially those from poorer areas.

“It’s hard,” he says with a shrug, “but those kids deserve the best education we can give them. It’s not their fault their parents may not have had the education they needed to break out of poverty. I want those kids to at least have a chance.”

“Definitely,” I say.

“It’s actually a dream of mine to start a non-profit that focuses on helping disadvantaged kids,” Jack goes on. “Because while I can even out a lot of the tax money we receive, I can’t do much about the wealthy parents donating to bake sales and fundraisers, you know?”

I nod. I love how much he cares. It makes him all the more attractive—as if I really needed a reason to feel more attracted to him.

“Here,” says Jack, nudging the last cup of ice cream across the table at me. There’s just a few bites of rhubarb ice cream left. “It’s all yours.”

“Oh, I shouldn’t,” I say. “I already ate too much.”

Instead of laughing, though, Jack just looks at me, his gaze soft.

“You have no idea how beautiful you are, do you?” he says.

Instantly, my cheeks heat.

Fortunately, though, Jack has the decency to act like my face didn’t just turn apple-red at his compliment. He gathers up our cups and stands up to throw them away, then holds the door open for me as we leave. As we walk back to the hotel, we talk about how pretty the night is, and we discover that we both want to travel to a lot of the same places.

By the time we step into the hotel elevator, I’m so absorbed in our conversation that it doesn’t even occur to me to press the button for my floor.

But Jack reaches past me to hit both of our numbers. As he does, his arm brushes mine, and a vibration of desire runs up my spine. I know I keep telling myself that I shouldn’t let anything happen between us tonight…but would itreallybe such a bad thing to have one night together?

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