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Authors: Lorelei James
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his hand on her face and she flinched. “Relax.”
“I am!” she snapped, ducking away.
Jack removed his hand, waited a beat, then caressed her cheek with the back of his knuckles.
She flinched again.
“Dammit, Keely, it’s not like I’m going to hit you. Sit still.”
“At least if you were hitting me I could hit you back.”
His hand froze. “You’d rather I was hitting you than touching you?”
Keely held her body immobile, which didn’t provide him any more encouragement than her cringing.
Great. Between Martine dumping him and the incident with Keely—which affected him far more than he’d ever admitted to himself—his sexual ego had taken a serious hit in recent years. Was he doing this all wrong?
She exhaled. “Okay. Try again.”
He set his hand on her knee. “Maybe we should start here.”
“See? I hardly flinched at all.”
“That’s heartening.” Jack lightly caressed the smooth skin. She didn’t object. This could work if he took baby steps.
Yeah, if you’re lucky maybe the prickly woman will let you hold her hand tomorrow.
The sexual cynic inside him laughed that only a hard-up moron became excited by stroking Keely’s cute kneecap.
Fuck. This was so not him. Waiting. Asking permission. He was large and in charge.
“Maybe we should start with you dousing me with tequila,” Keely muttered.
Jack scowled. “You have to get drunk just to talk to me?”
“You asked.”
“Can you not be contrary for one goddamn second?”
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45
Lorelei James
Keely opened her mouth, probably to fire off, I’m not contrary , but she snapped it shut.
Ah. Progress. While he waited for her to jumpstart the conversation, he lightly swept his thumb over the top of her knee.
“What should we chat about?” she intoned sweetly.
“Bring me up to speed on your family. You could talk about them all damn night.”
A small smile. “True. What do you want to know?”
“I imagine you spend significant time with your nephews since you have an entire closet filled with toys.”
“You noticed. Except I have nieces now too.”
“Who has girls?
“I’ve always counted Kade’s three daughters as my nieces since Kade is like my sixth brother. And Chassie has sweet little baby Sophia, but I’m talking about Cam and Domini’s girls, Oxsana and Liesl.”
“Huh. Carter told me they planned to adopt twins. A boy and a girl?”
“They did. Dimitri is Oxsana’s twin brother. When Cam and Domini were at the orphanage in Romania, Liesl, who was five at the time, began following them around, sharing Dimitri and Oxsana’s likes and dislikes.”
“Liesl spoke English?”
“I guess she learned from watching TV.”
He playfully bumped her with his shoulder. “See? TV’s not all bad.”
Keely’s beautiful, wistful smile appeared again. “According to Cam, Domini would’ve brought every kid in the orphanage home, so it’s ironic Cam was the one who pushed to adopt Liesl.”
“Why?” Jack’s hand inched higher on her leg.
“Cam, being nosy Cam, noticed Liesl limped, but she’d always shuffle away and hide whenever he asked her about it. When he grilled the orphanage caretakers, they told him her leg had been blown off by a land mine when she was two.”
“Holy shit. Seriously?”
“Yeah. She’d wandered away from her drug-addled parents into a freakin’ minefield. Then they abandoned her into state care. Luckily she got a prosthetic leg, which isn’t always the case, and actually, is out of the norm.”
“Why’s that?”
She shrugged. “Fittings are difficult for younger kids because they grow so much. Balance is always an issue. They constantly need new prosthetics and each one is expensive. You can imagine that isn’t a priority in what’s basically a third world orphanage.”
“Sounds like you know a lot about prosthetics,” he murmured.
46
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All Jacked Up
“I learned tons helping Cam find the right one.
“I am!” she snapped, ducking away.
Jack removed his hand, waited a beat, then caressed her cheek with the back of his knuckles.
She flinched again.
“Dammit, Keely, it’s not like I’m going to hit you. Sit still.”
“At least if you were hitting me I could hit you back.”
His hand froze. “You’d rather I was hitting you than touching you?”
Keely held her body immobile, which didn’t provide him any more encouragement than her cringing.
Great. Between Martine dumping him and the incident with Keely—which affected him far more than he’d ever admitted to himself—his sexual ego had taken a serious hit in recent years. Was he doing this all wrong?
She exhaled. “Okay. Try again.”
He set his hand on her knee. “Maybe we should start here.”
“See? I hardly flinched at all.”
“That’s heartening.” Jack lightly caressed the smooth skin. She didn’t object. This could work if he took baby steps.
Yeah, if you’re lucky maybe the prickly woman will let you hold her hand tomorrow.
The sexual cynic inside him laughed that only a hard-up moron became excited by stroking Keely’s cute kneecap.
Fuck. This was so not him. Waiting. Asking permission. He was large and in charge.
“Maybe we should start with you dousing me with tequila,” Keely muttered.
Jack scowled. “You have to get drunk just to talk to me?”
“You asked.”
“Can you not be contrary for one goddamn second?”
www.samhainpublishing.com
45
Lorelei James
Keely opened her mouth, probably to fire off, I’m not contrary , but she snapped it shut.
Ah. Progress. While he waited for her to jumpstart the conversation, he lightly swept his thumb over the top of her knee.
“What should we chat about?” she intoned sweetly.
“Bring me up to speed on your family. You could talk about them all damn night.”
A small smile. “True. What do you want to know?”
“I imagine you spend significant time with your nephews since you have an entire closet filled with toys.”
“You noticed. Except I have nieces now too.”
“Who has girls?
“I’ve always counted Kade’s three daughters as my nieces since Kade is like my sixth brother. And Chassie has sweet little baby Sophia, but I’m talking about Cam and Domini’s girls, Oxsana and Liesl.”
“Huh. Carter told me they planned to adopt twins. A boy and a girl?”
“They did. Dimitri is Oxsana’s twin brother. When Cam and Domini were at the orphanage in Romania, Liesl, who was five at the time, began following them around, sharing Dimitri and Oxsana’s likes and dislikes.”
“Liesl spoke English?”
“I guess she learned from watching TV.”
He playfully bumped her with his shoulder. “See? TV’s not all bad.”
Keely’s beautiful, wistful smile appeared again. “According to Cam, Domini would’ve brought every kid in the orphanage home, so it’s ironic Cam was the one who pushed to adopt Liesl.”
“Why?” Jack’s hand inched higher on her leg.
“Cam, being nosy Cam, noticed Liesl limped, but she’d always shuffle away and hide whenever he asked her about it. When he grilled the orphanage caretakers, they told him her leg had been blown off by a land mine when she was two.”
“Holy shit. Seriously?”
“Yeah. She’d wandered away from her drug-addled parents into a freakin’ minefield. Then they abandoned her into state care. Luckily she got a prosthetic leg, which isn’t always the case, and actually, is out of the norm.”
“Why’s that?”
She shrugged. “Fittings are difficult for younger kids because they grow so much. Balance is always an issue. They constantly need new prosthetics and each one is expensive. You can imagine that isn’t a priority in what’s basically a third world orphanage.”
“Sounds like you know a lot about prosthetics,” he murmured.
46
www.samhainpublishing.com
All Jacked Up
“I learned tons helping Cam find the right one.
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