Page 61 of Second Chance Saloon

Jackie hooked her thumb and forefinger over the top button of his shirt. She paused the kissing and looked him in the eye. “You’re good with this?”

Mitch blinked. His eyes were filled with the kind of lust she hadn’t seen in him before. He was breathing heavily, a vein pulsating in his left temple. The muscle in his jaw tensed, his nostrils flaring.

Her heart stammered and toppled over itself at the sight.

Suddenly, the clothes between them were a barrier she needed to remove. Because if she didn’t, something terrible would happen; maybe they’d both burst into flames on the spot, the hay downstairs would catch fire, and the barn would become an orange burning beacon of unfulfilled desire.

“Only if I can take off your dress.”

She chewed on her bottom lip, hoping he noticed the longing burned into her eyes. “What if I told you I’m not wearing anything underneath it?”

He let out a guttural groan she hadn’t heard before. “You want to kill me, Jackie? Is that what you want?”

She laughed, popping his shirt open, button by button. When she reached the end, she stepped back, admiring the hard planes of his chest.

“You’ve seen me shirtless plenty of times.” He threw off his boots somewhere into a forgotten corner of loft.

“But not like this. Not with me. Not for me,” she whispered, tipping her head back. A doubt kicked up its heels in her head. “Maybe we shouldn’t do it here, I didn’t think … It isn’t special or anything.”

Mitch froze to the spot. “Why would it need to be special?”

Jackie swallowed. They hadn’t talked about it, but after Lyla suggested it, she somehow knew it must’ve been true. “Because it’s your first time.”

He pulled his shirt back, covering his chest. “How … Why would you think that?”

She smiled softly, closing the space between them in two strides. Lacing the fingers of one hand with his, she used the other to part the material of his shirt again and stroked his bare chest, finger pads brushing his hard muscles.

“Because we’ve been dating for weeks now, and we haven’t slept together yet. Because you told me you’ve never dated before. Because I see how nervous you get whenever I mention sex,” she said.

Mitch sighed, looking up at the beams supporting the ceiling. “I didn’t realize it was that obvious.”

Her fingers skimmed the front of his abdomen, dipping lower and stopping on the edge of his belt. “It’s not, I’m just very observant.”

“Are you now?” He pulled down the sleeves of her dress, exposing her shoulders. There was no bra strap; he’d known that but the sight of her bare skin drew another heavy breath from his throat.

Jackie nodded, undoing the buckle of his belt. “I’m afraid so.”

“What am I going to do with you, Jacqueline van Moetlier.” He drew an imperfect circle over her shoulder, dragging his forefinger across her collarbone.

Lust seared her skin, peppering it with another wave of goosebumps. “Kiss me?”

“Anytime.”

And he kissed her again, before she could take a breath to prepare for it. He kissed her the way she longed to be kissed, feeling it all the way to the tips of her toes and the roots of her hair.

She undid the button of his trousers. Pulled down the zipper.

Slipped off her sneakers.

Mitch unzipped the back of her peach skater dress, clumsily releasing her arms from the sleeves.

Jackie helped him, or at least she thought she did; she wasn’t entirely sure, dazed after the kissing and deafened by her heart thumping in her ears.

Her dress hit the floor. She stepped out of it, her pulse pumping heat into her muscles. Shadows and faint light enveloped her naked body. Rapid-fire heartbeats hit her chest steadily. She couldn’t speak, couldn’t breathe; not until he said something, not until she knew he still wanted her.

What if she didn’t look like he’d imagined? What if he didn’t want her anymore? What if her breasts were too small, her thighs too soft, her waist too big? What if …

Mitch cupped her cheeks and kissed her so hard that she was certain her soul left her body, parched for air, for life.