Page 44 of Close to Heaven

Instead, she gazed into his eyes and licked her lips. “I’m not usually this flustered around men.”

Her pulse pounded rapidly against his fingers, and he gave her wrist a gentle squeeze. “It’s my turn to ask you a question.”

“Okay.”

“Have you broken up with Trevor yet?”

She searched his eyes while he waited for the answer, his own pulse pounding as rapidly as hers.

“I tried calling him, but he didn’t answer.”

“Have you changed your mind?”

She shook her head vehemently. “No.”

He took a step closer, and her sweatshirt brushed his chest. “This is a really bad idea,” he said almost to himself. He let go of her wrist, giving her the option of backing away and preventing them from going further.

Instead of backing up, she moved closer and planted her hands on his chest. “Sometimes what seems like a bad idea turns out to be a really good one.”

Suddenly they were kissing. He wasn’t sure who initiated it, and he didn’t care. He simply gave in to the sensations—soft, cushiony lips, exploring tongue, warm, curvy body.

He wound his arms around her waist and tugged her up against him. She responded by looping her arms around his neck and pulling his head down.

She moaned against his lips, and the sound traveled straight to his groin, making his arousal throb with need. He slowly slid his hands under the back of her sweatshirt and palmed her lower back. She shivered at the contact, and he paused.

“You okay?”

“God, yes!”

She went up on tiptoes and kissed the corner of his mouth. Then she ran her tongue along the seam of his lips, causing him to groan.

“For someone who doesn’t date, you sure know how to kiss,” she said.

He grinned and gently rubbed her back with his thumbs. Her skin was warm and soft like the rest of her, and as his hands drifted further up her back, he discovered she wasn’t wearing a bra.

“Avery…”

She shook her head. “Let’s not talk.”

“But…”

“Please, Jax.”

He searched her face and saw invitation and longing.

“Kiss me again,” she breathed.

A stronger man might have been able to resist, but at that moment, he was weak. It had been so long since he’d felt a woman’s touch and wanted someone this much, and he was helpless to fight it.

He bent his head to kiss her again, and their lips had barely brushed when someone knocked on the door. They abruptly broke apart and put some space between them.

“It’s Trevor. Open up.”

Avery’s eyes widened with shock as she looked from Jax to the door and back again.

He sighed. “You might as well open it.”

She slowly nodded, and as she moved toward the door, she adjusted her sweatshirt.