Begin Again: Short stories from the heart Read Online Free PDF Page A

of ladies. Word was he didn’t even need to pick up a phone because they called him, asked him out, and made sure he had everything a man could possibly want.
    Great. She was falling for a man with a harem. Maybe it was time to get out and date again. Maybe Jack only interested her because it had been so long since she’d stopped to enjoy men, enjoy life. That was the problem. She wasn’t really interested in Jack Torrence at all; she was just deficient in the male attention department right now.
    Thank goodness. That she could correct. But even as she talked herself into the male attention arena and out of Jack Torrence, she knew it was all a farce. The man had gotten to her and that was a problem.
    ***
    When the doorbell rang at ten fifteen that evening, Sam emerged from her bedroom clad in a teal sweat suit, wondering who could be calling in a city where she knew less than five people. She ran a hand through her hair and peeked through the security hole. Her pulse quadrupled as she opened the door.
    Jack Torrence stood before her, tall and formidable. His hazel gaze devoured her as he stepped over the threshold and closed the door.
    “Jack?” Was that breathy voice really hers? “Is something wrong?”
    “Everything’s wrong,” he muttered a second before he hauled her against him and kissed her. His hands roamed her body, touching and stroking with fierce possession. Sam forgot about logic, forgot about sensible, as she wrapped her arms around his neck and reveled in the taste and feel of him.
    “Sam,” he groaned, his lips working a slow path down her neck, “I’ve tried to forget you, but you’re like a fire in my blood.”
    She moaned, a desperate sound of need and desire. Jack Torrence was in her blood too and there was no use denying or pretending it wasn’t so.
    Jack deepened the kiss, his tongue mating with hers in a slow, sensual dance of desire and need. She couldn’t think when he kissed her like that. Couldn’t formulate one single reason why they shouldn’t kiss, touch … Sam gave herself up to pure sensation; the desperateness of his tongue on hers, the gentleness of his fingers as they unzipped her sweat jacket, the hardness of his body against hers. She wanted him. All of him. And if she didn’t have him soon she was certain she’d burst from sheer wanting.
    Jack led her to the sofa, one caress, one sigh, one heated kiss at a time. He made her sizzle and burn with a heat she’d never felt before. He eased her onto the cushions, pushing her further into their softness as his strong body covered hers.
    “I’ve never wanted anything more in my life,” he whispered against her lips.
    Sam slid her hands along his back. He was all muscle and raw strength. “Neither have I,” she murmured.
    “Your skin is softer than velvet.” He traced her collarbone and trailed a finger along the pulse in her neck. “And before the night is over I’m going to touch every velvety inch of you.”
    He planted soft kisses along her nose, her brow, her jaw before taking her mouth in a searing kiss filled with promise and possession.
    Somewhere in the distance the phone rang. She ignored the sound and stroked his back, pulling him closer.
    The ringing stopped. Thank God.
    Three little beeps surged through her brain as the answering machine kicked in. “Hello, dear. It’s Uncle Richard. Just calling to invite you to dinner tomorrow. By the way, how are you making out with Jack?” He chuckled. “I’m not giving up on you two yet. I still think he’d make a fine addition to the family. You just need to try a little harder, he’s a stubborn boy. Until tomorrow.” Click.
    She froze and hoped Jack hadn’t heard the call. What a ridiculous wish. Of course he’d heard. She fixed her gaze on his shoulder and waited. He was staring at her, the heat of his gaze burning through her defenses with the same intensity as the desire he’d shown mere seconds before.
    “Dammit!” He flung himself off her as