the mirror. Mirrors revealed all flaws, especially dressing room mirrors.
He grasped her shoulders and turned her around. “Then take a peek so you can see what I see.”
Ugh. She didn’t want to, but she had no choice when he fully spun her around. She looked down at her feet first, not recognizing the slim ankles and shapely calves that led up to slender thighs and…
“Oh my God!”
29
Jaci Burton
Chapter Five
Who was that woman in the mirror? Not the same one she’d seen last night, that was certain. Was she hallucinating? The lighting in the dressing room couldn’t be that good.
But she definitely looked…different. The dress clung to her, all right, but she didn’t look fat or out of shape. The snug fabric slenderized her shape and showed off all her curves.
Well, okay. Her curves were a bit ample. Hell, she wasn’t twenty-five anymore. What did she expect?
“You’ve always been overly critical of yourself,” Jack whispered as if he’d heard her internal thoughts. “You look hot as hell, Katie. Delectable. I’d like to eat you alive, right here.”
There went the temp in the room, notched up another ten degrees. Good thing the dress was sleeveless. What kind of game was he playing with her? Before, he’d never noticed whether she’d been dressed in sweatpants or an evening gown with a tiara on her head.
“You’ve never seen what I see in you,” he said, stepping behind her and resting his hands on the curve of her hips. Her skin burned at his light touch.
“You stopped looking at me a long time ago,” she shot back at his reflection in the mirror, irritated that he was giving her the full-court press. He had to be after something. Some ulterior motive for his oddly attentive behavior. But what?
He frowned, his lids half closing. Then he looked up and met her gaze head-on. “I never stopped looking. I was just… I don’t know what happened to me, Kate. Somewhere along the way I lost sight of what was important. You, the boys, everything that should have mattered. I told you I screwed up. I’ve spent the past five years 30
Dream On
thinking of nothing but that, wondering if you realized how much better off you were without me causing you such pain.”
“Leaving me caused me more pain that I thought I could bear.” But she had borne it, had survived it, had learned to live with the sense of betrayal and mistrust ever since the day he left. “Why did you come back, Jack?”
“To appreciate you the way I never did before. To make you appreciate yourself the way you never did. Beyond your surface beauty, there’s a kind, gentle heart that always gave and gave and gave without hesitation, while I took and took and took. You were always there for me, Katie. Me and the boys. You were unselfish and loving with a hundred percent of your heart and soul, and that’s what makes you beautiful to me.”
His words knifed through her middle, making her ache to turn around and throw her arms around him. But she held back, the part of her that still hurt hesitant to allow her to open her heart again.
He bent his head and pressed a soft kiss to the side of her neck. Her nipples tightened against the snug fabric of the dress as, despite her irritation at him, her body responded with a wild flare of desire.
“I don’t need you to appreciate me.” But the words sounded as hollow as they felt. She did need him to appreciate her, more than she could admit to herself.
“Yes, you do. Now look at yourself and let me tell you what I see.”
“I don’t want to play this game, Jack.”
“It’s not a game. I’m serious. Look.”
She did, meeting his gaze in the mirror, forcing herself to face who she really was now.
“Your face has a glow about it. That always mesmerized me about you. The way your eyes light up when you smile and your cheeks turn pink when you’re embarrassed. Do you remember how shy you were when we first met?”
31
Jaci Burton
“Yes.” She’d almost died when
He grasped her shoulders and turned her around. “Then take a peek so you can see what I see.”
Ugh. She didn’t want to, but she had no choice when he fully spun her around. She looked down at her feet first, not recognizing the slim ankles and shapely calves that led up to slender thighs and…
“Oh my God!”
29
Jaci Burton
Chapter Five
Who was that woman in the mirror? Not the same one she’d seen last night, that was certain. Was she hallucinating? The lighting in the dressing room couldn’t be that good.
But she definitely looked…different. The dress clung to her, all right, but she didn’t look fat or out of shape. The snug fabric slenderized her shape and showed off all her curves.
Well, okay. Her curves were a bit ample. Hell, she wasn’t twenty-five anymore. What did she expect?
“You’ve always been overly critical of yourself,” Jack whispered as if he’d heard her internal thoughts. “You look hot as hell, Katie. Delectable. I’d like to eat you alive, right here.”
There went the temp in the room, notched up another ten degrees. Good thing the dress was sleeveless. What kind of game was he playing with her? Before, he’d never noticed whether she’d been dressed in sweatpants or an evening gown with a tiara on her head.
“You’ve never seen what I see in you,” he said, stepping behind her and resting his hands on the curve of her hips. Her skin burned at his light touch.
“You stopped looking at me a long time ago,” she shot back at his reflection in the mirror, irritated that he was giving her the full-court press. He had to be after something. Some ulterior motive for his oddly attentive behavior. But what?
He frowned, his lids half closing. Then he looked up and met her gaze head-on. “I never stopped looking. I was just… I don’t know what happened to me, Kate. Somewhere along the way I lost sight of what was important. You, the boys, everything that should have mattered. I told you I screwed up. I’ve spent the past five years 30
Dream On
thinking of nothing but that, wondering if you realized how much better off you were without me causing you such pain.”
“Leaving me caused me more pain that I thought I could bear.” But she had borne it, had survived it, had learned to live with the sense of betrayal and mistrust ever since the day he left. “Why did you come back, Jack?”
“To appreciate you the way I never did before. To make you appreciate yourself the way you never did. Beyond your surface beauty, there’s a kind, gentle heart that always gave and gave and gave without hesitation, while I took and took and took. You were always there for me, Katie. Me and the boys. You were unselfish and loving with a hundred percent of your heart and soul, and that’s what makes you beautiful to me.”
His words knifed through her middle, making her ache to turn around and throw her arms around him. But she held back, the part of her that still hurt hesitant to allow her to open her heart again.
He bent his head and pressed a soft kiss to the side of her neck. Her nipples tightened against the snug fabric of the dress as, despite her irritation at him, her body responded with a wild flare of desire.
“I don’t need you to appreciate me.” But the words sounded as hollow as they felt. She did need him to appreciate her, more than she could admit to herself.
“Yes, you do. Now look at yourself and let me tell you what I see.”
“I don’t want to play this game, Jack.”
“It’s not a game. I’m serious. Look.”
She did, meeting his gaze in the mirror, forcing herself to face who she really was now.
“Your face has a glow about it. That always mesmerized me about you. The way your eyes light up when you smile and your cheeks turn pink when you’re embarrassed. Do you remember how shy you were when we first met?”
31
Jaci Burton
“Yes.” She’d almost died when
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