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  Oh…crap.

  She was falling in love with Jack Foster.

  No. Check that statement. She’d gone and done it. She was already in love with Jack Foster.

  He confirmed it when the light from the movie screen touched his face and she saw the grin she adored curve his lips. “You know something, Daph?”

  She shook her head, happy just to look at him.

  “I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship.”

  His timing was perfect. The final words of “Casablanca” echoed through the theater and into her heart.

  Oh hell. She was lost, for sure.

  Chapter Ten

  “Please?”

  Daphne looked shocked. “But Jack, for goodness sake…”

  Jack grinned. “I swear by…by Humphrey Bogart…I’ve never asked a woman this before. Honest, Daph. Please? Be my first?”

  She blushed. Fuck, she blushed like a schoolgirl and Jack loved making those pinks and reds flood her cheeks. “I don’t know…”

  “Aw, c’mon babe. Is it so much to ask?”

  “But Jack. My thong?”

  “Yeah. Your thong. I want it.”

  “But…but why?”

  They were gathering their possessions together in the now fully-lit theater, and Daphne’s blushes were clearly illuminated by the old-fashioned sconces on the walls.

  Jack held up the teeny white scrap of lace, and rubbed his cheek against it, letting the scent of her body fill up his nose all over again.

  “Jaaaack…”

  “I love the way you say that.” He grinned.

  She snorted. “Well you keep doing things that…that shock me silly.” She flashed him an embarrassed smile. “I’m not complaining, mind you, but honestly…what else do you expect me to say? I’m so out of my depth with you.”

  “And I’m out of my depth with you too. Maybe that’s why I want this.” He tucked the lace into his pocket. “It’s my anchor. My lifeline. I can look at it, touch it, and think of you. Of where it touched you.” He kissed her ear as he helped her slip her jacket on. “And how I took it off you.”

  “Ja…” She bit back the word on a choke. “You’re outrageous.”

  “Yeah, ain’t I though?”

  “What am I going to do without it? I have to go outside…”

  “Yep.”

  “But…I…”

  “Who’s gonna know?”

  Daphne considered this. “Well, I…”

  “You’re wearing a very lovely skirt, sweetheart. I told you already how nice you looked this evening. You look even nicer now, with your hair all mussed, your lips kinda soft and kissable, and a certain…something…making your eyes shine…”

  “Damn it Jack, stop saying things like that.”

  “Why? I mean them. I’d never let you prance through a theater lobby with no underwear if I thought there was even a chance anyone would guess, Daph. No way in hell would I let that happen.”

  A sudden bolt of emotion rocked Jack at the mere thought of another man looking at Daphne’s ass. Uh uh. No way. It was his. His fingers clenched down onto the lace in his pocket. “I just want you sitting in my car with your naked skin against my leather seat. Do you have any idea what a turn-on that’s gonna be for me, honey?”

  Wide-eyed, Daphne shook her head. “I have no clue about guys and cars.”

  He smiled. “Trust me.”

  She shrugged. “I do.”

  Those two words went into Jack’s brain and quietly destroyed it with all the force of a small thermonuclear detonation.

  She trusted him.

  Him. Jack Foster. The ordinary guy who’d done nothing more fancy than take his girl out to a movie on a Friday night and engaged in some heavy petting in the darkness. His heart twisted, turned, and shattered into a million pieces, then reassembled itself into something new.

  Something Jack wasn’t quite sure he understood.

  “You scare me, babe,” he muttered.

  “I do?” She blinked as they clattered down the old rickety stairwell and back into the foyer of the theater. “Why?”

  “Dunno.” He lifted her hand to his lips and brushed a quick kiss across her knuckles. “You just do, that’s all.”

  He led her out to Big Red and shuddered as she slid onto the seat. His thoughts were filled with the notion of her nakedness warming that leather. Fuuuuck. He wondered if he’d get arrested for driving with a flagpole between his legs. He could probably hit the clutch with his cock and shift into third without a hitch.

  He bit back a groan and slipped behind the wheel. “So. Where to? Ice cream? It’s traditional, isn’t it?”

  Daphne laughed. “Jack, nothing about you is traditional. For heaven’s sake, I’m sitting here with my bare behind on this darn seat…which is an odd sensation, I have to tell you…so I’ll leave it all in your hands.” She shot him a wicked grin. “Your very capable hands.”

  This time the groan couldn’t be silenced. “God, Daph. You have no idea what that thought is doing to me. I suppose we could find ourselves some ice cream, but I’ll be honest. The cream I want right now isn’t iced.”

  “It isn’t?”

  “Nope. It’s hot. And slick. And…and…” He choked back another groan as his cock reminded him that everything had its limits and he was fast approaching his.

  Daphne, bless her, was blushing again.

  “Shit. I’m going too fast, aren’t I?”

  She bit her lower lip. “We are going fast, here, Jack, but I have to be honest. I’m not quite sure whose foot is on the gas pedal.” She looked at him, warmth in her brown eyes. “You bring out something in me. A…a…wanton woman, if you’ll pardon the phrase. You make me feel…things…want things…I don’t know. It’s hard to put into words because I’ve never felt like this before. Ever.”

  He stared back at her, struggling with new thoughts, new emotions, ideas he’d never considered before, and a hard-on that threatened to rupture his spleen.

  “Daphne…I…uh…me too.”

  “You too what?”

  Jack sucked in a breath. “I’ve never felt like this before either.”

  She raised her eyebrows. “Jack. Come on. I may be naïve, but I have a hard time believing that. You’re very obviously…um…experienced. You know your way around women. I would guess that with your good looks - a car like this - well, heck. You must have women falling over themselves to be with you.”

  Not me. They fall over their tits to be with Big John Johnson. Not me.

  He started the ignition and let Big Red idle quietly, while the Toni Braxton CD filled the small car with soft romantic melodies. He found it soothing to his confused brain as he fought to find the right words, for once, not the standard phrases he’d used so many times before.

  This was - different. Important.

  “Sweetheart, you told me you trusted me.”

  She nodded. Okay. So far so good.

  “I’m asking you to believe me, too. Believe me when I tell you that being with you is like…like nothing I’ve ever experienced before.”

  “Haven’t dated many librarians, huh?” Daphne attempted to lighten the moment.

  He grinned. “Not a one. A defect in my romantic entanglements, I guess. But seriously, Daph…” He took her hand. “Being with you is…unique. There’s something about you - about us - when we’re together, that makes me feel…”

  “Feel what, Jack?”

  “Uh…” Fucking A. He was stuttering like a teenage idiot. Think, you asshole. Think! “Makes me feel…happy.”

  Shit. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

  “Really?” Her face lit up.

  Okay, maybe not stupid after all.

  “Yeah, really. When I’m with you, we seem to be able to have fun, without…without trying.” He ran a hand through his hair. “It’s hard to explain…there’s just something between us that happens, that makes my day brighter. That drives me crazy with wanting to see you again when we’re apart and makes me not wa
nt to let you go when we’re together.”

  He heard her gulp. “Really?”

  “Oh yeah, really. I’m not explaining this very well, I know. It’s just that from the first moment I met you in the store, you seemed…fresh. New. Someone who came from a different place, and who found a new place in me that had been empty up until then…and I never knew it. And now it’s filled. And it feels…right…”

  She opened her mouth to speak, but he held up his hand. “Let me finish here, honey. I can’t tell you I’ve lived like a monk, because I haven’t. I’ve dated. A lot, in fact, and you’re right. The car, the body…hell, I’m a guy. We use what we have, you know?”

  She nodded, eyes wide, hand firmly clasping his.

  “And yeah, I know my way around women.” And wasn’t that an understatement. He could probably pass a preliminary exam and qualify for a gynecological residency on the strength of his films alone. “But with you…it’s all different. All new. I feel things, like you said…that I can’t understand, let alone explain. Things that make me crazy. That make me want your underwear.” He rolled his eyes. “I swear to God I’ve never asked another woman to give me her panties in my entire life.”

  She smiled at him and squeezed his hand. “Oh Jack…”

  “But it’s not just the…physical attraction thing, Daph, although that’s hotter than I ever could have imagined. It’s more. It’s…special. You’re special.”

  Her eyes filled with tears, glittering in the soft light of the dashboard. “Thank you, Jack. I don’t think you could have said anything that would mean more to me. And you’re right.” She reached out her hand and rested it against his cheek. “It is special.”

  She leaned over and kissed him lightly. “And I believe you.”

  He reached for her…

  And the cell phone rang.

  *~~*~~*

  Daphne didn’t know whether to be glad or sorry for the interruption. The phone chimes jerked her attention away from Jack with a wrench, and she did her best to swallow her heart back down into her chest where it belonged.

  It had risen to her throat as she’d listened to him talk about the two of them. He’d used words that any woman would have given her eyebrows to hear. And yet…somehow, she didn’t think he’d have said any of it if he hadn’t meant it.

  She sighed. She had no idea if she could trust her gut instincts or was just in the middle of a pheromone-induced stupor.

  Jack, meanwhile, was barking into the phone. “Well, Christ above, Chuck. What the hell happened?”

  A male voice grumbled back out of the small unit.

  “Can’t you fix it yourself?”

  His face had hardened somewhat, and Daphne watched as the man she was dating turned from loving escort into single-minded businessman.

  “I don’t care. We have to do what it takes.” He frowned. “I’m as aware of that deadline as you are. Yeah, I’ll hold…”

  He tapped his fingers on the steering wheel and waited, glancing over at her with a shrug.

  “Problems at the store?” She raised her eyebrows.

  “Uh…kind of. Sorry…”

  She shook her head at him. “Don’t be silly.” She shifted slightly, unsticking one butt cheek from the seat. This going panty-less was all well and good in the heat of the moment, but once the heat subsided, there were other - less pleasant - issues to be dealt with. Like the imprint of fine Corinthian leather which was probably going to be branded into her skin for about a week.

  She fidgeted.

  “Look.” Jack glanced at his watch. “I can be there in twenty. Don’t do anything else, okay?” He snapped the phone shut on a grunt of frustration.

  “Trouble, huh?”

  Jack’s face was a study in conflict as he turned his head towards her. His green eyes softened as he looked into hers. “Baby, I’m so sorry. Truly. You have no idea how sorry I am.”

  Daphne couldn’t resist. She glanced down at the hard ridge distorting his fly. “Well, actually, that is an incorrect statement.”

  He grinned. It was taut, but it was a grin. “Daphne, you’re going to be the death of me. Yeah, I’m so turned on right now, that I could whisk you into the back seat - if I had one - and spend the rest of the night making us both scream. And not for ice cream, either.”

  She laughed, easing the tension a little. “I understand. Really, Jack, I do understand. You have obligations. Life goes on, regardless of what’s happening between us. That’s the way it is.”

  “God, babe, I…” Jack seemed at a loss for words. He sighed. “I have to go fix this. I’ll drop you home first, okay?”

  “Of course.” Daphne settled back and fastened her seat belt. “In some ways, it’s probably a good thing. You take my breath away, Jack, in more ways than one. I could use a little time right now to…sort of get used to the idea. Do you understand?”

  He smiled as the car rolled smoothly out of the lot onto the street. “Yeah. But I like the ‘take my breath away’ bit.”

  “Well, heck. You don’t hear me complaining, do you?”

  “Would you?” He shot a quick glance at her before returning his attention to the road.

  Hmm. Interesting question. Daphne considered it. “You know, I think I would. With you, I would. But…and it’s a huge ‘but’…I can’t imagine anything to complain about. Not between us. You’ve opened a new world for me, Jack. One I’d read about in novels, or seen in movies, but couldn’t begin to think of being in myself. And yet here I am…” She squirmed slightly. “Sitting bare-bottomed in your car, and not shrieking in horror. I even gave you my thong.”

  He laughed. “Yes, you did.”

  “Um…you don’t have a wall of those hidden away someplace, do you? Or an album or something?”

  “Daph.” He frowned at her. “I meant it when I said you were the first - the only - woman I’ve ever asked for her lingerie. Please believe me on that.”

  “Okay.” She sighed in contentment as they pulled up in front of her apartment.

  “I’m sorry our night has to end like this, babe.”

  “Hey…I had a great time. The Wildwood, Casablanca and…and you. And chocolate mints, too.”

  Jack chuckled. “Look, let me make it up to you. You free tomorrow? It’s Saturday. Let me plan a special treat for us, okay? Something that may even help in your research.”

  She tipped her head sideways and frowned at him. “My research?”

  “Mmm hmm.” He narrowed his eyes. “This is my ‘man of mystery’ look.”

  She giggled. “Good thing you explained it. I thought it might be indigestion.”

  He snorted indignantly. “Well, hell, babe. Guess I’ll have to ditch that expression. So what do you say? Tomorrow?”

  As if she’d say no.

  “When and where?” Daphne was long past the point of obeying any of the “rules of dating”. No “I don’t know…” or “Well, I did have plans, but I guess I can change them…” None of that stuff.

  She wanted to be with Jack. And that, quite simply, was that.

  Chapter Eleven

  Jack seethed as he flashed his pass at the night guard covering the studio gate. Of all the times for a problem with the audio they’d recorded during the week to screw up…this had to be the worst.

  He should be up to his neck in Daphne right now, not issues of some ill-defined buzz spoiling the sound track of his just completed movie.

  He pulled into his designated spot and killed the engine, muttering imprecations against the gods of AV equipment.

  “Jack. Sorry, dude. Just caught it.”

  Chuck’s apologetic voice greeted him as he strode into the sound studio. A phalanx of monitors flickered a welcome at him, which he ignored. “What the fuck is it?”

  Chuck shook his head. “Near as I can figure out , it’s either some chopper noise from overhead or an odd echo of the biker movie they’re filming over on Lot 14. I swear, Jack, we had it all blocked. It never came through our earpieces. Not one litt
le murmur.”

  He twisted dials and hit buttons, and a crackling sound heralded the last bit of sound track recorded at the end of the movie.

  Sure enough, there was a hum…a distinctly noticeable hum, and there wasn’t one fricking thing anyone could have done about it at the time.

  Jack sighed and pulled out a chair. “Okay. Let’s pull it up on the editing software and see what the hell we’ve got here.”

  For the next three hours, the two men worked side-by-side, isolating various portions of the sound track, accentuating some, deadening others, and finally producing a mostly clean audio.

  “God fucking damn, Jack, you’re good.”

  Jack sat back and sighed. “Good and pissed. I had a date, for chrissake.”

  Chuck glanced down. “So I noticed.”

  Jack followed his gaze to where a slip of white lace protruded from his pocket. He quickly stuffed it back out of sight. “Yeah. Well.”

  Chuck laughed. “So was it Donna with the beautiful tits? Or Maxine…you know, the one who comes for hours and shudders like a force five earthquake?”

  “Neither.”

  Chuck blinked. “Really? Oh…wait. I’ll bet it was one of those newbie wannabes, right? The tall redhead? She looked damn hot at the auditions last week. And she sure knew who to play to, as well.”

  “No.”

  Silence fell for a moment as Chuck stared at Jack. “Whoa, dude. Wait up a minute here. You’re dating a fucking civilian? You? Big John Johnson’s boffing a freakin’ civvy?”

  Jack swallowed. “So what? None of your business who I date, Chuck. Let’s get that straight right now.”

  Chuck held up his hands. “Sorry, dude. You’re right. Just sort of a surprise, that’s all. Of course, it means more pussy for the rest of us. I ain’t complaining.”

  Jack stared at Chuck, feeling an odd kind of emotion welling up behind his eyes. “I’m also sincerely hoping you ain’t talking, either, dude.”

  Chuck gulped.

  “Because my private life is just that. Private. Kapische?”

  Chuck nodded. “I gotcha, Boss. Nothing to do with me. I guess working around all this…shit…” He glanced over at the writhing bodies now silently fucking on the nearest monitor. “Kinda makes a man forget there are real women out there.”