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And nothing could possibly have prepared her for the way the heart she’d been so careful with had opened ith reckless abandon

Fortunately, looking at their entwined fingers resting over his chest helped to cal heart As if he could read her mind, he lifted their hands to his lips and softly, slowly, kissed each of her fingers

Raising her gaze to meet his, she was hit with yet another shock: Jack wasn’t hiding a single emotion from her And--oh God--what she saw in his eyes echoed what she felt in the deep, secret part of her heart she thought she had locked down, sure it was the only way to prevent ever being hurt again

Through the haze of her post-pleasure brain, Mary couldn’t lie to herself: From that very first moment he’d spoken to her, froainst hers under thefor Jack Sullivan?

Suddenly finding it difficult to breathe, Mary tried to o

"I prooing to break my promise"

Didn’t he see that just because he hadn’t said the word love aloud, it didn’tsteadily and hard against hers, weren’t saying it to her even now?

Mary had been on her own for all of her adult life and had carved out a successful career in a supremely difficult field Yet, as Jack held her on her bed, she finally had to face her oeaknesses…and accept just how far and deep her fears ran Fears that had plagued her since the day she’d walked away froht Couldn’t she have one night to take a break from the confusion, froive her that when he was already giving her everything else, but Mary had never felt this safe, this cherished, with anyone else

Letting the sheets fall away, she put her hand on his chest, his pectoral ertips as she slid them up to caress the beautifully masculine planes of his jaw and chin Desire had been sated just o and, still, as she leaned forward to press her her this ti love with Jack was, it sent her hunger for hi once more But even as she tried to focus on the physical, she knew there was one important reason she so desperately needed to ain

Mary had been called beautiful a thousand times in her life, but no one had ever actually treated her as if she was special and beautiful With every brush of his skin against hers, with the heat frole moment to make sure she was happy, Jack only cared about her

And she knew in her heart of hearts that he would never do anything to hurt her Both of them rose to their knees on the bed, and as he ainst him, she loved how hard every inch of him was Already, she was addicted to the delicious scratch of hair froainst her smooth skin, the burn from the dark shadow on his jaw as he ran kisses all across her face and neck and shoulders and brsts