Rock Me All Night by Katherine Garbera Page A

her breasts a soft pillow under his head. He turned and flicked her nipple with his tongue.
    There was still so much he wanted to do with her. He shifted them to their sides and suckled her pretty breasts while her hands swept up and down his back.
    Then she hugged him tight to her. He lifted his head and saw that her eyes were closed. She bit her bottom lip and held him with a fierceness that made his own heart ache.
    It was too soon to feel this much for her. But at the same time he knew it was too late. He felt her vulnerability to him. Felt her need for him. He needed her the same way, needed to protect her from any hurts—even the ones he might deliver.
    But not tonight. Tonight he wanted to keep the focus light. Pretend that nothing had changed, even though he knew in his gut that everything had.
    â€œYou definitely knocked my socks off,” he said.
    â€œDitto,” she said, lowering her mouth to his.
    He knew she didn’t want to talk and that suited him, as well. So instead he made love to her again, all the while hoping that this would be enough.
    Â 
    Lauren woke up alone when the alarm went off at three-thirty. God, she really hated this new shift. She stretched, feeling small aches from the night before. She rolled over, burying her face in the pillow that Jack had slept on. It still held his scent.
    She hugged it to her breast and kept her eyes shut. There was no going back and pretending now. She was falling in love with Jack.
    Where was he? She couldn’t believe he’d be out of bed already. Maybe if she kept her eyes closed, she could stay in the pleasant dreamworld where reality couldn’t intrude.
    The light in the hallway came on and a minute later he entered her room. “Morning.”
    She lowered the pillow and opened her eyes. Jack was sitting on the side of the bed wearing only his pants and holding two coffee cups. He had a great chest.
    â€œMorning,” she said. She hoped her hair wasn’t sticking up.
    He handed her one of the cups and she realized it was the chai tea she liked to drink. She knew he was a coffee drinker. “Sorry I don’t have coffee.”
    â€œThat’s okay, I didn’t come here for the coffee,” he said. He propped some pillows against the head-board and leaned back.
    â€œWhat did you come here for?” she asked. So much for keeping things light. But she needed to know. She wanted to cushion what she was feeling by tempering it with what she could expect from Jack. And though he’d warned her not to paint him with the same brush that she had other men she’d dated, it was hard not to.
    He was more intense than those other guys. He made her feel alive and wish for things that she’d been slowly trying to stop wishing for.
    â€œFor you, Lauren. Just for you.”
    She took another sip of her tea. She almost believed him. Had he woken up early or never gone to sleep? She suspected he hadn’t slept. “You didn’t have to get up early.”
    â€œI wanted to.”
    She wasn’t sure what to do. She wished she’d picked a better night to sleep with him for the first time. A night when she didn’t have to rush out of the house to get to work. Because something wasn’t right with Jack this morning, and she knew if she had a little more time, she could figure it out.
    She got to her feet. “Want to join me in the shower?”
    â€œHow much time do you have?”
    â€œFifteen minutes, and I have to leave at four or I’ll be late.”
    â€œI’d better skip.”
    She set her mug down on the dresser and gathered her underwear. “Will you be here when I get out?”
    â€œYes. I’m not leaving until you do.”
    â€œOkay.” She hurried into the bathroom. Trying not to think about Jack or last night or the new feelings buzzing through her system, she focused on her routine.
    When she came out of the bathroom ten minutes later, he was still