A Kiss for Luck Read Free

him, intent on giving him a sisterly hug, but got sidetracked as she placed her hands on his broad shoulders. He was so solid, very different from her husband, who was much slighter in build than Jackson.
    “Wow, you smell good,” she whispered, leaning in to breathe in the spicy scent of his aftershave mixed with the crisp smell of his wet hair. “Frank never smelled this good.”
    Jackson’s breath caught and he was deathly still for a long moment. Then he grasped her shoulders and pushed her gently away from him. “On second thought,” he said. “I think you’ve had enough to drink. You ought to go to bed before you end up with a hangover tomorrow.”
    “It’s not even midnight,” Clara complained, leaning back against the couch and feeling oddly disappointed at being pushed away. “It’d be bad luck to go to bed now.”
    Jackson reached for her wineglass and drank its contents in one gulp. He looked suddenly nervous as he ran a distracted hand through his hair. “Since when do you believe in bad luck?”
    13

    Kele Moon
    “Since I’ve had so much of it,” Clara said and turned to look at the clock, seeing there were only a few seconds to midnight. “Oh look, it’s almost here!”
    Wanting to start off the New Year on the right foot, she reached out to Jackson, feeling the first signs of stubble as she cupped his cheeks and brought his lips to hers when she heard them announce midnight over the radio. His body became rigid with obvious shock. His lips were soft but unyielding. It was a chaste kiss, but a kiss nonetheless and Clara couldn’t help but feel better about the next year.
    “What was that for?” Jackson rasped, looking shaken as he stared at her wide-eyed.
    “It’s New Year’s,” Clara explained, feeling giddy and refusing to let go of him as she slid her hands to his shoulders. “I needed someone to kiss at midnight, you know, for luck. I need it—lots of it.”
    “Right, New Year’s,” he said with a distant tone and then contemplated her for a second. “Well, that wasn’t a very good kiss, was it? Not gonna gather much luck from that.”
    “I don’t think it matters. Just so long as you get the kiss in at midnight.”
    “It’s still midnight,” he murmured and Clara squeaked in surprise when Jackson pulled her to him. “Might as well do it right.”
    Clara was stunned when Jackson leaned in and kissed her a second time. His lips were warm and possessive as they moved over hers. His fingers laced into her dark curls as he nipped gently at her bottom lip. Instinctually she parted to him, feeling white-hot fire spear though her when his tongue swept into her mouth. She mewled in acceptance and desire coiled inside her, pooling at her center, creating a dull ache that beat in rhythm to her rapid heart rate.
    No kiss had ever affected her so profoundly. It didn’t matter that this was her best friend. Images swirled in her mind, making her wonder what it’d feel like to have him hard and naked against her. She was breathless, stunned and overwhelmed with the rush of longing invading her senses, making her blind to everything but the need for 14

    A Kiss for Luck
    more of him. If he could do this to her with one kiss she would never have to fake anything. With Jackson she would want it to last forever.
    When the need for air overtook them, Jackson groaned and pulled away and her whole body mourned the loss of contact. Clara’s disappointment halted when she caught him looking at her with heavy-lidded eyes dilated in desire. His breathing was shallow and with a sense of feminine pride, she realized the kiss had affected Jackson just as much as it had her. She’d never had a man look at her like that, not even Frank.
    For a moment she thought she saw more than just hunger in his gaze. A raw desire so profound, if wine and lust hadn’t clouded her judgment she would have pondered it.
    Years of fantasies swirled in her head, the ones she locked away in the smallest corners of