Smooth Irish (Book 2 of the Weldon Series) Read Free

his
brother’s eyes, but it left Jackson unmoved. Of his three brothers,
Jesse had always been the closest, but not anymore. Nothing and
nobody seemed to penetrate the numbness he felt. Nothing, except
maybe the woman who’d just hung up on him. The same woman who’d
walked out in the middle of their date. Just left him sitting in
Salty’s Bar all alone to ring the New Year with only a bottle of
whiskey to kiss.
    Jesse planted a fist against the door.
“What is it with you? You want me to feel guilty because I found
Alexi? And you lost…”
    “ Amy? No. I just want to
be left the hell alone. Got that?” Jackson shouldered his way
outside. He found Alexi sitting at the picnic table with his
mother.
    “ Great BBQ,” he said,
grabbing a chicken leg off the platter on the table. He did it to
appease his mother. He knew she’d be more apt to leave his
departure unchallenged if he had food in his hand. “Nan called,
Alexi. Said she wasn’t going to make it tonight.”
    “ Don’t tell me she’s
working overtime again?”
    “ She didn’t
say.”
    “ I’ll call her tomorrow
and read her the riot act.” Alexi narrowed her eyes. “So, um, did
you two talk a little?”
    “ Nope,” Jackson said
nipping any interrogation in the bud. Alexi had been matching him
up with Nan since she married Jesse eighteen months ago. Jackson
winked at his mother and kissed her cheek. “Later,
sweetcakes.”
She ruffled the ever-present dishtowel she held at him.
“Distracting me with smooth talking isn’t going to work, young man.
You can leave if you want to, but don’t think you aren’t going to
be missed. Some day you’re going to have to get- never mind.”
Thankfully, she stopped whatever it was she’d been about to say.
Anywhere that sentence could have gone wasn’t something Jackson
wanted to hear.
    He nodded good-bye, waved off his
father who was motioning him over for the rag football game, and
cut around the corner of the house to his motorcycle. Soon he was
eating up the road with no destination in mind, just living the
moment for the moment a mile at a time.
    * * *
    Nan shut her eyes and relaxed into the steamy tub,
sighing as her headache eased when she sank all the way to her
chin. Hot water, made silky smooth with bath oil, sluiced over her
naked body. The rigors of a day’s work slowly faded, and a sensual
heat soaked into her bones. Jackson’s voice came flooding back.
    Ever had phone sex, Nan? A
virgin…I’ll be your first … she tingled all
over. The image of a lady waiting came to her...a lady who’d waited
for so long she could wait no longer…
    The front door opened. She was alone, had planned it
that way when she’d written the note. No one could save her; no one
would stop her. Her heart sped triple time to the sound of booted
feet coming her way. She knew it was him, knew he was coming to her
at last. Tonight she’d know all the secrets behind his heated looks
across the ballroom. Already she could see his raven hair brushing
his shoulders as he walked, his stride, measured and predatory. She
could feel the fire of his gaze. His dark eyes were intense and
demanding. Tonight she would feel all she’d been denied in her
chaste upbringing and in the years of an arranged marriage to an
invalid. Tonight on the anniversary of her widowhood, she would
have her first lover.
    Suddenly the time for waiting had gone. Sir Jackson
Weldon strode into her bedroom; the heat of his presence burned
more than the gentle fire in the hearth beside her. He didn’t stop
until he stood over her. He didn’t speak until his gaze surveyed
all that the steamy bath water and candlelight revealed. His dress
was casual, just a half-buttoned shirt and breeches. As if her note
had caught him undressing, and he’d abandoned all to come to
her.
    He cocked one eyebrow. “Lady Miller, your note
implied you were in dire straits and needed my immediate
assistance.”
    She bit her lip, suddenly unsure.
She’d heard whispered