She looked over at the black car parked in the shadows and saw that the driver’s side door was open. She’d be willing to bet that he’d been about to leave when she had inadvertently interrupted him in her quest for fresh air.
She chewed her bottom lip. “I really should get back—”
He closed the remaining space between them and shut off any further words with a kiss that she didn’t even attempt to resist. His tongue swept into her mouth as the kiss deepened and became more passionate. Her hands were in his hair, on the sides of his face, moving down to his chest, where she finally managed to force him back a bit.
“Whoa,” she said breathlessly.
He had the audacity to look proud of himself. “You taste so good.”
“I need to get back to the party. They’re going to wonder where I went.”
“I’ve been thinking, Amanda, about everything that’s happened between us.”
She blinked. “And what have you been thinking?”
“That I’m glad it happened. I’m glad we’ve had the chance to get to know each other better.”
“Is that so?”
He nodded, his dark, sexy gaze never leaving hers. It made things low in her belly ache with need.
“I tried to resist,” he said. “I gave you some time alone to figure things out. But I know that it’s not going to work. And I frankly don’t give a good God damn if you’re engaged to some other guy, I can’t get you out of my head. If that makes me a selfish bastard, then so be it.”
“But, the curse—”
His jaw set. “Right, the curse.”
“Did Patrick tell you his hypothesis of what the curse actually is?”
“No.” His expression held guarded curiosity. “What did he say?”
She nervously looked around, expecting to be interrupted by someone from her party at any moment, but there was no one but the two of them. “He said he thought it might be a spell to reveal true feelings. Catherine’s aunt was a witch who apparently was a bit of a matchmaker.”
“Interesting.” He was quiet for a moment. “So when two people meant to be together get in the path of this clock, they can’t ignore how they really feel any longer?”
She shifted her feet. “He was speculating only.”
“You think?”
“Patrick is great and smart, and I know he cares about what happens to us, but that doesn’t mean he’s necessarily right about this.”
“So you still don’t think this could be real, what we have between us?”
She raised her eyebrows. “This insanity that makes us act like sex addicts?”
“Yeah,” he grinned. “That.”
“No, I don’t think it’s real.” She made a move to walk away from him. She’d wanted privacy so she could clear her head. Well, her head was clear and now she wanted to go back to the buzz and activity—and, well, safety—of the party she could hear muffled through the thick brick back wall of the pub. She couldn’t deal with this. It was too much and the confusing emotions were beginning to choke her.
“If you’re worried I’m going to say something to David about us, you don’t have to be.”
Her mouth was dry. “You mean like how you told him I’m clairvoyant?”
He sighed. “I was just attempting small talk with your perfect fiancé. How was I supposed to know you’d never shared that particular detail of your life with him?”
“You weren’t.” She couldn’t very well blame Jacob for that. It had been her own mistake that finally came back to bite her in the end.
She turned away from him.
“Amanda—” Jacob captured her hands in his before she could get far and brought them to his lips. “Maybe this is only magic. Hell, it would make more sense then. I’ve never felt anything so strong, so hard to resist, in my entire life. Try to tell me you don’t feel the same way.”
She bit her lip instead of answering.
He studied her for a moment, and then looked down at her hands. Most specifically her left hand, and he rubbed his thumb over her ring finger. “Where’s the bling?”
“The what?”
“The bling. The engagement ring. Why aren’t you wearing it?”
She felt the compulsion to tell the truth well up inside of her. “Because I said no to him.” She grimaced. “Shit.”
His eyes widened. “You said no?”
She couldn’t help but nod her head. Damn that need to tell the truth! As long as Jacob phrased something in the form of a question, she had to be completely honest with him. It was like a whacked episode of Jeopardy.
She was definitely doomed.
JACOB honestly couldn’t believe it. He’d been certain, absolutely no-doubt-about-it certain, that Amanda and David were engaged. As soon as David pulled out the ring in the bar, he’d left. He hadn’t waited around to hear the verdict, since he was sure it would be a yes.
The fact that it wasn’t completely stunned him.
He knew that she wouldn’t have told him the truth if he’d given her any other choice. Why was that? If she’d turned David down, the man who represented everything to her that Jacob himself wasn’t—i.e., a normal guy who didn’t give her any trouble—then what did that mean? Was she admitting that it wasn’t what she wanted anymore?
There was only one way to find out.
He pressed up against her and felt her tense, but she didn’t try to pull away from him. “I have a couple more questions for you, Amanda.”
A sliver of dread moved through her gaze. “Please, Jacob, don’t make me say anything.”
“Anything you might regret?”
She nodded.
He flinched. He didn’t want to force her to do anything. The thought was painful to him. “Why would you regret the truth? That’s what I’m getting at here. All I want is the truth.”
“The truth when I’m feeling all vulnerable doesn’t mean it’s the real truth.”