The Gentlewoman by Lisa Durkin Page A

and into her hair. Finally
she let go, setting her sobs free. Her shoulders shook, her hand clasped over
her mouth.
    After several minutes, she caught herself. “No…no,” she said
aloud. “That’s enough.” She pounded the mattress with her fist. She sat up and
wiped her eyes hard and took several steadying breaths. Steeling her spine, she
turned to the clock and saw that it was four a.m. Not willing to try for more
sleep, she swung her legs to the floor and got up from the bed. Still shaken,
she decided to make some coffee and use the time to read for work. Put her
overactive mind to better use than torturing herself by reliving the events
that created her.
    The door opened as Jackson reached out to knock and Rory
stepped into the hallway, ready for their run. She closed it with a heavy slam,
watching to ensure it was fully latched.
    “How are you this morning?”
    “I’m fine, Dorn, how are you?” she asked halfheartedly,
zipping her jacket. She seemed distracted, and Jackson’s fears that he had gone
too far with her the night before surfaced with renewed vigor.
    “Fine, good,” he said, straining to study her face as he
mindlessly mimicked her stretching. He didn’t want her to break off their
relationship, um, friendship.
    Finally he decided to just have out with it. If this was
beyond repair, he’d have to face it.
    “Rory, are you totally pissed at me for hitting on you last
night?” He straightened and stood stock-still waiting for her response. Her
head popped up from her knees and she looked him squarely in the eye. She was
looking paler than normal, but she was so naturally pretty that she took his
breath away.
    A slow smile crept across her face. “You call that hitting
on me?” she said with an incredulous laugh. “Dorn, hitting on a woman is
normally like, ‘hey, babe, can I get your number?’.” She said it in a pathetic
attempt at a deep male voice. “What you did was a little more than hitting on
me, wouldn’t you agree?” She started jogging in the direction of the
university.
    “Okay, I guess I wasn’t hitting on you,” he said as he
pulled up alongside her.
    “No, you were trying to fuck me.”
    He made a choked sound. “Okay, guilty. I’m sorry.”
    She stopped dead in her tracks. Jackson halted and walked
the few steps back to her. She looked him dead in the eye with that steely gaze
he was quickly becoming familiar with.
    “Are you sorry?” They locked eyes for a moment and Jackson
waited for more, mostly because he wasn’t sure he wanted to say how he really
felt. “I don’t require your apologies. As a matter of fact, I don’t want you to
put your hands on me again if you’re going to be sorry about it.”
    Rory stepped forward and stretched up to her tiptoes as she
put her arms around his neck. She pulled his head down and kissed him. Jackson
waited a beat and deepened the kiss. It felt so good to have her in his arms
and to know that because she had initiated it, she actually wanted to be there.
His lips caressed hers and the feel of her made him hungry for more.
    She looked into his eyes, holding his gaze. “Don’t ever
touch me if it’s something you’ll be sorry for later. And if you’re apologizing
because you think you’re coercing me into something that I don’t want to do,
stop that too. I don’t do what I don’t want to. I wanted your hands on me. I
liked them on me.”
    He reached down and took her lips hard, crushing her beneath
him. Her words gave him such raw joy and relief. She wanted him, and she was
standing here on the street kissing him.
    “I am very glad to hear that, Congresswoman. I want to put
my hands on you some more.”
    Rory returned his smile. “Well we’ll see what we can do
about that. How about we have our morning run though?”
    “You’re going to have to give me a minute here, Morgan…
Nope, don’t step back yet.” He laughed as she began to release him and he held
firm. He needed coverage from her until he