Until We Touch. Susan Mallery

couldn’t immediately place. It was as if—

      Jack silently swore as he realized he had an erection. What the hell? Now? During a massage? What was he—fifteen?

      Stop it, he told himself. No way could he be aroused. Not like this. He never had been before. Okay, maybe a couple of times when it had been a long time between women, but then he thought about his relationship with Larissa and knew that was never going to happen. They were friends. He cared about her. He knew better than to sleep with someone he cared about.

      The realization had always been enough to take care of the problem. But it wasn’t today. The more he thought he shouldn’t, the bigger he got. The more he told himself not to, the more he imagined what it would be like. Her hands moving all over him. Him touching her in return. His mouth exploring every part of her before he settled between her thighs and—

      Shit!

      Without having anything close to a plan, he grabbed the sheet below him and pulled it free of the pad. It came up easily.

      “Jack?” Larissa stepped back from the table. “What are you doing?”

      “I have to go,” he said, scrambling to his feet. He was careful to keep the sheet bunched around his raging hard-on and then bolted.

      The locker room was across the hall. He raced inside, then headed directly for the showers. He turned on the cold water, then stepped into the spray.

      Ten minutes later, order had been restored in his personal universe. Jack dried off and dressed. He picked up the soggy shoulder wrap and wondered how he was going to explain what had happened to Larissa. Maybe he could tell her he got sick. Would she believe that?

      The locker room door opened. Jack groaned and turned, prepared to lie his way out of the problem. But luck was with him and instead of Larissa, he saw Kenny strolling toward him.

      “What?” his friend demanded. “Larissa is out there, wringing her hands. She says you ran away without an explanation.” Kenny put his hand on Jack’s shoulder. “Bro, she’s worried. What’s up?”

      Not the best choice of words, Jack thought, not sure if he was going to laugh or start swearing again.

      He dropped the soggy pack onto the bench and settled next to it. He rested his head in his hands.

      “I got a boner during the massage,” he admitted.

      Kenny snickered. “Seriously? That’s what all the fuss is about? It happens. It’s no big deal.”

      Jack dropped his hands and glanced at his friend. Kenny’s blue eyes were filled with amusement.

      “You, too?” Jack asked.

      “Sure. Larissa doesn’t care. We joke about it. Eventually it goes away. Why did this time freak you out?”

      “Because I don’t usually have that problem.”

      “You and Sam,” Kenny said. “You make things too complicated. Look, you’re not seeing anyone, you’re naked and a beautiful woman is rubbing on you. Biology, man. It’s all about biology.”

      Maybe, Jack thought, but that didn’t explain why he felt so strange about it all.

      “She’s out there, worrying,” Kenny told him. “Tell her you’re fine.”

      “You do it.”

      Kenny shook his head. “You’re making this more than it is. If you don’t talk about it now, you’re going to have to explain it later. It’s not going to get easier with time.”

      Jack shrugged. That was a problem he would deal with when he had to. Until he figured out what had happened, avoiding Larissa seemed like a damned good plan.

      * * *

      LARISSA WALKED UP the front walk of Jack’s house. The imposing two-story structure was elegant. One of several sleek custom homes on the golf course. The yard was perfectly manicured, the windows large, the paint fresh. Jack was a big believer in hiring the right person for the job and it showed. Everything in his life was well tended.

      So not her style, she thought as she crossed to the front door, knocked once and then let herself in. Because the door was almost never locked.

      “It’s me,” she called as she entered. “Jack?”

      She knew he was here. His Mercedes was in the driveway. Still, she half expected him not to answer, mostly because he’d been avoiding her all day.

      She didn’t like that. Didn’t like him running out of her massage and then not talking to her. To quote her mom’s favorite movie, “There was a great disturbance in the Force.” She’d been restless and on edge. Kenny’s assurances that Jack was fine hadn’t helped at all.

      She heard something and looked up. Jack stood on the landing of the second floor. He’d changed into jeans and T-shirt. He looked tired, she thought. And in pain.

      She put her hands on her hips. “What?” she demanded. “Tell me what happened. I’m not leaving here until you do.”

      He walked down the stairs toward her. For the first time in years, she was unable to read his face. How could she not know what Jack was thinking?

      “You’re scaring me,” she admitted. “Are you mad at me or something? We have to talk. This isn’t right.”

      He reached the main floor. He wasn’t wearing shoes, but he was still taller than her. And oddly broad across the shoulders. A guy, she thought. Jack, the guy, made her nervous. She did much better with Jack, her friend.

      “Say something,” she told him.

      He shoved his hands into his jeans pockets and sighed. “I’m not mad.”

      “Okay.” That was good. “So?”

      His dark gaze settled on her face. “I got a hard-on during the massage. I don’t usually. I didn’t know what to do, so I left.”

      Ran was more like it, she thought before her brain went to a completely different place.

      A hard-on? As in an erection? As in arousal? He was still talking but she wasn’t listening. Not when there was so much to process.

      She knew the women in Jack’s life. Not personally, of course. While she met them, they didn’t hang out or anything. It probably took too much time to be so beautiful for them to have friends. His women were all models or actresses. There was also the unfortunate two months of him dating a Playboy bunny. She’d been a stunning girl, but not so much in the conversation department.

      Larissa got it. Jack liked beautiful women. Why wouldn’t he? They were available. Which was probably why she was having trouble with the idea of him being aroused because of her. She knew that she was pretty enough, but firmly in the normal category. He was used to perfection and she was just kind of...ordinary. So how could he have gotten turned on by her?

      She supposed it was because he hadn’t had a girlfriend for a while. He’d been in Fool’s Gold and there was no sneaking around here.

      “...asked Kenny to talk to you,” he finished.

      She’d missed the middle bit, but figured that was fine.

      “That sort of thing happens,” she told him, still confused but willing to go with it. “They cover it in massage school. Sam never does, but Kenny’s pretty regular. We joke about it and then it’s gone. It’s a biological function. I know it’s not personal.”

      Jack’s guarded expression started to relax. “You’re okay with that?”

      “Sure. I was touching you intimately. We know each other. We’re friends. You’re comfortable. You got a little too relaxed.”

      She was saying all the right things. The professional things. But what she was really thinking was that she kind of wouldn’t mind for it to be personal. She’d kind of like him saying he’d been swept