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touch to that category, but he’d tried damn hard. It had practically become an obsession. Especially after the time he’d stupidly tackled her during a family football game years ago. He’d spent a week wiping out the sensation of her pliant body beneath his from nearly all recollection.
    But the gentle hold of her hand in his, their palms fitting to each other in a simple clasp, took him right back to that electric moment of settling between her parted thighs. He didn’t understand how, exactly, but a simple slide of her hand into his and synapses started snapping like firecrackers. The sensory thrill of it had him mesmerized. She was cool to the touch, her skin soft and dry, her fingers lightly wrapping his own. Fairer than his, smoother.
    “Cole?”
    He looked up, right into Amanda’s eyes. The blue-gray gleamed so bright, it was almost a glow.
    “Yeah?” His tongue felt thick all of a sudden. Couldn’t have anything to do with the way the corners of her eyes crinkled and her mouth curved upward, though. Because that would be stupid of him. Supremely stupid.
    “I was wondering if you were done with my hand.”
    “Done with it?”
    She lifted their clasped palms. “Kinda need it to eat.”
    But when he didn’t let go and the silence dragged on, Cole began to feel the weight of six male Jackman glares on him.
    Yeah, subtle wasn’t served at this table.
    He let go abruptly, snapping himself out of the strange mindset. This disaster was messing with his head, and it hadn’t even been a full day yet.
    Unfortunately, Amanda’s eyes widened at the sudden rejection, forcing him to mumble an apology. She nodded, but he saw the pink rise on her cheeks as she turned to her empty plate.
    Dammit . Now he felt like a jerk. “Since you can’t drive your car, I can take you home after dinner,” he found himself offering gruffly.
    She might have snapped a bone whipping her head back his way.
    “If you want me to,” he added, feeling strangely like he was back in middle school. All he needed now was for his voice to break and his skin to erupt. Shit. What he wouldn’t give to have a cigarette right now.
    She stared at him for a long second, then her gaze slid over toward her eldest brother, who glowered down at his food, his jaw clenching tight. Glowered, but didn’t object.
    “On your bike?” Her squeak of incredulity would be cute if he allowed himself to view Amanda as cute.
    “Mellon’s got an extra helmet,” he added, knowing the name of his bike never failed to make her roll her eyes, and this time was no different. She loved his Lord-of-the-Rings -themed bike, whether she admitted it or not. “Come on, it’ll be fun.” Actually, it probably would be. She’d never gone for a ride with him, and Amanda was the Jackman who loved roller coasters, unlike her wuss brothers. It was the only thing they were ever allowed to do together without a chaperone.
    “Okay,” she replied, her eyes lighting up and the flush to her face finally having nothing to do with embarrassment.
    He reached for the chicken and decided not to be concerned how much better that made him feel about this whole debacle. Yeah, they’d eat, he’d take her home and tell her all about this latest insane plan of her brothers’. Everything would be just fine.
    Then they were going to laugh all about this ludicrous plan of Locke’s.
    He just knew it.

Chapter Three
     
    This is the dumbest idea you’ve ever had in your life. And it’s never going to work.
    But it had to work. She had to make sure it would. And if that took going through every scrap of clothing she owned to figure out how to do it, she would. Which was how Amanda found herself staring at her reflection in her full-length mirror. The harsh light of day was not being kind, especially not the harsh light coming into her living room. Normally, both her bare body and the mirror were kept in the strict confines of her bedroom, but this new plan of hers meant she was going to