“You should have warned me to wear a sports bra.” She cupped her boobs in her hands, and he nearly had a stroke.
He brought her up here so he wouldn’t think about her naked. Jumping out of the ATV, he walked to the edge of the cliff. “Not as up close and personal as Acadia Falls, but it’s still a stunning view.”
“It’s beautiful. I can only imagine what it looks like in the fall when all the leaves have changed.”
“We’ll come back so you won’t have to imagine.”
Hailey had already taken out her camera. He sat on an outcropping of rocks and watched her get lost in her craft. She circled the top of the clearing, climbed on a rock to get a better view, then laid down in a patch of tall grass taking a picture of what, he wasn’t sure.
Almost thirty minutes had passed, and they hadn’t said a word. Finally, she joined him on the rocks. “Thank you for bringing me up here.”
“Sure. What are you going to do with the pictures?”
“I have no idea. Maybe blog about it. I’m not much of a nature photographer, but Maine makes it pretty easy to take gorgeous pictures.” She stored her camera in her bag and as she started to get up, he reached for her wrist, keeping her by his side.
“Imagine we have a deck of the Freeman’s cards, and I flip the top one over. What does the question ask?”
“Um, I guess it depends what color we’re on.”
“What color do you want it to be?”
Hailey wiggled her eyebrows. “The down and dirty was my favorite.”
Carter picked up her hand and stroked each finger, then threaded his fingers through hers. “What if I said I wanted more than the down and dirty?”
“We can stick with blue and yellow.”
Either she was evading, or she had no clue the direction he was trying to take the conversation. Either way, he’d have to be more direct. “I’m pretty sure you know how much I want you, Hailey, and I’m fairly confident you want me.”
“Cocky son-of-a-bitch, aren’t ya?” she said in jest; however, there was a slight quaver in her voice.
“In some areas. In others I’m actually a bit vulnerable.”
“Washcloth?”
“You’re a brat.”
“But you still want to sleep with me.”
“I want to more than sleep with you.” He shifted so their knees touched. With his free hand, he stroked the side of her face.
“That’s right. We already slept together at the resort.”
“This is going to sound so ... high school.” He’d never asked a woman to be his girlfriend before. Usually he’d go on a few dates, they’d sleep together, and then keep dating until one of them ended it. There was never a formal discussion about the relationship status. Not since Carlie Potsky his junior year in high school.
He’d asked her to homecoming, and she asked him if that meant she was his girlfriend. He’d said, “Sure” and it was a done deal. That lasted until Valentine’s Day when she was mad at him for not spoiling her with roses and chocolate. He thought dinner and a movie was enough. Apparently after dating for four months he was supposed to get her a gift of some sort.
After that, he stuck with casual dating and sex.
“High school wasn’t a very fun time for me, so way to build up the excitement to this conversation.” Hailey slipped free and tucked her hands in her sweatshirt.
There was no point in delaying the inevitable. He was pretty sure she’d agree to the sex part. It was the commitment part he wasn’t sure she’d be totally on board with. Hell, he didn’t know why it meant so much to him.
“If we sleep together—”
“To be clear sleep means sex from now on, right?”
Carter smirked. “Sleep can be anything you want, sweetheart.” Flirting and joking was easier than the serious stuff. Maybe if he took that route, Hailey would be more amiable to a relationship.
“Then I think sleep should mean sex.” She hopped to her feet.
“That works for me.” He stood as well and rested his hands on her hips, trapping her arms between their bodies. “But I have conditions.”
“I’m not into the BDSM stuff.”
He wasn’t either, but now he was picturing Hailey tied up to his bed. “That’s not where I was going, but I’m willing to experiment if you’re game.”
“Only if I can cuff you and squirt whipped cream all over you.”
Hell, he was as hard as the rock he’d been sitting on. He wasn’t into the BDSM scene either, and he was pretty sure her idea of getting kinky barely covered what was in the introduction manual.
“You can do anything you want with me, Hailey.” When she opened her cute mouth for a quirky comeback, he placed a finger over her lips. “As long as you agree that this thing between us is more than just sex.”
“More?” she said around his finger, giving it a little lick. “Like how much more.”
He replaced his finger with his lips and spoke into her mouth. “You and me, sweetheart. We do the dating thing.” He kissed her long and slow.
Hailey’s hands worked their way out of her pockets and found their way around his neck. “Okay.”
That was too easy. “I’m talking about more than a few dinners and a couple romps in my bed.”
“What if I’m bored with you after said romps?” She tunneled her hands through his hair and pulled slightly, taking the kiss deeper.
Their tongues played while their lips nipped at each other, fighting for control.
“Then I’ll have to try harder.”
“Harder?” She thrust her hips into his, his rock-hard erection pressing into her stomach. “How much harder?”
“Right up until the breaking point.”
“I don’t want to break you.” She slid her hands to his front and dropped them lower until she found the button to his jeans.
“Not here.” He wanted her to be comfortable their first time.
“Yes, here.” She didn’t stop when she got to his zipper.
Who was he to argue? He backed her toward a flat, grassy area and carefully laid her down. He only had so much self-control. “If you insist.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Carter’s eyes, as blue as the cloudless sky above him, reached into her soul. It was cheesy and didn’t make any sense, but it was one hundred percent true. They were as naked as the day they were born, and she hadn’t given one thought to hikers or riders who might pass by.
The trails they took were hardly tamped down, so this piece of God’s earth must not see frequent visitors; not that Hailey cared when she propositioned Carter.
It was either that or fall at his feet in a puddle of mush. No man had ever put a condition on sex other than it be no strings and non-emotional. That had worked perfectly for her over the years. Until now.
Now, Carter asked for the impossible, and she was crazy enough to give it. Her time in Maine wasn’t permanent, and he was the permanent type, whether he knew it or not. But she hadn’t thought about that when accepting his proposal of sorts.
Besides, it wasn’t like he’d gotten down on one knee and asked for a forever kind of commitment. No sex with anyone else while they were getting naked together.
Done. She couldn’t imagine wanting to be naked with another soul after experiencing the mind-blowing orgasms Carter had given her. As cliché as it sounded, sex would never be the same. He not only touched her in every erogenous zone; he’d made up a half dozen more along the way.
It didn’t matter where he touched her. Hailey burned with want and need under his hands. Oh, and his mouth.
“You’re awfully quiet for someone who loves to run her mouth,” he teased from above her. Their bodies were still joined, and he’d been resting on his elbows, staring down at her since they’d called out each other’s name in ecstasy a few minutes ago.
Carter stroked her head, playing with her hair, and she rubbed her foot along the back of his leg.
“I was thinking the same thing.”
> “That you like to run your pretty little mouth?” He gave her a peck on the lips.
“No.” She squeezed his ass—a very fine ass, she might add. “I was thinking about your mouth and how busy it was for the past however long we’ve been here.”
“Long enough for your back and my knees to be sore from the ground underneath us, but not long enough to thoroughly enjoy your body.”
Her body. The body she’d been ashamed of since as long as she could remember. A body now she was proud of; not because of how it looked today, but because of how far it had come. Stripping down in daylight or with the lights on was something she avoided. Yet, she hadn’t given the blazing sun one second thought when Carter had asked for their sex to mean something.
Now that he’d seen her buck ass naked, he’d be having different thoughts on anything long term. She lowered her gaze and dropped her foot to the ground.
“Someone could come by. We should get dressed.”
When he rolled off her, she covered her bare breasts with her hand and scrambled for her sweatshirt first. It was her thighs and ass she was most self-conscious about, but the sweatshirt hung low enough to give her coverage of all her parts while she untangled her underwear from her jeans.
From the corner of her eye, she watched as Carter picked up the condom wrapper from the grass and tucked it in his pocket. He’d been prepared, which she appreciated. Either he always carried protection with him, or it had been his plan all along to have sex on the mountain.
Fully clothed, her confidence came back. “I’m kinda surprised at you.” She picked up her helmet and nestled it on her head.
“Spontaneity is sexy, isn’t it?”
She rolled her eyes. “It is. Was this spontaneous sex, though?”
“Uh, you don’t think it was?”
“That means you always carry a condom with you. Run into these types of situations often, farm boy? I mean...” What she didn’t mean was to sound accusatory or jealous. She meant to tease him about being prepared. “Guess you’re the boy scout type.”
He must have caught her meaning because he unstrapped her helmet and took it off her head. His eyes were dark and serious. “Sweetheart.”
Heck, when he called her that she wanted to fall into his lap and lick him. Ugh, she mentally rolled her eyes. She was so not the licking type. Or the falling type.
“No, despite what others may believe, I don’t normally carry a condom on me. Hell, I usually forget to bring my license and credit card. There’s no way would I remember a condom.”
“Good to know for when we have our first date. I’ll be sure to bring money.”
Carter cupped her face in his palms, forcing her—gently—to look into his eyes. “Yes, I’ve been thinking about making love to you for weeks. Yes, I hoped today would be the day, so I tucked a condom in my pocket. Scratch that. I figured it would be tonight. You jumped the gun on my plans.”
Making love. That was so much more serious than sex. Hailey gulped. “What if I didn’t agree to your terms? Where would that condom be right now?”
“In my pocket. Again, despite the man-whore you think me to be, I don’t jump into bed with every pretty woman I meet.”
She opened her mouth to argue the pretty point.
“Uh huh,” he said, reading her thoughts. “I haven’t been able to get you out of my mind since the day I met you at Mia and Ryan’s wedding. And now that we’ve made love, there’s no possible way you’re ever leaving my mind.”
“Well,” she sighed, needing to turn this conversation around. “It’s a good thing we hit up the Acadia Falls Resort first. ’Cause if you sucked in the sack, I can guarantee there’d be no second date.”
“I have some other moves up my sleeve.” He put the helmet back on her head. “And next time, you won’t even see them coming.”
Next time? She hadn’t seen them coming this time. The ride back to his house was as bumpy as the ride out. With each new bump, she hugged her forearms to her chest.
“Sweetheart, you’re killing me,” he growled over the engine.
“You? Try carrying around 36Ds twenty-four seven.”
He stopped the machine and turned to her in slow motion. Even with the helmet and sunglasses, she could read Carter’s expression as clear as the crystals the Freemans had on display in their resort.
“You can’t say things like that to me while I’m driving. It’s dangerous.”
She tingled in all the places he had touched her earlier, which was just about everywhere. “I can’t help it.” She shrugged and covered her chest again.
Carter rubbed the back of his neck then started up the ATV and sped back to his house. She white knuckled it in some sections when they were bouncing down the rocky trails. Once they hit the flat dirt tote roads, she’d eased off her chest.
The trails became familiar again as they approached Coastal Vines. Instead of continuing past the vineyard, Carter turned down the long drive and parked in the lot by the tasting room. He turned off the engine and took off his helmet.
“Ty’s truck and Hope’s car are here. Mind if we stop?”
“I guess.” Being the third wheel—or fourth—wasn’t exactly how she’d planned on ending this date. Carter was the social type; maybe he preferred to hang out with his guy friends than his sort of girlfriend.
She set her helmet on the seat and opened up the cargo box in the back.
“Your camera should be fine here. I can lock it up if that makes you feel better.”
“No offense, but I’m not about to leave a four-thousand-dollar camera out in the open where anyone can steal it.” She scanned the parking lot. There weren’t any vehicles other than his friends’ and the Fresh Ketch Catering van.
“None taken.” He placed a chaste kiss on her lips.
“Is my helmet hair as bad as yours?” She reached up and ran her fingers through his hair, fluffing up the front that had been smashed down.
“It was more the back of your hair that got ruffled up in the grass,” he said with a satisfied smile and brushed out whatever remnants of the earth that had stuck to her.
“Why didn’t you tell me earlier?” She bent over and flipped her hair, running her fingers through it in hopes of loosening whatever dirt and grass was stuck in it. When she stood erect again and flipped her hair over her shoulder, that satisfied grin grew even deeper, reaching his baby blues and beyond. “What?”
“I’m imagining you doing that naked. Flipping your hair and looking at me like you want to eat me for dinner.”
“I do not.” She laughed, knowing he was trying to get a rise out of her.
“There’s no need to deny it, sweetheart. You want me bad. Foreplay. Anticipation. I’ll make it worth your while. Promise,” he whispered in her ear, giving her lobe a little nip. “Tristan’s in there setting up for the tasting tonight. Figured we could sneak ourselves some snacks and wine—”
Carter closed his eyes, and his smile quickly vanished. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what I was thinking. I wasn’t thinking.” He headed back to the ATV, but Hailey didn’t follow him.
“It’s okay, Carter. I meant what I told you last week. I’m not an alcoholic in the sense where seeing someone have a drink is going to send me into a downward spiral of hell. We can go in, and you can have a few drinks with your friends.”
“No.” He took her hands. “You mean more to me than drinking with friends.”
“We’ve only known each other for a few weeks. They’ve been your friends forever.”
He quieted her with a kiss. It was soft and tender and touched her more than it should have.
“Well, this explains why I haven’t had any drop-ins lately,” someone said from behind them.
Hailey jumped away from Carter.
“And why I haven’t been getting any whiny texts asking to hang out.” Cameron, if she remembered correctly, laughed.
“You’ve been easily replaced.” Carter draped his arm across Hailey’s shoulders and tugged h
er into his side.
“She is a lot prettier than you,” Ty said. “Nice to see you again Hailey.”
“If this guy ever bothers you, don’t be afraid to give us a call.” Cameron lightly punched Carter on the shoulder. “Good to see you, Hailey.”
“Thanks.”
“Why’d you guys take off?” Ben called, coming out of the tasting room. “Oh, hey Carter. Hailey. A little early for the tasting.”
“We were out riding, and I saw the vehicles. Thought we’d stop by to say hello. Now that that’s done, we’re peacing out.” He gently nudged Hailey toward the side-by-side.
“Come in for a bit,” Ben said. “We were playing a few rounds of poker before the tasting.”
“You go,” Hailey said. “I can walk back or—”
“Hell no. I’m not leaving you.”
“Do you play poker?” Cameron reminded Hailey of a shy Carter. They both had a boyish charm to them, even if Cameron’s was subtler.
“I’ve played before,” she said, being modest about her skills.
“Come join us. Lily may stop over later with the baby. We’re just grabbing some snacks from the truck.”
“It’s your call,” Carter said softly, so only she could hear. “I’m totally happy being selfish and bringing you back to my place where we can be alone.” He wiggled his eyebrows. “Or we can hang with these goons and take their money from them.”
It had been a long time since she’d hung out with friends. “Let’s take them for a ride.”
Carter frowned and peeked over her head at the ATV. “We won’t all fit—oh.” He laughed. “You’re talking about cards. One of the many things I love about you.” He kissed the top of her head and turned back toward his friends.
Love? He didn’t mean...
“You guys are about to go down. You do know how to play, don’t you?” he asked Hailey casually, as if he hadn’t dropped the L word.
She couldn’t tell by the lazy grin on Carter’s lips if he said the word to get a rise out of her, or if it was a word he tossed around easily. Either way, no one ever spoke that way around her. Love was never any part of the equation.
Filing away her thoughts for another time, she grinned at Carter and then his friends. “I think I remember the rules.” She more than knew the rules, but hustling Ben, Cameron, and Ty would be too much fun.
All of You (A Well Paired Novel Book 7) Page 16
