After walking hand in hand to JT’s Roadhouse, they entered the bar and she looked around at the number of people hanging out and having a good time despite the cold weather. He led them toward the bar and looked at her.
“What’s your poison, baby?” He winked, and she smiled.
“Fireball and cream soda, please.”
“Fireball and cream soda?” he asked, clearly surprised
“It’s good and warms you up.”
“Okay, baby.” He kissed her before lifting her to the barstool in front of him.
“What can I get you two?” A tall, very good-looking man with caramel-colored eyes asked. She wondered if it was the mountain air that made the men here look so dang hot.
“A Guinness for me and a Fireball with cream soda for my girl.”
“Shit, Joel. Crap, man, didn’t recognize you for a second there.” The man extended a hand, and Joel shook it.
“No worries. It’s busy.”
“Hell, don’t I know it.” The bartender grinned.
“It’s a good problem to have.”
“The best.” The man’s eyes met hers, and he smiled. “Hi, so you’re this guy’s girl, huh? Look, I can introduce you to a couple of other guys who aren’t as goofy as—“
“Hey, hey, hey,” Joel laughed, his arms wrapping around her, his head resting on top of her head. “Levi, this is my girl, Carrie Blue. Carrie, this is Levi Dorsey, the proprietor of this establishment.”
“Nice to meet you,” she said, feeling slightly shy.
“Same. So, you guys in town for a while or…?”
“Just until Sunday,” Joel shared, and she rolled her lips together so she wouldn’t laugh. He wanted to keep her until Sunday? This was turning into the longest first date in history. Thankfully, it was also by far the best first date ever.
After Levi served them their drinks, Joel led her toward the pool tables, where they shot pool, though he needed to teach her how to play. His body caging hers, his soft breath on her neck was nothing but foreplay to what would come later, making her skin prickle and come alive. Once their second drinks were finished and they were done shooting pool, they walked toward the small area by the juke box, where other couples were dancing.
She was in his arms, swaying slowly back and forth to a version of Thinking Out Loud she had never heard before. The singer’s voice had a southern twang to his deep and resonate timbre, and as she swayed with her head on his chest, the steady beating of his heart made her feel things she had never felt before. She looked up at him when his hand cupped her face, thumb stroking her jaw for a minute before he leaned his large frame in slightly. With his head at the side of her face, he hummed the melody of the song into her ear. She had never heard anything more beautiful. Something about the lyrics of the song spoke to her in more ways than she thought a song could touch a person. The moment it was over, they stood in place and looked at one another. Something was flowing between them; an energy crackled and popped, sparking something she was pretty sure was more than lust and desire. Without a word, they walked out of JT’s after settling the tab and headed straight to the truck.
Chapter Fourteen
Joel
The sun had already set. Nothing but darkness surrounded them by the time they exited JT’s and reached his truck. He was harder than he ever thought possible and couldn’t help but cage her against the passenger side door, pressing his lips to hers. He felt like a man starving. The taste of her was the only thing that could help sate the ache of the hunger he felt deep within him, and by the way she was kissing him back, just as demanding, he knew he wasn’t the only one who needed this. But when Carrie’s hands started to roam south and her lips started to search for his neck, he knew he had to get his little tigress home. He didn’t want to give half of Hope Falls a show.
“Baby… not here.”
“I don’t want to wait,” she uttered, and he breathed in deeply, trying to calm himself down.
“Fuck,” he groaned against her mouth when the palm of her hand stroked the front of his jeans. “Truck. Now,” he ordered, and thankfully, she didn’t argue. Once she was in the truck, he rounded it and got in, praying he could get them home quickly.
The drive took too long. Then again, if he had got them home in half the time, he would have still thought that. The sexual tension was thick in the cab while they held hands, her fingers stroking the inside of the palm of his hand as he drove. Wordlessly, they walked into the cabin. They both knew what was about to happen.
After he shut and locked the front door behind him, he felt her hands at his back and stood straight. Slowly, she took his jacket off him, and he watched her lay in on the back of the couch. When she returned, her hands started to work the buttons of the flannel shirt he was wearing, and he covered them with his own.
“What are you doing?” he asked, his hands clenching hers.
“Taking care of you,” she responded, and his dick twitched behind the zipper of his jeans.
“Baby—“
“Let me,” she whispered in a way he wasn’t sure if it was an order or a request, but he wasn’t going to question it. He simply let his arms fall to his sides.
With steady hands, she started from top to bottom, undoing each button slowly. The air was thick between them. All he could see and smell and feel was her and the heat her body seemed to generate. Once the buttons were undone, she pulled the shirt off his shoulders, placing it over his jacket, and her warm hands went to the bottom of the black undershirt he was wearing. He couldn’t take any more of her sweet torture. Pulling his shirt up and over his head, he tossed it over to the couch. She simply laughed softly, mumbling how impatient he was.
“Geez,” she muttered, her eyes more than appreciating what they saw. He couldn’t help how she made him feel. Primal and masculine. “You’re beautiful,” she told him, her hands roaming his chest.
The tips of her fingers grazed the hair on his chest, following the trail that led toward his way too tight jeans. He shut his eyes tightly, clenching his hands when her mouth hovered over his heart, her pretty lips kissing the spot on his pec. He opened his eyes to watch her. Her lips moved up as did her hands, stroking his arms, her eyes on the tattoo he had on his right arm. “I love your artwork.”
“Thank you,” he answered, his voice so hoarse he almost didn’t recognize it. His body strained too tight, she took him by surprise when she undid the top button of his pants. His own hand covered hers to stop her.
“Joel?” she asked, her voice lower than usual.
“My turn, baby.”
“But—“
“You’re wearing too many clothes, Care.” He liked how her eyes widened and she nodded.
He took the jacket off too quickly and reminded himself he needed to calm down. Swallowing hard, he forced himself to kneel in front of her, pulling off each boot one by one, making sure to rub the arch of each foot before standing back up. When his hands went on the hem of her shirt, he felt her body twitch.
“Ticklish?
“A little.”
“Nervous?” he asked as he stroked the soft skin at her sides.
“Not even a little bit,” she answered honestly as he pulled her shirt up and over her head, her arms moving to help him.
“You’re the beautiful one, baby,” he told her, taking in how gorgeous she was in a white lacey bra. Undoing her jeans, he pulled them down her thighs and kneeled to pull them away from her feet before he looked up at her.
“Perfection,” he uttered hoarsely as he took in the sight of her in her white lacy panties and bra set, her hair down and over her shoulders.
Chapter Fifteen
Carrie
“Joel,” she breathed raggedly, his mouth on her knees, the sensation so beautiful she had to close her eyes. The tips of his fingers skimmed the bare skin at the back of her thighs, making her open her eyes to look at the beautiful, powerful man kneeling before her.
“Your skin’s so soft, baby,” he groaned
, and she felt like her entire body was on fire.
“I need you,” she whimpered, the ache and need growing between her legs.
“God, Care, you’re going to kill me,” he groaned, his voice muffled slightly while his lips kissed their way up her thighs slightly above her knee.
“Please,” she whimpered, needing more than teasing touches.
“Are you sure?” he asked as he looked up at her, holding the back of her knees with both large hands.
Something about the way he was looking at her made her slightly dizzy. Like she had the key to something he not only wanted but needed. And just like that, she felt like she was hit by a bolt of electricity, a light bulb turning on simultaneously in her mind and heart.
She loved him.
She was in love.
Head over heels in love with a man she had only met a few months back. A man who she hadn’t gone on a date with until yesterday. A date she was still on.
“Carrie?” His voice snapped her out of her thoughts and she looked down at him, her eyes meeting his gentle stare. His dark eyes were soothing, calming her down from the inside out. How did he do that?
“Joel…” she started to say but was suddenly unsure. She couldn’t just tell him how she felt! It was too soon. Too fast.
“Hey, it’s okay,” he told her reassuringly, pulling his body up and standing in front of her.
“What’s okay?” she asked, wondering if she had somehow spoken how she was feeling out loud.
“You changed your mind. It’s okay,” he told her, and she blinked. “Look, we can sit on the couch, look at the fire, and make out. We don’t have to go any farther than—“
“I didn’t change my mind,” she said immediately.
He was such a gentleman. An alpha and a gentleman? He was freaking perfect. No. He had his quirks. Quirks and faults that she found endearing and sweet and very unperfect. But they made him perfect for her.
“Then what is it?” he asked, cupping her face, and she leaned into his hand.
“Joel—“
“Baby, tell me—“
“Nothing.” There was no way she could just tell him that she loved him after one long amazing date.
“I can see it in your eyes. Something’s wrong. We don’t have to do anything,” he kept talking, looking out for her, and she knew somehow, someway that this was how he would always be. That alone made her give him a soft smile, but before she could say anything, he was taking over the situation.
“Come on, let’s go sit on the couch,” he ordered as he dragged her over closer to the couch, and she was lost in a flurry of emotions.
Beautiful ones.
Ones she didn’t think she would ever let herself feel. But what was that saying? Life happened while you were busy making plans? He sat down and brought her down onto his lap, making her straddle him. She liked how she fit there. How free and safe she felt there wearing close to nothing, pressed up tight to his bare chest.
“Arms on my shoulders,” he ordered again, and she liked that too.
She liked that he was bossy when he needed to be, and she liked that she could give in to those bossy tendencies of his because she knew she trusted him. She trusted him and she loved him. Wow. When she jumped in, she didn’t mess around; she let herself get carried away to the deep end.
Her career might be hanging in the wind on pause, but somehow, she had a personal life. A love life?
“Talk to me,” he urged again, and she started to shake her head. No way was she going to say those words to him already. They barely knew one another.
“Joel—“ she started to say, but her cut her off.
“You can tell me anything,” he reassured her in a steady tone, his fingers stroking her back.
“I love you,” she blurted out and felt her face turning probably twenty shades of crimson.
“What?” His body all but froze, and she felt like the world’s biggest idiot.
“I know,” she groaned, running her fingers through her hair. “I must sound…insane. I know how crazy, looney tunes I sound. I mean, technically, this is our first date.”
“Carrie—“
“And we haven’t even had sex, so we might not even mesh or fit well—“
“We will,” he announced in a tone so rough and deliciously gravellike that it made her core clench. “But Care—“
“I don’t do things without thinking them through. Thoroughly.”
“What?” he asked, clearly not following her rambling, but she had to spit it out.
“I think about everything and then some.”
“Okay…”
“Like steps one through ten and then game plans a to z.”
“Okay, Carrie, I’m not following.”
“My parents… Geez, Joel, they were a mess. Always flitting and floating about the damn country like a pair of gypsies, and taking me along with them. Did you know I went to six different high schools before my junior year?” She shook her head. “I knew they weren’t the kind to plant roots or suddenly change out of nowhere and become real parents. All I ever wanted was roots. Something steady, a place to call home, people you know and who know you. Friends you could say ‘remember when we did that crazy thing?’ I know it must sound so stupid—”
“It doesn’t,” he interrupted her, and she looked at him and knew he was intently listening. He always heard every little thing she had to say.
“I liked school. I wanted to teach. I knew that was my calling and did everything I had to do to become a teacher. I took jobs others probably would have frowned at and thought were wrong, but I knew I would never cross certain lines at those places.”
“You’re talking about working at Shine?” he asked, and now it was her who was left slightly speechless and feeling off kilter. Her body stiffened above his, but his fingers simply kept stroking up and down her spine.
“Yes,” she whispered, not taking her eyes off him.
“You were a waitress and a bartender.” He shrugged while she sat there, staring at him in shock. When Parker had found out about Liz and her own past at Shine, it had all blown up in her face, but Joel was sitting talking to her like it was no big deal. “It’s not a big deal. There is nothing wrong about what you did.”
“How did you—“
“Baby,”—he tilted his head—“I work with computers and I’m a kinda good at it. I looked you up, and when I couldn’t even find a Facebook or old MySpace account, I dug deeper,” he admitted, and she frowned.
“Why?”
“Because I couldn’t find you,” he shared with her. She still didn’t say anything. “You didn’t call during your school’s winter break, and when I went back, you were gone and no one knew what happened to you. And that damn boss of yours rubbed me the wrong way. I needed to know more about you.”
“So, you dug around recently?” she asked. He looked her in the eyes but didn’t answer, though the pink tinge under his manly beard told her the truth. “You google stalked me?”
“I wanted to know more about you and you kept turning me down.” He frowned as she pressed her lips together.
“So, you’re saying it’s my fault?” Carrie asked him, not completely understanding what his admission made her feel. All she knew was that he knew the truth about her past and that she loved him. Those two things alone made her almost dare to hope for more.
“You kept turning me down, but I knew there was something there. Something between us,” he laid out, and he wasn’t wrong. This might have been their first date, but there had been something more going on before this.
“Pushing you away didn’t stop you,” she told him cautiously.
“Nope.”
“Why?” she asked.
“Because I’m a man, Carrie. I’m thirty-two and single for a reason. Before you even opened your mouth when we first met, I knew you were different.” She swallowed and sent a silent thank you to the powers of the universe for having had their paths crossed. “I looked at you and into yo
ur eyes, and all I could think about was how I wanted to wake up next to those eyes.”
“Such a guy,” she said softly.
“I wanted to wake to look at those eyes, every day for the rest of my life,” he clarified, and she opened and shut her mouth, unsure what to say. He had known that by looking at her? Without having even spoken to her?
“And knowing that I worked there, it doesn’t bug you?” she asked about Shine, knowing that it could be an issue with most guys.
“Baby, I told you earlier that we both have pasts,” he stated right before leaning closer to her. Every cell of her body came awake, tingling in anticipation. His lips touched her neck gently, oh god, so damn gently she almost couldn’t feel his lips.
“Mine got me fired,” she finally admitted and his hold on her tightened.
“That son of a-“
“I’m fine though. Whitefield isn’t the only school out there.”
“You’re going to be better than fine, Carrie.” He told her so fiercely that she felt it like a vow. One she knew he meant. His nose glided over hers, “I was a total nerd.” he whispered, and her giggle turned into a moan as his hand returned to the sides of her torso, making what felt like soft bolts of electricity shoot up and down her sides, leaving the base of her spine tingling.
“Joel,” she whispered and then gasped when he flipped them into the couch, her back hitting the cushions, his body draping over hers.
“I love you too, Carrie.” Her heart felt lighter and freer than it had ever felt. If he weren’t on top of her, she wondered if she would be floating, she was that happy.
“You do?” she asked, watching him nod.
“I do. I love you. I don’t care if it makes us sound crazy. We know this is real.”
“It is, isn’t it?”
“Very,” he rumbled before he kissed her deeply.
Their hands and limbs tangled up into one another. Their mouths licked, kissed, and nipped one another, teasing and driving each other crazy with anticipation, until they couldn’t stand it anymore.
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