Which was silly, because she wasn’t really sure what upset her.
“No,” Travis said. “I don’t want to make a don’t-see-Rach schedule.”
“Then why did you come in here?” she asked. “Tonight, why’d you knock on the door?”
“Honestly?” he asked, turning to her. “I have no idea. I wanted to see you. I saw the light on. I came in.” He ran a hand over his hair. “I want to ignore my parents totally on this. I like you. Like how I’ve been feeling around you.”
She sucked in a breath. Oh. Okay. All righty then, that’s why he didn’t want to be friends. The way he looked at her with the same carnal expression from the lake made the air in the room shift dangerously into Molly-suggested territory.
“How do you feel around me?” Rachel asked.
“Like I’m not flying solo.” He had the deep, rumbly, genuine note back in his words.
His nonsense started to make a little sense. And that made no sense, because the heavy feeling in her belly still weighed her down.
“Do you feel that way often?” she asked, because, boy oh boy, did she feel that loneliness creeping into her marrow all the freaking time. Especially at night when the chaos of life finally took a chill pill and things were quiet.
He nodded. “I don’t think I realized how often until recently.”
She nodded because she could so totally relate.
“Can I make a suggestion?” Rachel asked, hoping she mirrored his sincerity. “Well, it’s Molly’s suggestion. I called her when we got back from the lake after the whole…” She cleared her throat. “Anyway, she was with April and I told them what happened between us.”
“What do you think happened between us?” he asked.
Okay, here was the thing. His knee brushed hers. Like not a big deal kind of brush. It could’ve been an accidental brush. Nevertheless, it was nice. Really, really nice. Connection nice.
Like jumping in a lake nice.
“I think that there was a moment when we almost kissed,” Rachel said, answering his question. “Is…is that what you think?”
A beat of silence descended. Her cheeks heated. What was she thinking? She should be less direct with him. Here she was opening herself up like it was no big deal.
It was a very big deal.
Perhaps communication wasn’t totally necessary in this instance.
“That’s exactly what I think.” He nodded and, honest to goodness, he reached out to toy with the end of a chunk of her hair.
Her hair didn’t have the ability to feel, so it made no sense that she felt all buzzy and heady at the touch.
“Molly had a suggestion?” Travis asked, and he seemed unsure about Molly’s potential suggestion, but he was still toying with Rachel’s hair and he’d moved closer and they were not-really-platonic close anymore.
Rachel nodded, swallowing hard. “She did.”
He chuckled, dropping her hair and leaning against the side of the sofa. “Does Molly’s suggestion involve a pineapple?”
“Ha. No.” She leaned in to him, since he’d touched her, and she figured turnabout was fair play. Except, she wasn’t quite sure what to do once she was in his space. His hair wasn’t long enough to toy with, he was sitting like he was super comfortable, so he didn’t need her to offer a pillow or anything.
Finally, she decided to set her hand on his knee.
There, that wasn’t weird.
“Am I supposed to guess?” he asked, giving a long look at her hand.
“Guess what?” she asked, distracted by the knee touching.
“Am I supposed to guess what Molly suggested?” His hand covered hers, and for a split second she worried he’d try to push her hand away.
He didn’t. Instead he rolled her palm over and linked their hands together.
Oh, that was nice. They were touching and her body liked it very, very much. She liked it very, very much.
“Molly thinks we should kiss.” Rachel said the words in a rush. “Just do it. Get it over with. That way we’ll both get whatever this feeling is out of the way and we can decide what to do next.”
“And you think a kiss is going to do that?” He was now tracing her knuckles with his thumb.
She liked the tracing thing a lot. A whole lotta lot.
“Molly suggested that we are at the jump-in-a-lake stage, not necessarily the jump-into-bed stage. So we should just kiss and try that out before we make any other decisions.”
“What do you think?” he asked.
“I think I agree with her on this one. It’s not going to hurt anything.” Rachel shrugged but was careful not to move too much and accidentally give the impression she wanted him to drop her hand. Because she didn’t want him to drop her hand. She liked the way his tracing her skin echoed inside her. Deep inside in a place she’d forgotten existed, because no one had given it any attention in a very, very long time.
“It’s just a kiss,” Rachel said. “An experiment. Afterward, we can reevaluate. I mean, most people make the choice to let their bodies do the communication, because it’s easy. Maybe we should see what our bodies have to say.”
“This is what Molly thinks?” Travis asked.
“Yes.” She nodded.
“And you agree?” He pressed a kiss to the back of her hand and released it.
Damn. She didn’t like the releasing part. The kiss part was super nice, though.
“I like things structured. That way I know they’ll go as I want them to.”
“And?”
“The truth is, I’m scared of what might happen if we both like it.” She had a feeling she was going to like it…a lot.
“Do you trust me?” he asked.
“No.” She didn’t.
He had that bruised look again.
But his question seemed like an important one. “Should I?”
“That’s your call, but I can promise I won’t hurt you.”
“You can’t promise that.” No one could promise that. Especially him.
She drew in a deep breath.
“So how do you want this to go?” he asked.
“Well, I figure your mouth will press against my mouth. Then we’ll see what happens.” Rachel shifted on the sofa so their knees touched. Wait, was that what he meant? He probably knew the mechanics of kissing, so she didn’t need to provide a tutorial.
He didn’t move out of the way, he just let their knees stay there…touching.
“The thing is, as April pointed out, you might be an awful kisser,” she said, continuing to speak even though she should’ve stopped.
“I’m not.” The deep timbre was back in his voice and she was really, really into it.
She gestured to herself. “I could be an awful kisser.”
“I can already tell you that you’re not.” His gaze attached to her lips.
“You don’t know. I don’t know. We don’t know.” She was using a lot of hand gestures and should probably knock it off before she accidentally whacked him. “Let’s just do it. Get it over with. Move forward from there.”
“Well, if we’re doing this by vote, then I guess it’s a good thing it’s a consensus with your committee.”
“Exactly.” See? He understood. This was excellent.
“For the record, my committee thinks it’s a bad idea.” He reached out and toyed with the end of her hair again.
“Who, exactly, is on your committee?” She didn’t know many of his friends—they didn’t come around when they were in the same place. Mostly because those places were only with his family.
“My parents.”
“That’s a really crappy committee.”
“Yeah, well, it’s what I’ve got.”
“Actually, your committee is the worst.” Her fingertip itched to reach out. Draw a line along his jaw. “You need a new commi
ttee.”
His gaze focused on her mouth, and the air between them practically crackled. She licked at her lips.
This did nothing to resolve the electric charge in the air.
“When should I start accepting applications?” he asked, moving closer.
She barked a low laugh. She actually laughed.
This, whatever this was between them, felt so normal. Not forced. No arguing. They were talking, laughing, and she had a strange fascination with the way his lips moved.
“Okay,” he said, shifting, so he was in front of her, his mouth inches from hers.
“Okay,” she said, moving forward to fill the small bit of space remaining.
She drew a heavy breath. She could do this. This was not a huge deal. This was just a kiss.
Rachel stared at his lips. He stared at her lips.
Neither of them closed the gap.
There was a lot of staring going on. Not an iota of moving.
Mostly, she couldn’t move because her muscles seemed to have turned to liquid, she was heating all through, and there were nerve endings firing. She couldn’t say why he wasn’t moving.
Finally, he traced the apple of her cheek with his thumb and started to close the last of the space between them. Her breaths came quicker, the flannel shirt rising and falling swiftly with each inhale and exhale.
God, she wanted him to unbutton the top button. All the buttons.
He didn’t, keeping his focus on her mouth. Which was also nice. He was going to kiss her, and given the way her body was reacting, it was going to be really, really nice. Except—
“Wait,” she said, pressing her hand against his chest just as his mouth was less than a breath away from hers.
He paused.
She pulled away a fraction of an inch.
“This has to be totally mutual,” she said, gesturing between them. “We need to do it at the same time so it’s not like I kissed you or you kissed me. We just do it at the exact same time so it’s even.”
He rubbed the tip of his nose against hers and, oh, she should stop trying to dictate how this was going to go. “This is getting very complicated,” he drawled.
Red flag. Huge red flag. The wielding of the accent was something that should’ve made her pause.
Yet, in that moment? It made her want him only more.
“Welcome to my life.” She adjusted herself, pushing forward and basically kneeling beside him on the sofa, so it’d be easier to accomplish the task. Uh-huh, she was practically in his lap. He did not seem to mind.
She definitely didn’t.
Her palm met his cheek, tracing the light stubble there. Everything in her turned on like she’d been in a holding pattern her entire life and had just been given clearance to land.
He moved to her, and she moved to him, and then their lips melded. Neither of them closed their eyes as their mouths met.
He moaned and deepened the kiss.
She, uh, may have also moaned.
Also, good news, Travis was not a bad kisser. He was a great kisser. He knew exactly what to do with his tongue, using it like a professional to coax her lips open and get her tongue into the game.
He could open a kissing booth if he wanted to make his fortune. He was that good.
There were more sounds coming from them both, but she wasn’t really paying attention to anything but the feel of them together. She wanted more of him. Wanted more of this—the heat, the sizzle, and the ache between her legs.
She moved to straddle him in order to get better purchase on his mouth.
It was a bold move, sure, but it also seemed extremely necessary because the core of her need was begging for contact.
The softness that was her rocked against the hardness of him, and she nearly came on the spot as they appreciated the hell out of each other.
Mouths and hands and bodies. Travis’s hard length pressed against his fly.
“Rach,” he said against her mouth. “God.”
Gah. She was going to come.
He was gripping the back of her head with one hand and he had a handful of her ass with the other. When the kiss had begun, it was mutual. When she straddled him, she’d been the one in charge. But there was no doubt now that it was Travis calling the shots. He trailed his hand to her thigh, shifting, so he was laying her on the sofa, and he was on top.
She spread her legs. He wasted no time nestling into the cradle of her thighs. His erection pressed against her wet center and this was, quite possibly, the best first kiss she’d ever had in her life.
“So you both know these doors have locks on them, right?” Dave asked from somewhere across the room.
Rachel jerked away from Travis, pressing her sleeve to her mouth. Travis, for what it was worth, didn’t look embarrassed.
No, the way he was pinching his lips and working his jaw…he was pissed.
Pissed and still turned on, judging by the twitch of his erection against her flannel pajamas.
“They’re nifty, you just push the button. Then no one can come in.” Dave was giving an illustration on how to lock and unlock the door, seemingly nonplussed by the way the bottom had just dropped out of Rachel’s world. Though the drop was not because of Dave’s interruption.
Rachel stared into Travis’s eyes, questioning what had come over her. Over them.
No, it was thanks to Travis and his ability to kiss the responsibility right out of her.
Chapter Fourteen
“We don’t use mommy words, they’ll get you in trouble.” — Courtney, North Carolina, USA
Travis
Despite her enchanting qualities, Rachel was not a witch. Of this, Travis was pretty certain. But the speed with which she removed her mouth from his was truly stunning.
Rachel had tasted like the sunshine promise he’d been sure she’d just made. Mouths opened, tongues met, his arms went to her back, wrapping around her so they were a tight unit.
His erection had really been hoping to get in the game, especially when she shifted so she really was sitting in his lap with her legs straddling him.
Dave fucked it all up.
Travis counted to four in his head. Then, careful not to shift all his weight onto Rachel, he moved from her.
She immediately sat up and crossed her arms over her chest.
“Dave.” Travis shoved his hands through his hair. “We’re a little busy.”
“I see that,” Dave said, standing inside the threshold, and moving his gaze between Travis and Rachel. “You two are really going to do this, huh?”
Rachel opened her mouth to speak. “I—”
“Because you know Mom and Dad are going to disown you if you fuck with her.” Dave addressed Travis as he spread his stance wider.
Travis glared daggers at his brother. Dave had been his favorite right until that moment. “I’m not going to fuck with her.”
“He’s not,” Rachel said. “We were just doing a little experiment. Turns out, it worked.” She laughed, but it came out as an awkwardly stifled giggle.
Travis struggled to process anything further because most of the blood in his body was residing below the waistband of his pajama bottoms.
“Can you at least start locking the door?” Dave asked, resigned. “It’ll prevent an unsuspecting someone—mostly me—from finding something I shouldn’t.”
“What are you even doing here?” Travis asked, eyes narrowed.
Dave’s eyebrows rose at the tone. “Lights were on. I was checking in on Rach.”
“Please don’t tell your mom,” Rachel said quickly, standing to pace between the sofa and one of the armchairs.
Travis adjusted himself so he wouldn’t be pitching a trouser tent, and stood, moving toward Rachel. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and, thankfully, she let him take her weight.
> Pressing a kiss against the crown of her head came naturally.
Flying solo had nothing on what he’d just had with Rachel. What she was giving him even now.
“Please don’t tell them,” Rachel said, softer this time.
The soft seemed to get Dave’s attention.
He took in the scene—Travis and Rachel, the puppies sleeping on the rug, the work Rachel had strewn all over the coffee table by the sofa, the half-eaten bag of milk chocolate Dove candies Travis hadn’t noticed before.
“Fucking hell,” was all Dave said as he, once again, pressed the lock on the door. Then he turned and addressed Travis. “You need to be more careful.” Dave pulled the door shut behind him.
“He didn’t agree,” Rachel said, panicked.
“He’s worried.” Travis squeezed her shoulders before turning her to face him. “I’ve always done this thing when someone tells me I can’t have somethin’, I want it. So he’s worried. Rightfully so.”
“Your parents just told you that you can’t have me, so you want me?” The vulnerability in her gaze hit him hard, like an overhead punch to the cranium. “That’s what I thought.”
Of course that’s what she’d thought. That’s what everyone thought.
He hadn’t exactly given them a reason not to.
“No,” he assured, keeping his tone gentle like he would if he were talking to the pups or the boys. “This is different. I’m not sure what it is exactly, but the chemistry at the lake and on the sofa…I want to explore that. See where it takes us.”
“So it’s the other thing,” she said under her breath.
What the hell was the other thing?
“I’m not usually a see-where-it-takes-us kind of person.” Rachel started to extract herself from his arms. “This is all new to me.”
He let her move away, because deep inside he understood she needed the space to think.
“But you considered trying it,” he said, again, keeping his tone low and soft. “And you did try it.”
She brushed a strand of hair from her face. “I can’t take that kind of risk long-term. Kissing you on the sofa is one thing…what happened after is something totally different.”
“It’s me, Rach—I won’t let this hurt you.”
Rachel, Out of Office Page 15
