“Nothin’. Just thinking about how much I wanna kiss you,” he said, running a hand through her hair.
Her chest tightened, and her belly flipped. Man, did this guy know how to turn her on. Her body started to heat and purr. The closer Lane and his chiseled face leaned in, the faster her head started to spin. “Take a breath,” he whispered as he took the beer out of her trembling hands and set it aside. He gently pulled her around and up into his lap, draping her legs over one side of the lounge chair. “I’m just going to kiss you. Once. Then, if you like it, you can kiss me back,” he whispered as he brushed her hair away from her cheek and licked at the spot below her ear.
“I’m probably gonna like it,” she whispered back, feeling his hands move from her hair, one going around her middle, the other tilting her face toward his.
“That is my fervent hope,” he said, licking his lips before he touched them softly against hers.
Lane’s gentleness unraveled whatever tension her body held. The soft timbre of his voice. The tenderness of his touch. The slow, patient, torturous exploration of her lips with his tongue. Lane was proving to be an expert at seduction, and Vivi was nothing but putty in his hands.
Willing putty.
Eager putty.
Impatient putty.
Lane was taking his time writing a sonnet against her lips and greedy Vivi just wanted CliffNotes.
She tried to contain her yearning. She wanted him to be the one to deepen the kiss. But he’d had his finger on her woozy button all day long and right now she was at full tilt. “Lane,” she whispered, and he answered the call. His tongue slipped into her mouth like a breath, and the satisfaction of feeling that intimacy, along with the release of his own pent-up moan, brought great pleasure. Her hands grabbed at his shoulders while he pulled her closer, opened his mouth a little wider, forcing her to do the same.
Soooooo different from kissing Kevin, the non-woozy part of her brain compared. The way Lane explored her mouth with his tongue, held on to her jaw gently with his hand, guided her this way, coaxed her that way. It was all so…meaningful. Like this kiss meant something to him. To both of them. There was emotion tied to it, to every little bit of it, and she felt it, thoroughly. Her body responded by going tingly in places that had yet to learn to tingle. And then it went tight, and eager, and hot, and…damp.
The longing felt good. Unique. A very pleasant reaction to Lane’s kiss. But the kiss was the thing. The kiss was a connection. His kiss had her conscious mind laid out at the bottom of the woozy pool. Saturated. Sedate. Floating along in a blissful cocoon. Her body was highly engaged in the act of kissing. Her tongue, her lips, her teeth, her hands, and now the rest of her were all participating fully in kissing Lane, but her mind couldn’t hold all the pleasure. Her mind was blissed out.
“S.B.,” Lane whispered in between kisses. His hand ran up and down her side, pulling a portion of her attention from the deep of the pleasure zone. “S.B. Baby, I want you to do something for me.”
“Anything,” she whispered back, smiling shyly as he left a little space between their lips.
“Careful,” he warned. “You don’t know what I’m asking yet.” He chuckled softly.
Dazed and happy, Vivi was surprised when he reached in his pocket and pulled out his phone.
“Give me your number.”
She didn’t hesitate. She rattled it off. Twice. He one-fingered the number and her full name into his data, keeping his other arm around her with a hand securely on her back. He hit “Done” and put his phone back in his pocket.
When he looked up, she took Lane’s face in both her hands. “You planning on calling me?”
“Every chance I get,” he said, pulling her around to face him, forcing her to straddle his lap. The kissing heated up fast, and it wasn’t long before Lane started talking a little woozy himself. “Mmm…God…S.B…how hard am I gonna have to beg to get you to follow me upstairs?”
Vivi smiled against his lips, wondering why she’d ever consider not following him. That path was just gonna lead to a lifetime of “Oh, what would have happened if I had just gone?” Lane Kettering was not gonna be a regret she left on the table.
“What’s upstairs?” she teased.
“Music,” he said, running his hands up her thighs. “A locked door…a comfortable bed,” he said between kisses. “Condoms,” he admitted, and then stopped everything else as he pulled away and owned the moment, looking straight into her eyes. “You wanted somebody hot for you? Well, you might wanna start being careful what you wish for, because I swear to God I’ve never been hotter. You want to ask me some questions? You want to see my license? You want my blood type? Sleeping Beauty, I’ll give you anything you want. But as much as I thought I could spend the entire night out here kissing you in the moonlight, I’m not lying when I say we’ve either got to end it here or go straight on till morning. Because I am so tangled up in you right now I know I won’t have the strength to stop somewhere in between.”
He was panting. And earnest. So, very earnest. And yeah, the sensible thing to do would be to leave the night right here. Maybe pick it up on the beach tomorrow. Or at least ask him more questions. But the big question-the only question-Vivi had been clinging to for days, had already been answered, in poetry.
“You want me?” she whispered.
“Want doesn’t begin to do my feelings justice.”
She smiled and slowly leaned in to kiss ruggedly handsome Lane Kettering from Oxford, North Carolina.
Chapter Six
Lane asked Vivi to wait in the living area while he checked out the condition of his brother’s bedroom. Being that Tray was the groom, and the reason for the party, he’d been given the master suite all to himself. Everyone else was sharing a room except Lane. Lane was on the pullout sofa.
“Not tonight,” he said out loud while remaking the bed and looking around through Vivi’s eyes. He tossed his brother’s clothes in a pile, cleaned up the mess in the bathroom, straightened the towels, and then set off to find Sleeping Beauty, half expecting her to have taken off. But there she stood, pretty as a sunset and twice as sultry.
He opened the cooler he’d left by the door, pulled out the short bottle of tequila he had stuffed into the ice, and took Vivi by the hand, leading her out onto the balcony. “It’s not quite midnight, but I figured now’s probably a good time to tell you a little something about me.”
“Yes?”
Her bright, expectant eyes and pretty smile grabbed him around the nuts. He was falling fast for all this sweet and soft, nearly desperate to get her undressed and into his arms. But he needed to slow it down, play it cool. Maybe she was a sure thing, but he surely didn’t want to blow it. Not now. Not when she came from a town right next to his own. In the back of his mind, he was already formulating a plan to maneuver around the obvious pitfalls.
Her-a college graduate.
Him-not.
He cleared his throat. “May sixteenth is your birthday,” he stated. “It just so happens it’s my birthday, too,” he said, unscrewing the top of the tequila.
“You’re kidding.”
“Nope. I was pretty pumped when this trip ended up happening over my birthday. Figured I’d be treated to a wild night with my brother and a team of almost-lawyers.” He pulled her close and wrapped an arm around her. “I did not dream big enough. Didn’t have a clue that I’d be lucky enough to celebrate with you.” He put the bottle to his mouth and took a swig. Then he reached over, took a clean glass from the outdoor bar cart, and added a shot to it. He set the bottle down, picked up the glass, and tipped it to her lips. She took it in both hands and downed the shot. Her grimace was cute. Her pink painted fingertips came up to touch her lips as her eyes went wide from the fire coursing down her throat, maybe ricocheting all over her insides. That thought made him take another shot straight from the bottle.
“Were we born the exact same day?” she asked.
“No,” he said, shaking his head and then c
oming to rest, staring her straight in the eye. “There’s a two-year difference.”
“Well,” she said, tilting her head and smiling. “Happy birthday to both of us.”
Six words. That’s all they were. Six words, none of them his favorite. Yet, coming from her lips, with that sexy voice, in that breathy little way she had about her when she went all shy? A direct hit to his libido. What the hell was gonna happen when he got her in bed?
He needed condoms.
Lots and lots of condoms.
He took her hand and drew her behind him, but halfway through the condo he managed to get her in front of him and have both of his hands on her shoulders, the rest of his body pushing up against her as they headed down the hall. It was getting to the point where he couldn’t keep his hands off her any longer. And man, he thought, as he laid a kiss on the curve of her neck, his lips wanted in on the action too. When they came face to face with the enormous bed, he made his excuse. “I’m gonna leave this bathroom for you. I’ll head down the hall and be back in a minute.”
He took the time to scramble into the bedroom his cousin Trevor was using and felt no guilt whatsoever rooting around in Trev’s duffle bag until he came up with a box of condoms. Jackpot. He texted his brother saying Vivi was spending the night and told them not to be assholes whenever they came in. Oh yeah, and thanks for the bedroom. Then he used the bathroom, washed his hands and face, and took off his shirt, inspecting himself in the mirror. He sniffed both armpits and gave himself a passing grade of a B plus. Then he laughed, hoping that was considered more than a passing grade from his little wannabe teacher.
He came back to their room happy, refreshed, excited, and yakking his head off. “You know, you already gave me one of the best birthday presents ever today when I saw-Holy shit!”
Sleeping Beauty was brushing out her hair-her long, dark, silky smooth hair-standing at the end of the bed in nothing but a tiny little bra the color of the sky on the best day of his life and a matching pair of panties, all lacy, all soft, all fuck-me-I’m-gonna-blow-now.
Jesus Christ.
“What?” she asked, laughing at his expression. “You’ve already seen me in my bathing suit.”
He stumbled back against the door he’d just shut and locked, clutching his heart, desperate for his ability to inhale to return. “Your bathing suit rocked,” he said, his eyes squinting like he was in pain. Which was the damn truth. “But you, in that, like this, here, with me? Fu-ck. I mean, shit. I mean, sorry. I’m just…” He looked down at his bare feet to stop his lame-ass mouth from talking and took time for a deep inhale. “Vivi,” he said, raising his head and looking into her eyes. “You are…beautiful.”
Her eyelashes fluttered and her gaze dropped to the ground. Bashful Beauty had now entered the picture. Which helped put some of the wind back in his own sails. He pushed himself away from the door and walked to her, taking the brush out of her hands and turning her around, her back to him. He slowly brushed her dark brown tresses from scalp to tip, enjoying the quiet between them, letting his overzealous desire quiet back down.
“I don’t have a sister,” he said. “My mom is great and we get along real well, but…”
“But what?”
He shrugged, continuing to brush her hair. “Women are pretty much a mystery to me. So, you know, maybe it’s a good thing you like to teach,” he whispered. He leaned down and kissed her shoulder as he placed the brush on a table. “I like being the boss, but I’m open to any and all suggestions,” he whispered against her ear, feeling her body rock back and settle against him. He surrounded her with his arms, nudged her hair aside to get to her neck, and started kissing his way into bed. “Lights on or off?” he whispered.
“Off.”
“Did you text your friends? Tell them you’re with me and that you’re not coming home tonight?”
She nodded.
“And Vivi?”
“Hmm?”
“Happy birthday.”
Chapter Seven
July 1st
“Thank God it’s the first. We can text all day, right? No limit on the first of each month, right?”
Vivi stared at her phone.
Nothing.
She texted Lane again.
“Are you there? It’s THE FIRST OF THE MONTH. Where are you? I miss you? I need to text with you.”
Three long hours later, her phone beeped up a text.
“Sorry. Sorry. REALLY SORRY. I know it’s the first of the month. I’ve been living for the first of the month-God, S.B. I miss you. Unfortunately, it’s also a Monday, and I’m now working for my uncle’s construction company down in Nags Head. The same uncle with the condo where we’re gonna meet next May. Gotta stay on his good side. Couldn’t be texting on the job. We start work before the damn sun comes up, but we get off early. So I’m here now. I’m all yours. Text away.”
“I’m not sure I like this once-a-month texting rule. I get all wound up and worried you’re not going to show up.”
“I’ll show. Trust me. How was Europe?”
“Incredible. I can text a few pictures if you want.”
“As long as you’re in them, text as many pictures as you like. I’ll need them to get through the next month.”
“Take a selfie. Right now. I want to see you.”
“I haven’t showered yet. I’m covered in dirt. You don’t want to see me.”
“I want to see you. NOW.”
“Bossy, bossy. Hold on.”
Vivi tapped her foot hard and fast, having no patience for this at all. It was her own dumb fault. She should never have agreed to his rules of engagement. But since she and Lane had decided to continue their relationship after Myrtle Beach, neither one had a moment to breathe or see each other during the summer.
Her schedule was booked with travel. Fun post-graduation travel. Some search-for-work travel. Family-vacation travel. Reunion travel. Travel for friends’ weddings. The list went on and on. There wasn’t a time when she planned to be in Henderson that Lane was going to be close by in his hometown of Oxford. His time was being taken up with his brother’s out-of-town wedding, various out-of-town jobs, and an out-of-town summer school course. Then he’d be back at school full time at the end of August. Since it was his senior year, and she, hopefully, would be starting her own career, they decided to let their relationship ride. No commitments. No demands. Only texting on the first of every month to keep in touch. And a promise. Next May they’d celebrate their birthdays together again, right back in Myrtle Beach.
Seemed reasonable.
At the time.
Felt reasonable when they were holding each other tight, and he was kissing on her like he couldn’t get enough.
Two days after they parted, it began to feel a whole lot like unreasonable. A whole week later, she wanted to Google his address and show up on his front doorstep. But then she left for Paris and a full month touring Europe, and she had to talk herself into having a good time by pushing Lane Kettering into the future. Something she could look forward to without making herself crazy in the present. And with Europe as a distraction, it worked okay.
Right now, she felt mighty close to crazy.
His picture popped up on her phone screen and she rushed to enlarge it. Oh man, her heart sighed. His hair was lighter, his tan was darker, his beard was scruffy, his eyes-his eyes were perfect-shiny, green, sparkling, and his smile was the same cute, smirky one that lit up her insides. Best of all, his shirt was off and he was sweaty and dirty, and…magnificent.
She typed out her response. Hit send.
“You are one dirty, dirty, man.”
“If you were here, you’d be dirty too.”
“I’d like that.”
“Any job offers?” his text asked.
“It looks like I’ll hear from Atlanta in a couple weeks. They didn’t promise anything, but did call to inquire whether I was still available.”
“Hmm. Atlanta.”
“I know. I’ve applie
d all over North Carolina. But unless I end up in Chapel Hill, I guess we’ve got to stick to our plan.”
“Except for Thanksgiving and Christmas. You’re coming home from wherever you are then, right? I’ll get to see you then?”
“I’m crossing the days off the calendar with a red marker.”
“Me too.”
“How are you?”
“Fine. Good. Making money. Reliving our nights together while I work, before I go to sleep, first thing in the morning, all day long.”
Vivi laughed at that. Was grateful he was still so forthright. Before she could respond, another text came in.
“You mean a lot to me, S.B. You gotta promise me again that you’re gonna show up in Myrtle Beach next May sixteenth.”
“I promise.”
“I’m going to hold you to it.”
“Okay.”
There was a break in their texting flow, and then Vivi’s phone rang.
“I’m breaking my own damn rule,” Lane said, his voice smooth and quiet. She couldn’t respond, because he’d just brought her to tears. “Are you there?”
“Hmm-hmm,” she said, wiping at her eyes. “I’m here, and I miss you, and I love the sound of your voice.”
“That so? Hmm. Then how âbout we amend our agreement to texting and phone calls on the first of every month. I like your voice, too.”
August 1st
“I’m going to Atlanta. NC schools are slow to process new applicants and retire worn out teachers. I’ve got to go to Atlanta.”
“You don’t have to go if you don’t want to.”
“It’s my dream.”
“Atlanta’s your dream?”
“No. The job. Teaching’s my dream. Second graders. Decent starting salary. Nice school environment. Not the best school, but far from the worst. I like the principal. I’m going to Atlanta.”
“For a year.”
“Well, for however long.”
“A year.”
“We’ll see.”
“I can be bossy, too.”
“I do remember. Fondly.”
“How’s my Sleeping Beauty?”
Passionate Kisses 2 Boxed Set: Love in Bloom Page 62
