by Cari Quinn
“How do you know?”
“Because I’ve known you for almost a week now, and you haven’t asked me a single personal question.”
“I wouldn’t say that.”
She blushed and socked him in the arm. “You know what I mean.”
He grunted. “I was just wondering what our age difference was.”
“Oh.” She closed the guidebook. “I’m twenty-seven.”
He was thirty. He rubbed the heel of his hand over his chest. Lawrence had married his mom when he was eight. He wasn’t sure of the specifics, but it had been really fast. He didn’t know if his mother had been dating Larry before she introduced them, but all of a sudden Larry had been his stepdad and spending a lot of time getting to know him. He remembered moments of finding Larry staring out a window with a sad look on his face when he’d first married his mother, but Shane had been so happy to have a father in his life that he’d rush in and drag him outside to play ball.
Had Larry really left Kendall behind at such a young age?
It just didn’t make sense.
Of all Larry’s faults, being an absent father wasn’t one of them. Too involved would be more like it. The will was a testament to that. But why would he take away one more thing from Kendall? Shane wasn’t the first child to have a parent die without leaving anything behind.
“Going to clue me in on the personal conversation going on in your head?”
“We’ll talk about it when we stop for the night.”
She jammed the guidebook into the backpack she’d bought that morning. “I hate when you do that.”
He rubbed his palm on his jeans. He wasn’t going to play dumb. “It’s a little heavy to talk about. And it’s too pretty a day to fight.”
“Oh, and that makes me feel a million times better.” She tucked her back into the door and crossed her leg over her knee. His large bench seat was perfect to let her stretch out. Part of him wanted to pull her feet into his lap. Everything about Kendall invited intimacy. She was so tiny and limber. God, was she limber.
His fingertips bit into his thigh in memory. That last night with her had been too intimate, too intense, too everything. He’d pushed her away as far as humanly possible.
She sat up suddenly. “Can we stop?”
He looked at the dash. They hadn’t been on the road three hours yet. “Already?”
“There’s a rest stop, and I prefer not to use a campsite one. I’ve seen them.”
He sighed. “You aren’t one of those girls that has a bladder the size of a walnut, are you?”
“No.” She sneered at him. “I need snacks and a coffee. And you need something with caffeine too. Did you sleep at all last night?”
“Enough.”
“Oh, yeah, big strong man. I no need sleep.”
He knew she was looking for a laugh, so he kept his face perfectly stony.
She slumped. “Your sense of humor is nonexistent.”
He pulled off for the rest stop and parked. Kendall clambered down and jogged ahead to the visitor’s center. After a trip to the men’s room, he made a beeline for the mini-mart and decided to go with cold caffeine. He got in line. She was right. The road was starting to blur a little. Even with her Lonely Planet narration, he needed a quick stretch to get out of his own head.
He didn’t want to ask her about when Larry had left her and her mother. He had a sinking feeling he knew the answer to that question. He just wasn’t sure about the why.
She slapped a bag of Skittles and a Coke Zero on the counter in front of him. He looked down at her. “Are you sure you need sugar and caffeine?”
She smacked his arm with a fistful of brochures. “Yep. We have tons to see. And I’ve got our first stop.”
“No, I have our first stop.”
“Oh really?”
He paid and thanked the teller and took the bag before she could grab it. “Yes. I’m going to take you to my favorite spot.”
“You actually have one of those?”
“Yes. My favorite spot is in Big Sur, but at Yosemite there’s a place my mom used to take me when I was a kid.” Shit. He expected her to clam up, but she didn’t. Her eyes were bright and friendly and curious.
“Yeah? I can’t wait to see it. Should we get a couple of sandwiches?”
“Yeah.” He dug a twenty out of his jeans. “Why don’t you do that.”
“I have my own money.”
Her raised chin and flash of pride made him want to kiss her boneless. He liked how she sighed into him and opened. All heat and generosity. “I told you I’d take care of getting you home, remember?”
Her brows lowered. “Yes.”
He hooked his forefinger into her belt loop and dragged her in until she was on her toes, then tucked the bill into her front pocket. “Then let me.”
Dark eyes dilated, and her mouth opened. She flicked her tongue along her bottom lip. He groaned, lowering his head until their lips lined up. A hint of peppermint teased the air between them. He brushed his nose along hers and breathed her in. She stilled in his arms. Soft. So freaking soft and lovely.
He let her go.
Her gaze dropped to his mouth before she pressed her lips together and backed away. She turned to the eateries.
“Kendall?”
She swung back to him, her eyes wary and still a little wild.
“Roast beef with the works. Hot peppers too.”
She stared at him blankly for a moment before nodding.
It was going to be a long damn trip.
KENDALL SNAPPED HER gum as she waited in line. Nothing, grouchy, a hint of friendly, then stony, and then that. How the hell was she supposed to keep up? Just when she thought she understood the unspoken rules between them, he pulled that bullshit on her.
Dammit.
Her blood was humming as if she’d just run a circuit around the lake at home.
She crossed her arms over her chest to hide her stupid reaction to that man. She was tired of being the one at the end of the strings. Her skin flushed at her neck. She could feel the heat. More than once she’d definitely been tied to him in a different way.
“Can I help you, Miss?”
“Yes, sorry.” Derailed by food. She made her order and added a couple of bottled waters to the list. She turned to lean on the counter and wait. Shane came out of the mini-mart again with another purchase. She saw the telltale red bag and grinned. Well, well. Oscar couldn’t be all bad if he liked Twizzlers.
“Miss?”
She turned around and smiled at the kid behind the counter. He smiled back; the sandwich fell out of the bag. She laughed and tucked it in. “Thanks. Have a good day.”
“Yeah…uh, you too.”
She jogged over to meet Shane.
“You do know that kid is half in love with you, right?”
She shrugged. “I’m prettier than the truckers he’s used to.”
His gold-green eyes flattened. “Mmm.”
She shook her head. “You get grouchy about the weirdest stuff.”
He took her bag. “You can’t be that oblivious.”
“What? A seventeen-year-old kid who works in a rest stop got a little fumbly because I gave him my big smile. Big deal.”
“Your big smile?”
“Yeah, the one I gave you the other night when I had my hand around your—”
“Kendall.”
His dark, uncompromising tone made her want to tease him all the more. She took the candy bag, and he grabbed it back. “Hey!” she said.
He reached in and tossed her the bag of Skittles.
“Something in there you don’t want me to see?”
He turned her toward the door. She grinned at the kid who was still watching them and waved.
“Christ, you’re a menace.”
She looked over her shoulder. “You love it.” His lips twitched. She ripped open a corner of her bag and popped a few candies in her mouth. His moods were beginning to make more sense. She was pretty sure he
wasn’t quite as grouchy as he pretended to be. But she liked his growl face, so she didn’t mind so much. It was much better than the fake friendly she got at the inn. Oh, there were genuinely sweet people who came in, but for the most part, it was all about the good old boys who wanted to stink up her shed with fish.
Shane and Kendall walked through the parking lot. He slowed his stride to hers, and instead of climbing into the driver’s side like he usually did, he followed her to the passenger side. He opened the back door and stowed their food, then opened her door. Surprised, she froze.
“What?”
“You don’t usually open my door for me.”
“Yeah, well, I should.”
She grabbed the Oh, Jesus handle and hauled herself up. His wide hands curved around her hips as he gave her a boost. She bounced on the seat and met him face-to-face. He had such an interesting face. Almost pretty. But the beard softened his jawline in some ways and hardened it in others. She smoothed her thumb through the dent in his chin and placed a quick kiss on his lips. She reached for her seat belt, but instead of closing her door, he stepped up on the running board, held on to the roof of the truck, and sealed his lips over hers.
The cool bite of the soda he’d drunk mixed with his taste. Then the glide of his tongue dissolved the rest of her thoughts. Gentle was a useless commodity between them. His hand slid along her ribs to grip her waist. His thumb traced the line of her underwire. A teasing touch that should have been nothing more than a little pleasure. Instead, it made her even more aware of how close he was to her nipple. His mouth was an invasion, and her defenses were nonexistent when it came to this man.
The wide, flat pad of his thumb was relentless.
Again.
He was going to drive her insane, and then she had to sit next to him for another hour?
She slid her hands up between them and turned her cheek to break the kiss. “Shane.”
He nipped her ear, then buried his nose in the curls that escaped her braid. “Buckle up, babe.” He stepped down and waited for her to get situated. She pushed her hair back.
When he continued to stare, she widened her eyes. “What?”
He grabbed the seat belt and slid it across her chest, making sure his forearm brushed her breast and the side of his hand grazed her left. She slammed her back into her seat as he clicked the tab into the buckle. “I can do it myself, you know.”
“Just being helpful.” He grinned and shut the door.
“Damn that man.”
He opened his door and climbed in. Without another word, he turned on the engine, buckling as he pulled out into the merge lane.
They didn’t speak for the next hour. She forced herself to look at the brochures for Yosemite and not at his profile. But as the highway road flowed into a winding road that was filled with rich amber yellows and hints of rust-colored trees, she fell into the scenery and the cloudless blue sky.
A few signs gave directions to attractions nearby. She rolled down her window and closed her eyes for a moment. Crisp air with a hint of water. The flavor was a little different from home but no less recognizable. He turned off a road—at least she was pretty sure it was a road. She braced her hand on the dash when they hit a dip, and she felt air between her ass and the seat.
“Why are we going off-road?”
“This is a road.”
She grasped the handle along the window frame and the dash as the nose of the truck suddenly dipped. “Oh, really?”
His lips quirked at the corner. “Yes.”
Oh, great. Now he was going to grow a sense of humor? She slapped the roof of the truck when her ass lifted again, and she was jarred back down. “I hope you’ve got good struts.”
Again he didn’t say a word.
“You’re enjoying this.”
“Maybe.” He made a hard turn. The truck groaned over a hill, and she gasped, unlatching her buckle. Majestic and timeless, the mountains exploded out of the trees. Shale gray was the dominant color of the cliffside with rusty tips that made the mountains look like they’d been dusted in cinnamon. The surrounding trees were a deep evergreen color. Oaks and birch trees swayed in brilliant yellows among the green. A river roared beneath the tiny vista.
“This is your place?”
He nodded. “Merced River.”
She ducked her head out the window as he parked. She couldn’t get over how immense the mountains looked.
“Kendall, get back in here.”
She sat on the window frame and nudged his shoulder with her sneakered foot. “Be quiet. I’m communing with nature here.”
He laughed.
She slid back inside and knelt beside him on the bench seat. “Did you just laugh?”
He shook his head solemnly. “Nope.”
She drilled a finger into his biceps. “I think you did.”
“Go commune with nature.”
She spun around on the seat and opened the door and hopped down. “I think I will.” She ran to the edge of the vista, and the water and expanse of field on the other side made her itch to explore.
“Like it?”
She turned around, then rushed forward to take a bag from his overburdened arms. “It’s gorgeous. That view is to die for.”
“Wait until you see the next one.”
“Really? It’s better than this?”
He looked up. “Clear skies. Yeah, it’ll be even better.” He dropped the sleeping bag, then released the ties and snapped it out.
The sun was well past its zenith, but it was still warm enough that she stripped out of one of her layers and threw her shirt at the corner of the sleeping bag, leaving just her skinny-strap tank top. She toed off her sneakers, kicking them onto the grass, stretched out on her stomach, and propped herself on her elbows. The super-cushioned and insulated material was almost better than her mattress. With the sun on her back and the view, could it get any better?
Shane unpacked their food and held up the huge deli pickle she’d bought. He lifted a brow and set it beside her sandwich. She grinned, but her attention slid back to the mountains. “I can’t get over that view.”
“So you keep saying.” He leaned back and crossed his legs. “My mom took me here every year as long as I can remember.”
She looked down at her turkey club. Not sure she wanted to know, but she asked anyway. “After she met Lawrence?”
“No. Not after Larry,” he said quietly.
She took a healthy bite of her lunch. The crunch of lettuce and bacon with the kick of horseradish mayo made her groan. “Oh, man, that’s good.”
He glanced at his sandwich. She laughed. Limp bread soaked through with greasy mayo didn’t look nearly as appetizing as hers. She sat up and held hers out. “Bite?”
She was expecting him to say no, but he leaned in and took a large bite. “Hey!”
He shrugged. “You offered.” He rolled onto his knees. “Yours is better.”
She pulled her arm back. “A bite, not the whole thing.”
He flipped her onto her back and clasped her wrist. His lips brushed her fingers as he took the last bit of the quarter of her sandwich. “Much better than mine.”
Their legs tangled, and she tried to shimmy back, but he pressed his hips into hers. “Well, then. That good?” She laughed at the definite ridge in his jeans.
He wiped the corners of his mouth with the back of his hand, then caged her in. “Let me see.” He dipped his head, and her elbows dissolved under her. He hooked her knee over his hip and lightly rolled his hips against the V of her thighs as he took her mouth.
She slid her fingers into his short hair. The strands sifted and teased around her fingers and wrist as she held on and accepted the slide of his tongue along hers. She sucked on the tip gently, and the kiss went from hard and fast to slow.
She reversed their positions until she straddled his waist, her knees hugging his ribs. She laced her fingers with his and pinned them over his head. The golden centers of his hazel eyes burned. S
he lowered herself until there was little more than breath between them.
He lifted his head to bridge the gap, but she backed off. “Uh-uh.”
He let his head drop back down with a growl.
She smiled and lowered her mouth. She flicked her tongue along his lower lip. “You can just lie there and take it for once.”
He widened the space between their clasped hands and his head so she had to come closer. “I don’t remember you being an inactive participant.” He sealed his lips over hers, and she hummed into his mouth.
God, he was way too good at that.
His grip tightened on her as she lightly undulated against his belly. The kiss spiraled out so fast she couldn’t drag in a breath between the breaks of their lips. His tongue was a slice of pure temptation.
With a shiver she remembered how it felt inside her.
This angle was awkward and taxed the muscles of her shoulders and arms. She tried to maneuver his hands toward his head, but he wasn’t budging.
Stubborn man.
She scooted up farther, and he broke their handclasp. “Keep moving up, babe, and I’ll have my tongue between your thighs.”
His lips were berry red from her bites and nips. What would they look like wet from her in the sunshine?
He dug his fingertips into her denim-clad ass. “You like that idea?” He lifted her until she was balanced on her knees. He pushed up her tank with his nose and licked around her belly button. “I want to taste you again.”
“I—”
He tugged open her button with his teeth. “Say yes.”
She shuddered out a breath. She was always saying yes to this man.
His hands slid around to the front of her jeans and unzipped her. “Say yes.”
Chapter Seven
He dipped his thumb into the gap of her zipper. The skin under her navel was downy soft. He moved lower to the fringe of lace along the top of her panties. Incredibly tiny panties. Both times he’d gotten her naked, they’d been quick to shed clothes. There was something infinitely sexy about a woman’s lingerie.
The triangle of cotton and lace cupped the skin just above her pussy lips. He circled the side of his thumb around the plump V. She jerked under his hand. There was a tiny wet spot there. The baby blue darkened as he gently swiped the flat of his thumb back and forth.
