He put his hand over his mouth to hide his smile.
She grabbed his shoulders and shook him. “I’m freaking serious, Dane. I’m a hot mess. You have no idea. I’m a train wreck waiting to happen. There’s a reason I’m not married yet. No man wants to put up with all this.” She motioned up and down her torso, and all he could think about was what the bare skin of her belly tasted like.
“What if I want to put up with it?”
She pointed at him, glaring. “You say that right now, but we’re currently pre-sex. Once we’re post-sex, this all changes. And I like you too much for this to all change. So if you don’t mind, I’m asking you nicely one last time, please step aside so that I can go home and watch Twilight on my phone in my bedroom with my earbuds in so I can’t hear Fiona and Bobbie moaning through the wall.”
He ran his hand through his hair, certain he’d never wanted a woman more in his life, but defenseless to figure out a way to have her. He studied her, wishing they were six months into this friendship or relationship or whatever it was, just so they’d be to a point that she could trust him. But that wasn’t fair, because he couldn’t even trust himself.
He wasn’t planning to settle down with Marigold or any woman. Erin had put him through the ringer, and as much as he wanted to move past that situation in his brain, he wanted to just have easy sex first. He’d not had sex since Erin, and sex with her had been anything but easy. It’d been full of manipulation, and his trying to talk himself into thinking it was good so that a life with her would make more sense…anything so that he wouldn’t have to face a separation from her boys.
Marigold was uncomplicated on paper. No kids for him to fall in love with being the key. But she made him want to do things like have kids of his own. And he was definitely in no mental place for that.
But for fuck’s sake, did she have to look so damn good in those shorts?
He held up both hands. “All right. I hear you loud and clear. You can go.” He stepped out of the way and motioned toward her car door. “Go home and watch Twilight or Moonlight, or whatever the hell you want to on your phone with your roommate getting her mind blown next door, and I’m going to head back to my place for a marathon of the whole damn franchise on my seventy-five-inch.”
She lifted her eyebrow. “You have seventy-five inches?”
“With surround sound and a subwoofer, baby.”
She crossed her hands over her heart. “I love the music in that first one.”
“We can crank it up as loud as you want.”
“What about your neighbors?”
“I live on the end and my brother lives next door.”
“Would he want to watch with us?”
“Hell no,” Dane said, knowing Ethan would probably be into it, having been the one to introduce him to the books to begin with.
She let out a sigh, glowering at him. “You’re making this really hard.”
“That’s the whole point.”
Her smooth cheeks colored, but her grin was uncontainable. “Oh crap.”
He smiled back. “I’ll behave, unless you decide you don’t want me to.”
She pointed at him. “I’m not deciding that.”
“Fine. Do we need candy?”
She tightened her lips in concession. “Chocolate. Are you milk or dark?”
“If it’s dark, we can have more, right?”
She shoved him again. “Quit being so perfect.” He grinned as he opened her car door for her.
9
“I like the other Victoria better,” Dane said and then offered Marigold his box of peanut butter candy. She glared at him. “What?” he asked, all innocent.
“You’ve seen this before.”
“What makes you say that?” he asked, but he was a terrible liar. She could see a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.
“How do you know there were two Victorias?”
“I don’t know. I guess I heard it somewhere,” he said. She shoved him, causing his candy to spill out. “Look at you, spilling all my candy,” he said through a grin, knocking back some more pieces.
“So this was all a ploy to get me back here, wasn’t it?”
“It worked, didn’t it?”
She tried to pinch his nipple but he blocked her, more of his candy flying out. She wondered if that secretly bothered him. His place was pretty neat for a guy’s place. Or maybe that’s just how guys were at this age. She wondered what age that was, remembering that she’d asked him once before, but pretty sure he hadn’t told her. “How old are you?”
“How come?” he asked.
“I’m just curious why a man of your age is so into young adult drama.”
He shrugged. “Like you said. It’s a product of our generation. Every kid in my high school was reading those books.”
She turned her body completely toward him. “Hang on. Are you telling me you’ve read the Twilight series?”
He shrugged. “I was a big reader back then. I read anything I could get my hands on. Besides, Ethan said they had vampire/human sex in them, and I had to see how that went down.” He tossed a candy into his mouth. “You can imagine my disappointment when it didn’t come till the last book.”
“Poor Dane, had to read angsty YA and didn’t even get to the good stuff for four books.”
“I lived.” He pointed at her. “I was always Team Werewolf though. I never liked the way the other guy creeped into her room and watched her sleep all night. I’d get arrested for that.”
She covered her mouth, wondering how many more things this man could possibly do to make her fall for him. She let her hand drop. “So what are you reading now?”
“I’m re-reading a novel right now. I’m terrible about that. I’ll read the same thing three or four times, because I love the characters and want to stay in the world.”
“Oh, I’m so bad about that. It’s like an indulgence, right? We should be reading new novels and discovering new authors, but the ones we love are so dear to us.”
“For me, it’s an indulgence to read fiction at all. I feel like instead I should be reading trade articles or nonfiction books,” he said.
“But if that’s what you do with your free time…”
“There is no free time when you own your own business. You know that.”
She shrugged. She couldn’t argue with him on that. “I barely get dinner down before I’m tucked away in my bed watching something on my phone to fall asleep to. That’s on nights I’m not grocery shopping or doing laundry or whatever. I make sure I get everything done during the week so I’m not spending my day off on life. I want my day off to be pure indulgence.”
He smiled at her like he was proud or something. “Is that what this is? Indulgence?”
She took his hand and cozied in next to him, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. “In the most decadent way. Bar food, candy, Twilight for the umpteenth time, a boy I shouldn’t be with.” She rested her thighs against his. She used to sit with Chase like this when they watched movies at his house on Sundays, and it never felt sexual. But she was finding that no matter how hard she tried to put Dane into the friend zone, he just kept hopping right over that line. She could feel his gaze on the top of her head, but she refused to look up at him. If she did, there was no doubt a kiss was eminent. And she knew once she got started, she was toast.
“I love this part,” she said, barely even able to see the giant screen in front of her with Dane’s arm around her like this, his masculine scent somehow winning out over the bar smells that had no doubt attached themselves to both of them.
“I like it, too,” he said softly.
Don’t do it, Marigold, she told herself. Don’t look up at him you silly, senseless little girl.
His thumb played with her arm, up and down, up and down. She closed her eyes, letting the sensation of his touch trickle through her. His body next to hers filled her with a sense of safety and warmth, but it wasn’t real. He was out to take her hotel away from h
er. She had to remind herself of that.
She sat up as if his touch was too hot. “I’ve got to see your ocean view. Compare notes with my own temporary one.” She hopped up and walked that way. “Do you mind?”
“No, of course not.”
She pulled back the curtain and slid open the door, letting the late afternoon breeze wash over her. The days were getting shorter, and the sun was starting to make its descent over the sea. She walked over to the rail and gripped it, trying to transfer her emotions out of her head and into it.
He walked up beside her, and she turned to him. “This is a killer ocean view. Do you live out here? I live out on Fiona’s deck when I’m actually home and not exhausted.” She was babbling so he wouldn’t kiss her. Of course, she could just walk out the front door, but for some reason, her feet wouldn’t go that way.
“It’s a pretty nice view,” he said, smoothing a strand of her hair out of her face.
Her chest throbbed and her body turned toward him even though her head was shooting up flares of warning. Abort! Heart in danger of breaking!
She grabbed a handful of his T-shirt and pulled him toward her and then nudged him away.
He lifted an eyebrow. “I’m getting some mixed signals here.”
“You think I don’t know that? I’m the one giving them.”
“We can go right back to that couch and finish the movie. We’ll start New Moon next.”
“Yeah because a pack of shirtless werewolves will so help my situation.”
He slid a finger into the front pocket of her shorts, causing her core to light up like a railroad crossing. “What’s your situation?”
She glared at him. “You are, buster.”
“I was minding my business, watching the movie. You’re the one who had to cuddle.”
“Because that’s what I do with my guy friends. Except for some stupid reason it’s different with you.”
A smile tugged at his lips. “How’s it different?”
“Oh, you know good and well.”
“I don’t know.” He slid a finger in her other front pocket. “Tell me.”
Her hands went for his chest like they were summoned there. “I want more from you.”
“You can have whatever you want, you know.”
She slid her hands up and rounded his shoulders, allowing herself to indulge in his strong physique. “I wish you wouldn’t make it so hard to walk away.”
“I don’t want you to walk away.”
She wagged a finger at him. “You say that now.”
He grabbed her finger. “I like you, and I can’t imagine those feelings going away anytime soon.”
She sighed, feeling herself relenting. As logical as her brain was being with her, warning her not to give in to her traitorous hormones, her body could fry an egg right now it was so hot. She ran her hands down his arms, squeezing his biceps. He wasn’t solid muscle, but he took care of his body, and she could feel the work in his contours.
She wanted her mouth on his skin. She wanted to know what he tasted like. Pulling up his shirt sleeve, she leaned down and put her lips to his muscle, kissing it softly, and then running the tip of her tongue over it. She pulled away, eyes closed, drinking in the taste of his skin.
Opening her eyes, she was hit with a gleam in his that warned her she better make up her mind quickly. He rested his hands on the curves of her hips. “You make it really hard to resist you.”
“Then why are you still trying to, dummy?”
He grinned and went in, his soft lips attaching to hers like they were fated to be fused. She ran her fingers through his hair as her body pressed against his. The salty air blended with the scent of his skin for a smell so delicious she wished she could bottle it and douse herself in it every morning.
His hands traveled to her ass and he gave both cheeks a squeeze that urged her to wrap her legs around him, but she instead pulled away a moment to catch her breath. Tilting her head back, she let him kiss her jawline and work his way down her neck to her collarbone. “Mmm,” she moaned, the sound of her pleasure surprising herself.
He pulled away, biting his lip, his eyes droopy and hair messed up in the cutest possible way. “I don’t want to pressure you, but can we—”
“Pressure away,” she said.
A grin spread across his face. “Can I take you to my bed?”
She exhaled a deep breath, tossing up her hands. “Why the hell not.”
He took her hand, leading her through the living room, her whole body reacting like a shaken up can of soda. She had slept with guys before. There was nothing to be freaking out about.
He stopped just before the bedroom door and looked down at their clasped hands, and then up at her. “You okay?”
“Yes, of course. Why?”
“Because you’ve got my hand in a vice grip.”
She let go. “Sorry. I just…” She trailed off not knowing how to finish that sentence.
He turned his body toward her, taking both of her hands. “Hey, we don’t have to do this.”
“No, I want to…like really want to.”
He just stared at her, his brow furrowed.
She put her hands on his hips and rested her forehead against his shoulder. “It’s just…been a while.”
He ran his hand over the back of her head. “I can assure you that’s not a problem.”
She pulled back and met his gaze. “For you, maybe. You’re probably used to doing it every night of the week.”
He huffed a laugh. “I definitely don’t do it every night of the week.”
“Okay, every other night, then.”
He took a step back from her, running his hand through his hair. “Actually, it’s been a while for me, too.”
This was a strange turn of events. “Really? How long?”
He walked into the bedroom and collapsed onto the bed. “Oh, a while.”
This might be even hotter than kissing him. “How long?” she asked again, sitting down next to him.
“You know, I told you I hadn’t dated anyone seriously since my last relationship ended last November?”
“Yeah?” she asked, realization dawning. “You mean you haven’t had sex since then?”
He searched her gaze like he was looking for forgiveness. “Yeah.”
An uncontrollable grin spread across her lips. “Really?”
He sort of scrunched up his face, squinting one eye. “Yeah?”
She slid off her flip-flops and hiked her leg over his lap so she was straddling him. “Are you ready to break your dry spell?”
He cupped her ass with his strong hands and shifted them around, laying her down on the bed. “I’ve been ready all day, gorgeous.” He hovered over her, leaving an irritating space between their bodies that she was desperate to eliminate. She wrapped her legs around his lower back and pulled him down onto her, making him smile. But she kissed that grin away as fast as it appeared.
He ran his hand up her torso and through the center of her chest, and then grazed over her breast and down to her waist. Every inch of body he covered made her squirm with want. She reached up, running her fingers through his hair and pressing her middle up toward him, but he was too far away to reach her. She ran her hands over his ass and pushed him down to her, desperate to feel his erection against her, if he had one yet. God, she hoped he did.
He kissed her neck, still too far away from her, his movements all slow and sensual, which she appreciated, but she wasn’t in the mood for slow. She wanted him, and she’d waited years for a moment like this with a guy she really liked. She was ready to get this show on the road.
She rolled them over so that she was on top, kissing the stubbly skin on his face. She pressed against him, the satisfaction of his erection washing over her. She undid the button and zipper on his shorts, and then slid her fingers inside the waistband to pull them down.
“Hey,” he said.
She met his gaze with a start.
“What’s your hurry?
Do you have somewhere to be?”
“No,” she said, a touch of embarrassment heating her neck. “I’m just ready to get to this.”
He sat up, frowning. “What do you mean? I thought we were getting to it.”
She scratched her cheek, her nerves getting the better of her. “I just, was ready. I’ve been waiting a long time. And I like you.”
He took her hand. “I like you, too. That’s why I thought we’d make an afternoon of it.”
She forced a smile with a nod. “Okay, sure.”
“Hey,” he said. “What’s up?”
“Nothing,” she said, realizing she was suddenly hot, like a heat that was coming from the inside. “Are you hot?”
“No, I was afraid it was kind of chilly in here.”
She fanned herself with her hand. “Definitely not chilly. I think I need some air.” She backed off of him with the urge to leave his apartment and run to Mexico. “I think I’m going to head out. I just remembered I need to get groceries.”
“I thought you said you did that during the week so you could have Sunday to yourself.”
She slid her feet into her flip-flops. “I do, normally, but I remembered I told Fiona I would make us dinner tonight.” It wasn’t a lie. She had mentioned that. But she had also assumed that plan went out the door as soon as Bobbie walked into the apartment.
WATERCOLOR WISHES: Love Along Hwy 30A, Book Four Page 9
