In less than a second, she was imagining the erotic scrape of those calluses against her sensitive nipples, down her body, between her legs. Pathetically, that sent a shiver through her and a rush of liquid warmth between her thighs.
Kissing. Brief and to the point, and still the mere mention with him right in front of her left her tingling and aroused because her mind had taken her far, far beyond a mere merging of lips and tongues.
Oh. That other. He grinned, an evil, wicked, Id-like-to-seduce-you-right-out-of-your-panties grin that set her heart knocking against her ribs. He dropped his gaze to her mouth. Im all for it.
Good lord, shed like to back him up against that door and eat him aliveespecially when he looked at her like that. She grasped at the last few threads of sanity, reminding herself she was here to move this wedding forward and not to make out with Caitlyns big sexy brother. Well, Im not.
His slow smile slid devastatingly up and down her spine. Now youre making me feel inadequate as a man. Uh-huh. And there really was a Santa Claus. I couldve sworn you liked it.
If ever a man needed taking down a peg or two, she was looking at his wicked sexy self. It was She tilted her head to one side and pretended to search for a description. She deliberately brightened, as if suddenly enlightened. Adequate. She was dancing close to the flames again but she couldnt seem to help it.
Oh, hell no. He shook his head. I have standards and adequate isnt one of them. He took a step toward her and his slow, sexy smile spread a sweet heat of anticipation through her. Were gonna have to work on this until weve passed adequate.
No, no and no. Kissing him had been like setting a blowtorch to a marshmallow inside her. Shed never been one to hop in bed with a guy, but Beau seemed to knock every aspect of her off course. She had a sinking feeling that a little more kissing, shed be hard-pressed to keep her legs together and her panties on. And that was an understatement. She was about two seconds from she wasnt exactly sure what, but it was dangerous.
She stepped back.
Youll have to practice with someone else. Im sure you wont have any problem locating a partner or two or ten, she thought, recalling the two women whod stopped by post-race but its not me. No more kissing.
He frowned in mock consternation, a wicked gleam in his bedroom-blue eyes. Now that puts me in a downright awkward position, baby girl.
God, she was certifiably losing her mind because she found his baby girl incredibly sexy. How is that awkward? Awkward is carrying on when were supposed to be working.
He reached out and tilted her chin up with his fingertip. One touchjust his fingertip against her skin rendered her breathless. I suppose I need clarificationSurprised you with that fancy word, didnt I? Do I go with this or do I kiss you when you ask me to?
She pushed his hand away. Thats easy to answerbecause I wont be asking.
Right. You do like to take matters into your own hands. For one moment she was mortified that he knew hed inspired her to fire up her vibrator last night. Then she realized he was referring to her showing up at the racetrack on Friday evening. Then, for claritys sake, just so I dont get into troublewhen you kiss me again, is it okay to kiss you back?
She didnt miss his when rather than if. She crossed her arms over her chest. Let me spell it out for you. No kissing. None. Youre not kissing me. Im not kissing you. Im not asking. Im not doing. Nada. Good. Shed sounded resolute. Strong. No hint there that she desperately wanted to taste him, touch him, and likewise feel his hands and his mouth on various and sundry parts of her.
Another one of those looks that tightened every cell in her body into acute, aching awareness that she was a woman. Thats too bad. Just kissed is a good look on you.
Ill keep that in mind. Breathe. She needed to remember to breatheand not kiss himor take her clothes off. Work. Renovation. The matter at hand. Now, to borrow one of your phrases, were burning daylight. What do you need for me to do?
Since you just told me its off-limits his glance zeroed in and lingered on her mouth, and the wanton fire inside her flamed a little hotter, higher, brighter I guess well skip to the second item on the list. A tsunami of turn-on assaulted her. One look. One moment of innuendo and she was wet, her nipples were hard and her clit ached.
I need you to get on your knees He paused deliberately, and it was a small wonder she didnt spontaneously combust at the implication of her on her knees, his fly undone, his dick in her mouth. At this point he could probably talk her through an orgasmwhich had never happened before but seemed totally one hundred percent plausible right here and now.
to scrape paint off the baseboards.
So much for her orgasm.
HE WAS HOISTED on his own petard, as his Grandpa Stillwell had been fond of saying. Beau had deliberately saddled Natalie with the most menial, uncomfortable task at hand. However, he hadnt counted on the effect of her on her knees, bending over, her tight, round ass thrust in the air.
You know, if you make your stroke a little longer and smoother, itll be better for you. Slow it down a little, baby girl, or youre going to wear yourself out before you even get started.
She looked back over her shoulder at him and hed asked for it, hed taken it there, but it was such a sexual look it slammed him in the gut.
Her cell phone went off in her purse, shattering the moment. She scrambled to get up off the floor, and he automatically scooped up her purse and handed it to her.
Thanks, she said, her fingers glancing against his ever so briefly, but still rousing.
Youre welcome. Dammit to hell, every time they touched it was as if someone had yanked a rug out from under his feet.
She pulled out the phone and answered. Hi, MomNo, its fineIm just workingI knowRightMaybe sometime next weekNo, I dont want Miguel to think I dont love himNo, I know its important that he knows hes important to me.
Who in the hell was Miguel? And whyd her mother have to remind her that he needed to know he was important and that she loved him? Hed assumed, based on their conversation and the way shed kissed him, there was no boyfriend in the picture.
Im just busy, she said.
Ignoring Beau, Natalie knelt down again and started scraping, propping the phone between her ear and her shoulder. Beau heard her mothers voice faintly over the line. He couldnt hear her words but he picked up on the gently remonstrative tone. He had no difficulty in discerning a Southern mama guilt trip, having been on the receiving end several times, most of the time for good reason.
Look, Mom, I hate to cut this short but I see my appointment parking their car up front and I dont want to be on the phone when they walk in. The next part came out in a rush. Ill see you next week. Love you.
She ended the call and shot Beau a look where he stood propped against the staircase. Dont say anything, she dared. I know it was a lie, but you dont know my mother. Once she starts
She ended the call and shot Beau a look where he stood propped against the staircase. Dont say anything, she dared. I know it was a lie, but you dont know my mother. Once she starts
Beau grinned. Youve met my mother? I totally understand. For a moment they both shared a laugh, her expression unguarded. The laughter died and he found himself looking into her motor oil-brown eyes and wantingmore. More than a kiss, more than her naked beneath himalthough that would be damn nice. He had a hankering to know Natalie Bridges. What did she do when she wasnt busy aiding and abetting the attachment of ball and chain? And who the hell was Miguel?
Whos Miguel?
She went back to scraping, following his directive with a slow, smooth rhythm that put him in mind of her hand on hisHell, who was he kidding? Her simply breathing seemed to put him in mind of her handor some equally stimulating body parton his cock.
My newest brother. My parents foster kids. Miguel arrived last week and I havent gotten out to meet him yet. I know. My parents are great, but theyredifferent.
Yeah, hed be in much better shape to think about her parents than the slide of her smooth, soft hand against his hardWhere do they live?
West of Nashville. Theyve got a farm with a big garden, chickens, ponies, a rambling farm house, and its just crazy there. She shook her head, a sweet smile lifting the corners of her delicious mouth. Always crazy. I cant tell you how many times Id go to bed at night only to wake up and find a new sister in my room the next morning.
It sounds
She rocked back on her heels, scraper in hand. Chaotic. Total chaos. I lived for the times I could go to my grandparents house. Memaw and I would sit on the porch swing at night and shed tell me stories. She radiated a sweetly vulnerable nostalgia that tugged at him. He had an instant image of her as a pigtailed little girl curled up beside her grandmother. The other kids would go over in twos or threes, but Memaw always insisted that when it was my turn, I was the only one allowed over. She knew I needed that alone time. And it made me feel special.
He nodded, sharing an understanding from his own childhood. Nana, my dads mother, and my mother got along about like oil and water, but Nana always made banana pudding when I came over. Its my favorite. Shed make a separate dish just for me and add extra bananas and vanilla wafers to it. He hadnt thought about Nanas pudding in years. He shook his head. So is Shelby your biological sister or your foster sister?
She set about scraping again, her hair falling forward in a wavy curtain of brown and red. Foster. She pushed her hair aside and slanted a glance his way. And the answer to the next question that inevitably comes is, I dont have any biological siblings but I have twenty, well, twenty-one now with Miguel, siblings. And, no, they didnt all live there at once. The house is usually at full capacity with ten. But most of us come back for holidays and special occasions. She looked back down. And they are all great, and I do feel guilty that I havent met Miguel yet. You cant imagine Thanksgiving and Christmas. Youd have to see it to believe it. Both tenderness and exasperation marked her tone.
Paint flecks peppered her hair. Are you trying to take me home to meet your mother already?
Teasing her was too much fun. He couldnt pass up the opportunity.
She made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a snort. My mother would like you. Beau preened. She likes anyone and everyoneregardless of how annoying they are.
Beau guffawed, his laughter coming from deep in his belly. Smart-ass.
She grinned and he felt the same knock-you-on-your-ass sensation he did when he kicked it off the starting line in a race. I was just saying
He wanted her with an intensity that was foreign to him, given he was always the one in control. The mood between them shifted, intensified, thickened. Her eyes widened.
Beau moved toward her, slowly, deliberately. Do you always mean what you say?
Had she really meant no more kissing? They both knew what he was asking.
She steadied herself with one hand on the floor and ran the tip of her tongue along the bow of her upper lip. There was no mistaking the flicker of heat in her eyes. Notalways.
Green light. He reached down and dragged her up his body and into his arms. Her scent, the feel of her soft curves against his hard angles, the almost imperceptible hitch of her breathYes, hed wanted this all last night, all day today. Speak now, baby girl, or forever hold your peace if you meant what you said earlier.
The scraper clattered to the floor and she placed her open palms against his chest, tilting her head back to gaze up at him. What if Tilson shows up? He did last night.
He slid his hand up her arm to trace the fine line of her jaw. Her skin felt like velvet against his fingertips. Tilson wont show up. Trust me.
Her eyes darkened and her fingers curled against his chest, sending his inner temperature spiking off the charts. How do you know?
The fall of her hair teased against the back of his hand. Tilson wont show up because I told him you were off-limits.
She went rigid. You what?
Off-limits. I told him you were mine. He plied his thumb along the fullness of her lower lip and pulled her closer still with his other arm. Natalie, baby girl, consider my claim staked.
Chapter 8
I TOLD HIM you were mine. Natalie, baby girl, consider my claim staked.
Hed told Tilson she was his?
That was soarrogant.
So heavy-handed.
So hot.
Staking claims goes both ways. She looped her arms around his neck, bringing them into intimate full-body contact. God, this was such a very, very bad idea, but he felt so very, very good against her. We have something in common because I dont like to share, either. Shed seen the women at the racetrack swarm him.
Done. One step forward and he pinned her to the wall. He bent his head. His cheek nearly touched hers, his hair tickled against her skin as he commanded softly in her ear, his breath warm against her skin, Now, say it.
She could barely think with the hard wall behind her and the hard wall of man in front of her. Say what?
Beau sifted one hand through her hair. I told you youd ask me to kiss you. He traced the line from her ear to her jaw with the bridge of his nose, his breath deliciously hot against her neck. He was slowly, well, maybe not so slowly, driving her out of her mind. So, ask for it.