She straddled his thighs, thrilled that they were on the same page here.
She slid her hand up the back of his neck and into his hair, cradling his head and looking into his eyes.
He ran his hands from her hips up her back, pressing her close as he took a big, deep breath.
“You are a really good man, Griffin Foster.”
He shook his head. “And you are absolutely irresistible.”
“I’m very happy to hear you say that.”
12
Griffin felt an intense mix of desire and relief as Charlie’s body melted into his.
He’d been trying to stay away from her for days. The five days that she’d been in Autre felt like five weeks. And like five minutes.
He’d enjoyed all of it, except for the part where he’d tried to keep his hands to himself. That had been getting progressively more difficult the more they worked together at the clinic and the more delightful ideas she implemented. It was everything—her voice, her smile, her ideas, her enthusiasm, her warmth—that had come together to make him realize that his life had become very small. And dim. And a little boring.
Of course, that had all been his intention. Clearly, his plan to lay low in a small town and take care of cats and dogs had worked.
But dammit, now that Charlie was here, his heart was beating again. His own mind was spinning with ideas. He was getting excited about things.
And all it had taken was kettle corn and hedgehogs—actually, just the idea of kettle corn and hedgehogs—to break through his nothing-works-out-so-I’m-destined-to-just-be-miserable thoughts and his sullen attitude.
Well, and a gorgeous, happy, optimistic, won’t-take-no-for-an-answer blonde who thought “why not?” and had the best mouth—for talking, teasing, and tasting—he’d ever encountered.
He couldn’t imagine what it would be like around here without her now.
And it had been five days. Five.
He’d had a strong inkling from the start—and a pretty big shot of trepidation—that she was going to become even more irresistible, but tonight had cinched it.
Seeing her with her family had caused a huge crack in the wall that he’d tried to erect. Just as he’d known it would. He had especially tried to avoid seeing her with the rest of the Landrys.
As of tonight, he was done resisting all of the Landrys.
Dammit.
He liked them and enjoyed being around them, and respected them. However, he hadn’t realized just how strong his affection for them was until he’d seen Charlie with them.
But he’d been expecting that to be the final nail in the you-can’t-keep-fighting-your-feelings-for-her coffin. He’d told himself that he should eat quickly and try to get out before she showed up, but for some reason, his spoon had not moved any faster. For the past few days, he’d been coming into Ellie’s earlier than usual and had eaten at home twice, just to avoid the big family reunion.
And sure enough, when Charlie came through the swinging doors from the kitchen, his heart had beat especially hard in his chest.
And, as expected, the Landrys were as fucking charming as always, and adding Charlie to the mix made his gut tighten with want.
Her story about how she’d been fired and the way they all backed her up and assured her she’d done the right thing had made him realize that he wanted to be a part of this group.
And then, hearing that she’d been fired because of a passionate, emotional reaction to something unjust had made his blood pound, and everything in him crave her.
He hadn’t seen that coming. Now that he knew she had taken a man by the balls, literally, when he was being an asshole and was someone who would defend another person even at risk to herself, he could admit he was gone for her.
Charlie Landry was amazing.
And now, she was in his lap, kissing him, clearly wanting him as well. Even after he’d tried to keep his distance and had shot down a number of her ideas and had told her about his failures as an employee and as a brother.
He hadn’t expected being accepted and supported for who and how he was to be such a turn-on. Though he probably should have. Those were two things he wanted more than anything.
The third thing he wanted desperately was to touch every inch of her.
He wanted to hear every sound and feel every bit of her. And judging by the way she was already working his shirt up his torso, her hot hands sliding over his ribs, it seemed she felt the same.
He pulled his mouth away from hers, staring into her eyes. The look he gave her was intense enough to stop her hands for several seconds. She paused with her hands on his sides, where his jagged breathing moved them in and out. Then she gave him a soft smile and continued moving the still-damp cotton up his body. He lifted his arms, letting her peel it off.
That was an amazing idea. His hands slid under the hem of her purple t-shirt and quickly stripped it up and off, tossing it on top of his on the floor beside them. Griffin immediately unhooked her bra and tossed it in the same direction.
He filled his hands with her breasts, rubbing his thumbs over the hard tips and relishing her moan. He bent forward as she lifted herself off his thighs to get closer to his mouth. He swirled his tongue around the tip and then sucked hard. Her fingers curled into his scalp.
“Oh, yes, Griffin.” She urged him on, arching closer.
He sucked and licked and nipped at that breast before moving to the other.
Charlie shifted on his lap, clearly growing restless. Her fingers went to the button and zipper of his fly, opening them and running her hand down along his length. But in their position, it was hard for her to get as much skin on skin contact as they both wanted.
He nudged her back, and she got to her feet. She was breathing hard, her jaw had slight whisker burn, and her lips and nipples were both darker pink from his mouth on them.
“Strip,” he ordered, his own hands going to his jeans.
She toed off her tennis shoes, and her fingers worked on the button and zipper of her own jeans. The whole time, her eyes were locked on what he was doing.
He bent to untie and remove his boots, then stretched to his feet, shucking out of his jeans and boxers.
As he watched her shimmy out of her thong, he fisted his cock, needing the pressure.
Her eyes were hot as she watched, her thong dangling from her fingers.
“Please tell me you have a condom this time.”
Without a word, Griffin reached for his jeans and pulled a foil packet out of his back pocket.
Both of her brows rose. “And please tell me you’ve been carrying that around for me.”
He should say something funny and flirty. Maybe he should make her guess a little bit.
Instead, all he could say was, “Since the day you got back.”
She sucked in a little breath and dropped her thong, then reached for the condom in his fingers.
“You keep doing what you were doing. I got this.”
He wrapped his fingers around his cock again, stroking up and down. She licked her lips as she tore open the foil packet. She liked watching him do this? Hell, she should’ve been with him in the shower every morning for the past four days. Of course, if she had been in his shower with him, he wouldn’t have needed his hand.
She pulled the condom from the wrapper and stepped forward, nudging his hand out of the way and rolling the condom down his length.