“What’s that?” she whispered.
“That I lay awake all night last night dreaming about doing this.” He bent his head, capturing her warm, firm lips with his own. The moment his skin brushed hers, sending electricity streaking across his nerve endings, setting his already pounding heart to racing, he knew this wasn’t a mistake.
Nothing that felt this good, this right, could be wrong.
He deepened the kiss, his tongue slipping between her lips, tasting barbecue and beer and a light, mysterious taste that was this fascinating woman. She tasted like clear mountain spring water and secrets hidden beneath the snow, waiting for the thaw, and when she threaded her fingers through his hair and began to return the kiss in earnest, he knew he would do whatever it took to discover every part of her. Every secret, every wish. He wanted to memorize the landscape of her soul and then make all her dreams come true.
The kiss soon grew deeper, hotter, their tongues dancing as their breath came faster. Her fingernails dug into his shoulders through his tee shirt, and his fingers pressed into her full hips through her dress and his cock swelled until it threatened to rip a hole through his jeans. And when they rolled onto the quilt, his body covering hers, he knew he’d never been anywhere as perfect as the valley between her thighs.
“Damn, O’Sullivan,” she whispered into his mouth, breath catching as he rocked gently against her through their clothes. “It isn’t fair.”
“What isn’t fair?” He smoothed a hand from her waist to her ribs, stopping short of her breast, not wanting to rush a moment of this.
“That you’re gorgeous, a genius, a nice guy, and can kiss like this.”
He smiled against her lips. “You’re not too shabby yourself, beautiful.”
“Not too shabby? I’m an amazing kisser,” she said, rolling her hips, nudging his cock through his jeans, swiftly making his head feel too light for his body. “Admit it. You can’t remember the last time you had a first kiss this good.”
“I’ve never had a first kiss like this,” he said, the words out before he could think about playing it cool.
But then, he’d never been cool. He was a nerd from way back and proud of it, which was why he had to put a stop to this before things went any further. No matter how much he was tempted to make love to her on this quilt and think about the ramifications later, he was a thinker. It was in his DNA.
“But as much as I would like to stay here and kiss you, we should probably start back,” he said, catching her wrists in his hands and pinning them to the quilt above her head. “It will be dark before too long.”
“Not for another hour at least,” she said, tongue slipping out to wet her irresistible lips. “We could get into a lot more trouble before then.”
“I know we could,” he said. “But I think we have a few things to sort out before we get into any more trouble. Don’t you? Just to make sure no one gets hurt?”
“I suppose so.” She sighed, and her thighs relaxed their grip around his waist. “Should I be offended that you can think straight while lying on top of me with a spectacular hard-on?”
He smiled as he rolled to one side and sat up, ignoring the unhappy twitching of his cock. “You know how to flatter a man. But no, you shouldn’t be offended. Thinking straight is both my gift and my curse.”
She remained flat on her back, wrinkling her nose. “If you say so.”
He braced one hand on the quilt and leaned his face close to hers. “I do say so. And I mean it. It’s not easy to pull away from you, but I don’t want any regrets between us. When I make love to you for the first time, I want to know that we’re both all in.”
Her eyes widened. “All right. But please make an effort not to get any sexier, okay? I’m not sure how much more I can resist.”
“Ditto,” he said, pressing a kiss to the tip of her nose. “So when can I see you again?”
She sat up, reaching for the sandals she’d kicked off when they’d settled in for dinner. “Um, I don’t know. I’m pretty free this week. Just virtual assistant stuff in the mornings and helping my mom with the petting zoo in the afternoons. But I can skip out on the petting zoo whenever. Mom’s used to managing without me.”
He nodded. “Then how about tomorrow night? I got drafted into helping set up the mud run obstacle course tomorrow afternoon, but—”
“Oh my God!” She turned, grabbing his wrist. “Really? You’re so lucky! I’ve been dying to get on that crew for years.”
“Really?” he asked, laughing. “You enjoy getting up to your elbows in mud?”
“Absolutely,” she said, surprising him. “I love obstacle courses. But Spark and Steve never let girls on the Mud Run course creation crew.”
“Ridiculous. And sexist,” he said, grinning when she huffed in agreement. “So why don’t you come work with me tomorrow? Help dig around in the mud and then we can go get ice cream or something?”
“That sounds amazing.” She stood with an easy grace before turning back to him with a wink. “And we’re not likely to get into any trouble if we’re busy getting muddy.”
He gazed up at her, admiring the elegant curves of her body, highlighted by the setting sun. “I don’t know about that. I bet you’ll look pretty sexy muddy.”
Her grin faded as she crossed her arms at her chest. “So when do we sort things out? My appointment is this coming Monday. The doctor said I could cancel as late as the morning of, but…”
“I’m set to fly out Sunday afternoon,” Noah said, sobering at the reminder of just how serious she was about moving forward with her plans. “Why don’t we enjoy the next few days and agree to come to final decisions on Saturday. Sound good?”
She cocked her head to one side. “Not really, but I can tolerate a few days of uncertainty as long as I know you’re still seriously considering things.”
He stood, taking her hand in his. “I’m seriously considering everything about you. All I ask is that you do the same.”
“And what would you like me to consider?” she asked.
“Putting the baby plans on hold and giving this thing between us a shot. I can move up my plans to relocate to Lonesome Point, and we can date like normal people with no sperm sample hovering over our heads.”
She sighed, but she didn’t call him crazy again, which he decided to take as a good sign. “All right,” she finally whispered. “I’ll consider it, but that’s all I can promise. My past is still my past, Noah. No matter how much I would like to erase it, it’s a part of who I am and it’s changed me. I don’t know if I can believe in this kind of thing anymore. Especially, that it can be easy.”
He moved closer, pulling her into his arms. “Then I’ll just have to do my best to change your mind.”
CHAPTER TEN
Yasmin
By the time Yasmin got home Wednesday night, it was too late for her to be calling up anyone for some major life advice, so she waited until bright and early Thursday morning before phoning her friend Layla. If anyone could give her advice on how to move on after an ugly relationship, it was Layla Lawson. Layla might be living happily ever after with a red hot cowboy now, but not long ago she was in a marriage that gave new meaning to the word nightmare.