Her eyes narrowed, further proving what I already assumed. Meat Head wasn’t really her boyfriend. I wasn’t sure what he was to her, probably only a friend, but I knew now that their weird ‘I love you’ exchange had been some kind of show—for me.
“At least I don’t have a permanent turtle on my ass,” she shot back at me.
She was playing with me, I realized. It got me to smile. She gave me a look like she dared me to say something else. Instantly, I let down my guard. You win, sweetheart. I knew the turtle in that place was silly. But I liked it. Something behind her eyes told me she liked it too. No... she loved it. Something told me—maybe it was the pounding in my own chest—if I wanted, I could have this girl. Right now. Right here. That idea made it impossible to keep a level head. It made my cock go hard, so fucking hard. She made my skin feel tight. She made my fingertips burn. She made me itch with a need I hadn’t felt in a while. She made me forget all the shit in my life.
I kissed her.
For the second time tonight, without control, I kissed this woman whom I barely knew.
~ CHAPTER 6 ~
AMANDA
Blame it on the rain. Come tomorrow, or maybe fifteen minutes from now when I came to my senses, that would be my excuse—the rain. The sound outside the windows, the smell it gave the air, and the way this man looked soaking wet. Blame it on the rain. His lips were on my lips again, which I did nothing to stop, and it was completely and totally, one hundred percent the rain’s fault.
His wet shirt clung to his chest, to every line of his washboard abs, and it made me want to drop my mouth open and drool. He walked in, not bothered by anything at all. I don’t even know how it happened. But one second he was pushing my buttons, arguing with me, and the next he was pushing his lips against mine. That was how smooth this guy was. And dammit, if I didn’t fall for his charm in less than thirty seconds all over again.
This time was different than our first kiss in the hallway. Maybe because I knew, and he knew, Finn wasn’t coming back. It felt dangerous, reckless, out of control, stupid. I didn’t do this sort of thing with clients. Or any stranger, for that matter.
Danger be damned though, because I ran my hands over his wet shirt, feeling the heat of his body underneath. I touched his strong neck. This guy oozed masculinity like he ate it for breakfast. I felt his skin there before I dug my fingers into his short hair.
That was when he pulled back.
He broke the kiss. For a moment, I thought I’d done something wrong. I thought he was about to leave again. My heart sank to the floor because of it. But that wasn’t what happened at all.
“Tonight’s my last night in town. I’m leaving for good in the morning. Nothing’s going to change that. But...” He breathed out. His blue eyes lifted to mine. “But I wouldn’t mind spending my one last night with you.”
I swallowed.
“Amanda,” he said softly. “Spend the night with me.”
I let out a choked, giddy little laugh. He knew my name. The way he asked... nothing had ever felt better. How was this happening? This freaking gorgeous, straight-laced, put-together man shows up out of nowhere, interested in me. Did I dream him up out of thin air? Did I draw him into existence like one of my tattoos? Any second now, I was going to wake up, and all of this will have been a dream.
I stepped away from him. I went to the front door, locking it from the inside. I found the light switch which controlled the exterior front lights and the neon sign. I flipped it off. I flipped off the inside light, too. It dimmed everything. It signaled to him he could stay. And boy did he read that signal loud and clear. He tugged at his wet shirt, peeling it off over his head before letting it drop. It slapped the ground. Holy crap. He looked so good without a shirt. I barely got a chance to look before my Mystery Man returned to me, backing me against the counter where I’d been drawing before. He tugged my shirt off as well, dragging his fingers against my skin, leaving me in only the cotton bra I’d picked out this morning.
He kissed me again as he unbuckled his belt and his jeans. “Say no, Amanda. Tell me to stop.”
I said nothing. Which led him to push down his jeans. They fell to his ankles with their heavy, wet weight. He began working to get his shoes off and his mouth never left mine. His hands were on my skin now, touching and exploring. He pulled down the fabric of my bra, exposing my chest to him and the room. Next thing I knew he had his mouth on one of my nipples. He dragged his tongue over my sensitive flesh.
I caught my breath in my throat.
“Fuck, Amanda, tell me to stop.”
His eyes caught mine. It had been several moments since he’d looked directly at me. Electricity moved through me—something powerful—at just that one look.
“I won’t tell you to stop,” I whispered. I don’t even know why he kept asking me to, what it meant. He was in control, not me, so if he wanted this to stop, he could go ahead and stop it already. But in truth, I knew neither of us wanted this to stop.
A smile, so slight, touched his lips. It was hands down the sexiest thing I’d ever seen in my life. He didn’t speak again after that. He worked at getting the rest of my clothes off, the rest of his off. Then he had me up on the counter, his mouth between my legs.
The world was spinning.
I didn’t stand a chance. I never did. Not once throughout any of this. I think that was why I’d pulled the ‘I love you’ thing with Finn earlier when he was here, made Finn sit between me and this guy while I did his tattoo, because even then I knew I needed a bodyguard of sorts to protect me from this man.
His mouth moved in a slow, torturous motion. I felt myself building rapidly toward the inevitable. Who was he? Just a stranger passing through town. Just some guy I’d never see again after tonight. His hands ran up my thighs. He pushed my legs wider apart. He kept moving his mouth against me. My brain stopped overanalyzing, for a few glorious seconds, and the world melted away.
Sweet bliss hit me. It spread through my body, across my chest, and up my neck. It was pure heaven. The guy knew what he’d done. Because after he moved to kiss me, pressing his lips with my taste on them against my mouth. He let out a noise, a satisfied little hint of a laugh, before he touched gently the spot between my legs. I was wet and still hypersensitive.
“What next?” he asked.
“How about you tell me your name?” I whispered.
~ CHAPTER 7 ~
NICK
All night long, I played with Amanda. I’d never had a night quite like this—one that felt so free and effortless. Considering my ex-girlfriend Emma had been a virgin, had remained a virgin throughout the course of our six-month relationship, and never once did anything physical with me, this felt like a strange contrast.
It was overdue.
And amazing.
We didn’t have sex until the next morning—the sun was close to rising. I hadn’t told her my name all night long despite her asking for it a couple times. I’d avoided it because of Emma. I’d realized I knew who John was. He owned this shop. Emma knew John. Emma had mentioned his name once or twice while we’d dated. I figured John was likely Amanda’s boss. I don’t know if Amanda knew Emma or not. Maybe there were a couple degrees of separation between the two girls; maybe not. Either way, since I was leaving town after all this, I figured it was better if Amanda didn’t know my name.