Page 50 of The Bachelor

The last few weeks, hell, the last three months of wondering “what if…”, swelled up inside Avery and she didn’t think. She just stepped forward, grabbed Shane by the shirt with her fist and yanked his head to hers. She kissed him hard, grinding her hips against his, throwing her arms around his neck. The last kiss they had shared, after the meeting with Jolene, had felt like they could get caught at any moment. It had been a guilty kiss, fraught with anxiety. This was a kiss without caution. It was hot lips and damp tongues and anxious, aroused breathing. It was grappling and desperate and emotional and she poured her heart into it.

When she broke it off she rocked back on the high-heel boots she’d borrowed from Lauren. “Take me home with you,” she demanded.

His eyes were dark with desire and he rubbed his jaw, his mouth damp from their embrace. If she were him, she would question her sanity, demand answers. But he didn’t. He just nodded. “Whatever you want. Always.”

She was being impulsive. She knew that. But there was no resisting him and what he was offering her. She was pretty darn sure she could fall in love with him too, given half the chance, but right now she just knew she wanted to be alone with him.

“I want you,” she told him.

He didn’t ask her if she were certain. He just said, “My car is down the street.”

Avery shoved her phone back into her purse and started walking in the direction he pointed.

TWENTY-FOUR

Shane wrestled with himself as he opened the passenger door for Avery and watched her tuck her petite form into the front seat of his Lexus. He felt like a huge asshole for not seeing clearly or understanding what position his attention had put her in. Of course she was getting pushback at work. People were jealous. It was an industry of talent, networking, dumb luck. Everyone wanted their big break and his giving one to Avery looked suspicious and while he had known that would happen, he hadn’t realized they would throw it her face so viciously. He had been selfish as hell not to listen to what she’d been trying to tell him since the minute he’d walked into Rusted Truck and heard her singing.

Yet he was taking her home and he was most definitely going to have sex with her. Because God, he loved her. She was his, and only his. He didn’t expect her to share his feelings but it was enough to know that she wanted to go home with him.

That look she had given him… no man could resist that. She had looked at him like he was the only man who could ever make everything right for her. Like he was it.

He started the car and pulled away from the curb. He still had a hard dick lingering from that kiss she’d pressed on him and he kept his eyes straight on the road, afraid he would just pull her over and take her right there if he caught her eye. She was smoldering. He could feel the sexual tension between them without even looking at her. Her body was tense, her breathing loud.

The air was thick, and she didn’t speak either. It wasn’t a long drive. He pulled into the driveway of his bungalow and killed the engine in under ten minutes. He’d bought his house three years earlier when money had been tighter, but it suited him size-wise. He didn’t need a huge place and he anticipated staying there for a few more years, if not indefinitely.

“This is a really cute house,” she said finally, breaking the heavy silence. “I expected something bigger. More modern.”

He turned to look at her. “I like this neighborhood. And I’m not exactly rolling in the big cash. Even if I was, I like this house.”

She nodded. “I like it too. It looks like a home.”

It did now that he looked more closely at it. It was clapboard, a deep blue, with a wide front porch. He had a peach tree in the corner. “I guess that’s probably why I stay.”

When he looked back at her, there were tears in Avery’s eyes. “I’m sorry I yelled at you,” she said.

“Hey,” he murmured, touched beyond belief. “Look at me.” He gently took her chin and turned her head so he could study her full on. “You were trying to talk to me and I wasn’t listening, so you got a little loud. I’m thick like that sometimes. So that was fair. But you didn’t yell and I’m sorry for not catching on quicker how hard this has been for you.”

“It has been hard. I wanted you so much. I still do. I never wanted to say no.”

“I know. I get it. You have me now.” He didn’t even exactly know what they were talking about, or to what extent, but it was true. She did. “Let’s go inside.”

She leaned over and kissed him again. Then she shocked the hell out of him by biting his bottom lip, like she was so overwhelmed by passion, like she couldn’t contain herself. It was hotter than anything had ever been. He growled deep in the back of his throat before breaking it off and practically jumping out of the damn car. He went around and opened her door, then led her up onto the porch. He had an alarm and key system on his phone and it took one swipe on his touch screen for the front door to swing open.

“Whoa.” She gave him an amused look. “That’s fun.”

“I like technology.” He didn’t want to talk about it though. He just pulled her into the house, and gathered her up against him. “I missed your lips,” he said. Which didn’t make sense, but it was how he felt. “I can’t ever get enough of them.”

She tasted sweet, just the way she was. He pressed his mouth on hers over and over, cupping her cheeks with his palms. She was taller than he was used to because of her heels but the advantage was he could tease his tongue over hers more readily. His hands drifted down her sides and found her ass firm in those tight jeans.

“The jeans almost destroyed me,” he murmured in her ear, tickling his lips over the lobe, sucking it gently. “You look so fucking hot, pretty girl.”

“I was trying to forget about you with cheap liquor and bad dance moves.” She slipped her fingers through the belt loops of his jeans. “By the way, I highly doubt you just happened to be in the exact same bar as me at the same time.”

He nuzzled her neck. “I swear I was.”

“Then I guess we’re lucky.”

“You’re going to be really grateful in about ten minutes.”

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