Page 34 of Rough Ride

“But you still talk, apparently.”

She shrugged. “We loved each other, but not...well, we weren’t in love. We were comfortable. And some of it was that he had been my first Dom. So, I was attached to him. You know how that goes. Truth is, we sort of grew apart. Plus, he’s never going to settle down, and I wanted that. At least at the time.”

“But not anymore?”

“I’m not sure I’m built for a long-term relationship or even the life anymore.”

For some reason, Eli didn’t like hearing that. It was insane to argue with a woman who said she didn’t want to get serious. Usually, when they did, Eli headed for the door. So, the idea that this woman, a woman he shouldn’t have any kind of interest in, says she doesn’t want to settle down shouldn’t bug him. But it did.

“And I take it Ashton has something to do with that?”

She didn’t say anything for a moment. “Maybe. It was a feeling I had for a while though. I knew there was something wrong, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. Then when I caught him cheating, I knew I hadn’t been crazy."

“You caught him?”

“Indeed,” she said chuckling. “And I guess I got completely over it if I can laugh about it.”

“So, you’re over him?”

He felt her glance. “Maybe. Sadly, I think it was a blow to my pride more than anything else. I was engaged to him and I was mostly embarrassed, which is kind of sad when you think about it.”

He nodded as he pulled up to the curb. Feeling better because she didn’t harbor any feelings for her ex was normal for any guy, right? Okay, not any guy. In the past, all he cared about was that a woman wasn’t married at the moment. Now he was worrying if Crysta was attached to her ex-fiancé.

“Are we ever going to talk about the kiss?” she asked.

Of course, she brought that up right before she was going to meet everyone. Women always did that kind of shit. This is why he never got into long term relationships.

He shrugged, refusing to look at her. “What’s there to talk about?”

There was a beat of silence. “Not much, in my opinion.”

Before he could respond, she slipped out of the car.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” he asked, getting out of the car himself and trying to keep up with her.

“It wasn’t all that great of a kiss,” she said, tossing the barb over her shoulder. “I mean, in a barn, St. John? Like I hadn’t had someone put the moves on me like that before in a barn. Talk about redneck. Not very smooth.”

He knew she was joking but it dinged his pride a little bit. He joined her on the front step of the house and gave her a frown.

“Is that so?”

She nodded smiling at him. He didn’t know what did it. It could have been her challenging him with her words, or that damned sparkle in her eyes, but he couldn’t keep himself from backing her up against the wall right by the front door.

“I think we need to test that theory.”

She snorted and opened her mouth to challenge him, but he didn’t give her the chance. Instead, he slammed his mouth down on hers like before, letting all his frustration take control. It was stupid and immature. It was so out of character for him, but damn, it felt fucking good.

She slipped her hands up over his shoulders, her fingers slipping through his hair at the base of his head. He moved closer, pressing his entire body against hers. He knew she wouldn’t doubt his arousal. He was fully cocked and ready to go. She moaned against his tongue and he almost lost it. Right then and there, he was ready to strip her naked and fuck her against the wall.

Again.

He didn’t even hear the door open, but he did hear Evan Chambers yell, “Hey, Micah, Eli’s out here sucking face with a hot woman.”

Reality crashed down on him as he pulled away and growled at Chambers. Before he could say anything, Ross’ head popped up behind Chambers.

“How rude. Maybe he’s not classy enough to eat with us.”

“You two leave him alone,” Dee said. He didn’t see her, but there was no mistaking that voice.

---