Page 7 of On the Wild Side

“Oh, God,” she whispers.

“Number one,” I begin, and immediately move in, sliding my hand over her round hip, my fingertips pressing into her, as I cage her in against the countertop. “You’re every fucking fantasy I’ve ever had, so don’teversay that shit about yourself again. Got it?”

She’s watching me intently as she nods, and her hand falls from her face.

“Number two.” I lick my lips as my gaze slips down to her mouth. “I want to kiss you. I won’t take it further. I know Daisy’s right upstairs, but fuck me, I want to kiss you, Abbi.”

She doesn’t pull away. She doesn’t say no, and by the way her breathing has just gone ragged, I take that as consent.

My hold tightens on her hip, and I cup her jaw with my free hand as my mouth descends to hers, and I nibble. I take my time tasting her before I sink in andtake.She moans deep in her throat as she shifts closer to me, presses those fan-fucking-tastic tits against me, and her hand dives into the hair at the nape of my neck, and I am completely lost to her.

Fuck me, I’ve wanted this formonths.I have no business doing it. None whatsoever, but I’ll be damned if I can stop.

Finally, though, I loosen my hold on her, and she pulls away, just out of my reach. She’s breathing hard. Her blue eyes are on fire as she watches me, and her blonde hair is the perfect halo of light around her, illuminated by the firelight and Christmas lights in the living room.

“Every goddamn fantasy,” I repeat before swallowing hard. “And your curves? Jesus Christ, Abbi, your curves are enough to kill a man.”

She giggles, pushes her hands through her hair, and turns away from me, pacing.

“You’ll sleep here,” she insists after swallowing hard and clearing her throat. “Because I don’t want to worry about you getting home safely.”

“Yes, ma’am.” I shove my hands into my pockets so I don’t reach for her again. “I have a bag in my SUV with necessities.”

She lifts an eyebrow, and I grin.

“I get pretty messy at the rodeo and at the ranch. It pays to have extra things on hand.”

“Ah. Makes sense. Go ahead and grab it.”

With a nod, I hurry outside, through the falling snow and wind that’s just flat-out obnoxious, and retrieve the bag from the back seat. When I return inside, the lights are off, and Abbi’s waiting to escort me upstairs.

Her ass sways back and forth as she climbs the steps ahead of me, and I have to swallow hard and think about something other than burying my face between her legs. Baseball. Branding season. Getting bucked off of a pissed-off bull and dislocating my shoulder.

Again.

Nope, even that didn’t do it.

“You’re in here,” she says, gesturing to the fourth door on this floor. “You’ll have to share a bathroom with Daisy.”

“No problem.” I grin and walk inside, setting my bag on the queen-sized bed. “I appreciate it.”

“You’re welcome. I’m making pancakes for breakfast, in case you want to stay in the morning.”

“Just for me?”

She laughs softly and shakes her head. “No. We have pancakes every Sunday. Good night, Brady.”

“’Night, Abs.”

She bites her lip and flushes, as if she wants to say something else, but she decides against it and closes the door behind her.

When I’m alone, I blow out a breath and shake my head. I shouldn’t have kissed her, no matter how badly I wanted to. But damn it, hearing her say that I might not find her attractive was fucking ridiculous. Does the woman not know how damn hot she is?

I guess not.

I was happy to remind her.

But this can’t become a habit because I can never commit to her, and she’s amother.You don’t fuck around with that. She deserves so much more than I can give her.

---