Page 47 of Sweet Home Louisiana

Maddie wiggled, pushing her panties down her legs.The lace caught on one of the rhinestones on her sandals and she gave an irritated growl as she reached down to pull them free.Finally she kicked them off.

She looked up to find him watching her with an amused-but-turned-on expression.“I would have helped,” he said, gesturing toward her shoes.

“I’m impatient.”

“I love that.”

“I’m only ever like that with you.”

Owen froze for a moment, his gaze snapping up to hers.“Really?”

Okay, she was bare naked except for her sandals now and, while she appreciated eye contact and him not beingallabout her naked parts all the time, at the moment, she needed his attention down a little lower.“Really.I’m usually pretty cool and confident.Except around you.”

He cleared his throat.“I know what you mean.”

“You do?”

“Yeah.I mean, I don’t getnervousor anything.And I like the women I sleep with, but—”

“Okay, enough of that.”She reached out and snagged the front of his shirt, pulling him in between her knees.“Take your pants off.”

He gripped her thighs in his hands, spreading her knees further and pulling her ass right to the edge of the desk.He looked down at her, his gaze hot.“I was going to finish with, ‘everything is different with you.’”

She gave him a soft smile.“That’s sweet.”Then she frowned.“But don’t talk about sleeping with other women when you have one naked on your desk and so wet that it’s going to take like one lick to set her off.”

His eyes widened in surprise, but his mouth curled into a naughty smile.

“Because the more you talk like that, the more licks it’s going to take,” she added.

Her body was humming and she felt completely surrounded by him and she felt a sense of comfort even as she felt like she was burning up from the inside out.Comfort.She didn’t typically feel that with guys.And if she ever thought about Owen and sex, it was images of sweaty bodies and hot kisses and trying new things and…laughter.There had been laughter, all the time, every time.They’denjoyedeach other.They’d liked the sneaking out together and having a shared secret and making new memories and talking about the future as much as they had liked the actual sex.Maybe more in some ways.They’d been kids.She’d been a virgin.He practically had been.They hadn’t really known what they were doing at all.But the sex had been the best of her life.Because of everything that went with it.

Maddie took a deep breath and blinked rapidly.She wasn’t going tocryright now, for God’s sake.Even if the tears would be happy and nostalgic tears, this was definitely not the time.For one thing, Owen would stop.He would want to know what was wrong and he’d want to fix it.

She didn’t think he could actuallyfixanything here.They couldn’t go back to that time.She couldn’t change the past.She couldn’t go back and decide to stay in Autre instead of going to California.It was like catching a rerun on TV.You watched, it made you smile, it brought back fond memories, but then it was over.It wasn’t something you could have all the time anymore.But that didn’t mean you didn’t stop on that channel and absorb every minute while it was on.

“Well, it’s a really good thing that Ilovelicking and have absolutely no trouble giving you as many as you need,” Owen told her, his voice rough.

Thatcertainly worked to snap her back into the moment.And the heat.

She wiggled again.She was completely exposed right now.She was naked and he had her legs parted, her ass on the edge of the desk with very little leverage, but instead of feeling vulnerable or shy, she felt hot and needy.Owen did that to her.Nakedness, sex, talking about licking each other—none of it was awkward or embarrassing.It was raw and real and honest.She could see in his face that he was feeling everything she was.“Yeah, we might be inching up to needingthreelicks now.”

He chuckled, letting his gaze roam over her.“Maybe I’ll wait a little longer, say a few more stupid things, just so I can push that number higher.”

He ran a big hand up her thigh.He worked outside, with his hands, all day long every day and the roughness of his skin against hers not only sent sparks of pleasure along her nerve endings, but it made her heart clench a little.He was a hardworking, rugged, strong southern man who loved the outdoors and would rather be out in the sun and fresh air than almost anywhere.

“You don’t have a single tan line,” he said, looking up at her.“But this isn’t your usual color.You sunbathe nude out there in California?”he asked, a little gruffness in his voice.

She nodded.“My grandmother had a pool.And a high fence around it,” she added with a smile.

“You swim naked or just lay in the sun?”

“Both.”

“Little different than skinny-dipping in the bayou.”His hand ran up and down her thigh again.

“Well, I can see the bottom of the pool,” she agreed.“And the bottom doesn’t squish.”

His hand kept moving and he continued to study her, his gaze touching every inch of her.His eyes even tracked down her legs to her sandals.

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