Page 15 of The Summer House

“So why aren’t you dating a Neanderthal?” he asked.

The change of subject caught her off guard. “What?”

Rick shrugged. “Why aren’t you dating someone? I’ll ask you the same question you asked me. Why aren’t you happily married with a bunch of kids?”

That wasn’t exactly her question, but it was close enough. “I’ve learned it’s better to be alone than to be with the wrong one.”

His dark eyes flicked. “Ouch.”

“I don’t mean anything against you. We were young and impulsive.” She waved her hand, not wanting to go into that right now. “There have been guys, but I’ve never felt that I was really in love. I could never see the relationship lasting more than a few months. When I do marry again, I want to get it right. I want it to be forever.”

She could feel the weight of his hand on her shoulder. His fingers were warm and strong. An image of them sliding over her body made her shiver slightly.

“For what it’s worth,” she said through a suddenly tight throat, “I’m sorry it didn’t work out for us.”

“Me, too.”

Was it her imagination, or was he moving closer? Or was she? Mandy could feel herself swaying slightly. The edges of the world seemed to blur a little bit until the only clear image she had was of Rick’s face.

His hand moved down her arm to her waist. She felt a slight tug. Stepping toward him seemed the right thing to do.

They stared at each other.

“This is crazy,” he murmured, his mouth blissfully close to hers. “I’m generally very cautious when it comes to a sexual relationship.”

“Me, too. I really like to take things slow, get to know the person.”

“Right. I’m sort of a two-months-later kind of guy.” His mouth brushed against hers.

She caught her breath. “At least two months. Sometimes longer.” She kissed him lightly, then drew her tongue along his bottom lip.

“Much longer,” he whispered. “I have no idea what’s going on between us, Mandy. It doesn’t make any sense.”

“Tell me about it.”

“We should stop,” he said, then kissed her jaw and nibbled her earlobe. “I’ll stop. Any second now.”

She ran her fingers through his thick hair and arched against him. He was already hard. Her most feminine place throbbed in response, swelling and readying.

“I’ll stop, too,” she told him as he moved back to her mouth. “Or maybe not.”

Chapter Four

Telling herself this was a bad idea didn’t seem to dampen Mandy’s desire. Even as Rick kissed her more deeply, exploring her mouth and pulling her close, she felt herself straining for more. Little things like sense and rational thought didn’t seem very important when compared with the heated passion flaring between them.

She’d never felt like this before. Never felt such an overpowering need to be physically intimate with someone. Every part of her ached. Her skin felt so sensitized that the lightest touch could bring her to her knees. She found herself wanting to rip off her clothes, to tear off his and have Rick and herself fall together in a tangle of arms and legs.

“Mandy,” Rick breathed against her mouth.

He sounded out of breath, which made her shiver in delight, too. She wanted him unable to think, unable to breathe, unable to do anything but be with her right now.

With their arms around each other, still kissing, they began to move back into the bedroom. She felt the smooth hardwood floor against her bare feet. A memory flickered in her mind, that she’d left her purse and her shoes downstairs. Not that she was going to need either right now.

Rick cupped her face in his hands, then ran his fingers through her long hair. “You’re so beautiful,” he murmured as he rained kisses on her cheeks, her nose, her mouth before pressing his lips to the pulse point at the base of her throat. She clung to him to stay upright.

“Are you sure?” he asked. “I don’t want to push you.”

She gave a strangled laugh. Sure? She was sure she was going to die if they didn’t make love right this second.

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