Page 41 of In Good Company

All I can think about is kissing him. What would his lips feel like against mine? Would they be strong and demanding or soft and gentle?

Cal’s fingers move from my lips, but they don’t leave my body.

They run down my throat. He presses his fingertips to my racing pulse and leaves them there for a moment. I should be embarrassed that he can obviously feel my reaction to him, but I’m too caught up in the way he stares at me to feel anything but pure desire.

“We shouldn’t do this.” His tone is normally confident and full of conviction. Right now, it isn’t. It sounds like he doesn’t even believe the words he’s saying.

“Yeah, we shouldn’t,” I echo, my back arching with pleasure when he runs his fingertips along the swell of my breast.

“This pink bikini has taunted me all day.” He stares, tracing along the string between my breasts.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper, not knowing what else to say.

This is inappropriate for so many reasons.

But I want to kiss him—desperately.

The rough skin of his fingertips drags along my ribs as he continues to torture me in the most delicious of ways.

Screams of joy and laughter break out from outside the pool house, but neither Cal nor I move to stop. We’re both too caught up in what’s happening right here between us.

My head falls back as a faint moan falls from my lips when Cal’s fingertips dance along my hip.

“These strings especially. The thought that one simple tug at either bow on your hip and they’d be off drove me wild. It still does…and it shouldn’t.”

I close my eyes, trying to muster up the courage to stop this.Not because that’s what I want but because it’s the right thing to do. “Cal,” I whisper, my voice hoarse. “What about Oliver?”

Cal’s fingers disappear from my skin in an instant. I open my eyes to find his face closer to mine. The crystal-blue color of his eyes is clouded with what looks like anger. “What about him?”

I shift on my feet, wondering if I shouldn’t have said his brother’s name at all. It’s the effect Cal has on me. I can’t think straight and said the first excuse that came to my mind as to why we should stop.

“Lucy.” My name comes out like a growl. He leans closer, grabbing the counter on either side of my hips.

God, he’s so close.

He smells like sunscreen and his cologne, a mixture that’s overtaking my senses.

“What?”

“Don’t talk about my brother when I’m seconds away from finally kissing you after I’ve been thinking about doing it for days…maybe even weeks.”

Before I can respond, he grabs me by the hips and places me on the edge of the counter. It’s cold against my skin, but his heated stare does plenty to keep me warm.

My skin flushes as his words sink in. Has he really been thinking about kissing me for that long?

Should I feel bad for wanting the same?

So many thoughts run through my mind as Cal’s fingertips dig into my skin.

“You’ve wanted to kiss me before today?” My words come out breathier than I intended them to, but I can’t help it. My heart beats so fast and so erratically it feels like it might just beat right out of my chest. It feels like my thoughts are jumbled, and the only thing that makes sense is the heated look in Cal’s eyes and the possessive way his fingertipsbrand my skin.

“Much to my dismay…yes.” Cal spreads my thighs open before stepping between them. I try not to stare at the obvious bulge in his swim trunks. Wetness pools between my thighs at the realization his reaction is because of me.

“Really?” The word leaves my mouth before I can think better of it. He’s just often so composed it’s hard to know what’s going through his head. I’ve felt a connection with him, one I wasn’t expecting but can’t deny. I just didn’t know he was feeling the same.

His thumbs trace circles along my inner thighs, making my nerve endings combust with pure need for him. His hands are dangerously close to the most intimate part of me. There isn’t much fabric between us. It’d be easy for him to slip his fingers into my bikini bottoms.

Cal leans in close, our faces now just inches apart. His lips are so close all I’d have to do is arch my neck a little to bring our lips together.

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