Page 49 of The Wedding Deal
Her attempt to swallow again went nowhere, her throat too tight. “They’re classic. And vintage.”
“They’re naughty.”
She shook her head but couldn’t help the smile. “I stand by my classic claim. I do see what you mean about the combo, though. Yours is also doing strange things to my insides.” She ran one finger down the buttons on his shirt. “Part business, with top buttons casually undone. Sleeves rolled up, showing off your muscled forearms…”
With a smile, he lifted his arm and let her get up close and personal with one of her favorites of his features. She traced the large vein across the top, her mouth going dry.
“Then there’s the beard…” As soon as she shifted to touch his jaw, his hand returned to the curve of her ass, an inch or so lower than proper. She dragged her fingertips across the stubble, up to the scruff above his lip. She flattened her hand and smoothed her palm down the side of his face, enjoying the scrape of whiskers against sensitive skin.
They barely swayed, their eyes locked on each other. The rest of the people faded away, her world narrowing to the feel of his body against hers. His blue eyes. The soulful musician singing about love. The flickering lights highlighting each one of Lance’s rugged features.
Her attention narrowed in on those lips, so inviting, so close. “Prepare for the awkward,” she whispered, and he held her tighter as a slow smile spread across his face.
He inclined his head, his mouth a breath away. “Okay. I’m prepared.”
“I don’t think you are.” She moved her hands to his shoulders and tipped as far on to her toes as she could. Seconds ground out in the air, and her rapid pulse thundered through her head. Self-consciousness set in, and she really should’ve popped a mint or something. Without thinking, she lowered herself back onto her heels.
“You’re right,” he said. “Thisisawkward.”
She gave him a dirty look. “I just need…” Her tongue struggled to form the right words, which were never going to come to her anyway.
“What do you need, Charlotte? Name it.”
Okay. Try two. She could do this. “Don’t move…”
“Your wish is my…wish.”
Her stomach rose up, up, up, and she mimicked the movement with her whole body, tipping onto her toes again. One last sip of oxygen and she pressed her lips against his. A jolt whipped through her body, zapping every organ at once.
But he didn’t move. Didn’t deepen the kiss. She pulled back an inch and scrunched up her eyebrows. “I thought… I thought you’d help a little more.”
His low laugh echoed against the hands she’d braced on his chest. “You told me not to move. Trust me, it wasn’t easy, either.”
“I didn’t mean like forever. Just as I was—”
His lips crashed down on hers, insistent yet soft, and her body went pliant. If he hadn’t held her up as he parted her lips with his tongue and delved inside, she would’ve melted to the floor. She clung on to him as the world around them spun, lights flickering faster, the music drowned out by the rush of her heated blood.
His thigh slipped between both of hers, and she moaned as he pressed against the ache forming between her legs. Her body arched of its own accord, and she gasped at his hard length.
She fisted his shirt in her hands and moved her mouth against his, wanting more—needing more.
He gave it, too. Friction, hands roving, tongue stroking. A groan that ripped from his throat and sent her desire into the intoxicating range.
Holy shit, holy shit.She thought she’d been kissed before, but this kiss… It blew those kisses out of the water so far that they couldn’t even be categorized as kisses anymore.
They broke apart, and satisfaction zinged through her veins when he was breathing as heavily as she was.
He lowered his forehead to hers, brushing his lips across hers before giving them a gentle kiss. “That was worth the awkward. Worth the wait.”
“We’re going to have to add an addendum to our Wedding Deal agreement.”
He closed his eyes and shook his head. “There’s the ego check I guess I needed.”
“What? Oh. No.” She placed both hands on the sides of his face and kissed him. “That kiss was…fucking amazing.”
His eyes darkened again. His fingers dug into her ass, not even close to the proper range now.
“I just meant that I’m thinking…” More like she wasn’t thinking, not properly. But after that kiss, with the want in her body screeching toward need… Everything inside her screamed to give in to her baser instincts, throw caution to the wind, and have sex with Lance Quaid while she had the chance. After that kiss, her stance on what she might regret had flipped, and she was almost sure she’d regret it if shedidn’t. “I want to take you up on your offer. To come to your room tonight and not-sleep with you.”
