Page 39 of Breaking Emily's Rules
Then his lips were on mine, and I nearly lost my footing when he deepened the kiss. His arms remained tight around me like he was claiming me for his own. And then it was over.
“Sorry,” he said, pulling away. “I didn’t mean to do that.”
I tried to regain my balance because he’d nearly kissed the breath right out of me.Wow, was all I could think.Wow. Similar to the one-word thought I’d had the first night I’d seen him, only now he’d proved he could do a lot more than dance and enhance a wall. He could also kiss a girl like his life depended on it.
How exactly did one fall on another person’s lips like that? I wasn’t the picture of grace, but I’d never done it. “What did you do? Fall on my lips?”
He gave me “the look” again. “No, but that’s something you might do.”
“My kiss wasn’t an accident. I might be a klutz, but even I’m not that bad.”
“That wasn’t a kiss. It was a peck. Mine was a kiss.”
I couldn’t argue that fact, or the indignation I felt coming on front and center. He didn’t want me. Fine, I could accept that. He’d changed his mind, like most men. The same way I’d temporarily forgotten my vow to be done with men. But if anything, that smug look on Stone’s face was a good reminder.
CHAPTER10
Stone
In the pasttwo weeks, Stone had come to realize Emily Parker, despite her stripper-like body and Cupid Bow lips, was a nice girl. Possibly too nice, at least for him. He’d heard all about the family ranch, converted to an events place when her father decided to buy cheaper land in Texas for his new cattle ranch.
Heard all about her grandmother, who’d raised Emily and her sister. Molly, who had a baby and put theTinTrouble. Mostly he’d become aware of her life history because Emily liked to talk. She was also quite obviously the force in her family, holding everyone together.
She wasn’t any man’s temporary girl, not by a long shot. Which was why he hadn’t brought up the date again. Seemed a little too dangerous, even for a guy who courted danger. He missed his daily adrenaline fix, sure, but this wouldn’t so much be an adrenaline rush as it would be sheer insanity. And although some of his air force buddies would disagree, he wasn’t a fan of insanity.
He was a big fan of hot sex with equally hot and willing women. Dirty, hard and fast. Temporary worked. Temporary filled a need. Once in a while he’d been unfortunate enough to hook up with a woman who didn’t understand the temporary nature of anything he could offer. Those goodbyes had been bitter, verging on hostile, and had never sat well with him. He’d been called heartless. Cruel. Cold-blooded. Unable to love and be loved.
That last one, at least, was 100 percent false. His first love was the air force and always would be. And he’d loved his father, his AF friends. He of course loved his mother, and possibly Sarah if she’d stop being a pass in the ass. But women? He had no use for them for the most part. He understood that made him a jerk.
But while here in Fortune, he’d kept a low profile on the dating scene. As in nonexistent. And man, it had been so long, but it wasn’t like he had much free time. This was best, anyway. No women who would later talk all over this small town about James Mcallister’s heartless son. He hadn’t been laid in eight solid months, which killed him. Emily wasn’t going to break that streak.
And, he’d like to think, he could at least be a better man than someone who would follow through on that kiss. On that date. Yeah, he hadn’t forgotten.
She’d given as good as she got in that kiss, reminding him of all the things he’d wanted to do to her since the first night he’d laid eyes on her. Thoughts he hadn’t allowed himself to have since he started teaching her. But now, the look on her face. This was bad, because it mattered that her eyes were turning several shades of green, filled with hurt and something that looked a bit like shame. He had to fix this.
He followed her through the hangar, enjoying the view. Her hips were swinging in a particularly enticing way, probably because she was pissed.
“Hey, Emily. How was your flight today?” Jedd asked as we walked past him.
“Great, but Stone had an accident,” Emily said with a bite in her words.
“Emily—” Stone warned.
“What happened to the plane?” Jedd ran outside, presumably to check for damage.
Stone would have stopped him, but he had his own kind of damage control. He followed Emily’s stomps in the direction of his office, where she always kept her purse. She couldn’t leave here without that. So she’d have to deal with him.
She passed by Cassie’s desk, straight into his office, where she slammed the door. He was only a step behind her, but Cassie took the opportunity to throw him a pointed look. “What did you do now?”
He ignored the comment, let himself in his office and shut the door again. Emily had found her purse and was rifling through its compartments.
Her cheeks were flushed when she turned to him. “Look, it’s okay. You changed your mind. I get it.”
She continued to struggle with that blasted purse, and now it annoyed him since she used it like a shield to keep her distance from him.
He took the purse out of her hands and set it down on his desk. “I didn’t make a mistake. I wanted to kiss you. I’m sorry because I may have gotten a bit carried away. My fault.”
He put a hand on his chest to demonstrate he meant it. Hormones not listening again.
