Page 16 of No Going Back
And the realization fed her battered and bruised soul.
A good woman would take that realization and hold it close while she sent Griffin on his way.
But maybe Martin was right about one thing.
Maybe she wasn’t a good woman.
Dianna flattened her palms against the damp T-shirt stretched tight across Griffin’s chest, sliding them up and over the swell of his pecs as she fell into a moment she wasn’t strong enough to walk away from.
“I don’t want you to go.”
SIX
GRIFFIN
THEY WERE THE words he desperately wanted to hear, even though staying here with Dianna was the last thing he should do.
He’d done everything he could to stay away from her. Did his best to be the kind of man his son deserved as a father. But Dianna pulled him in. Her sweetness. Her smile. The sound of her voice. He couldn’t get enough of it. Of her.
And that was before he knew how soft her skin was. How right her body felt pressed against his.
Unable to hold back, he laced his fingers into her wet hair. She sucked in a sharp breath as his mouth covered hers, whimpering against his lips as her fingers fisted in the fabric of his shirt.
Her shirt.
Offering her his shirt had been one of the many mistakes he’d made since walking into The Baking Rack. Seeing her lush curves draped in the worn fabric of his T-shirt was a little too close to one of the many fantasies he’d been holding about the small-town baker. He’d imagined Dianna a thousand ways. Under him. Over him. Against him. On his bed. In his truck.
And right here in this fucking bakery.
But not a single one of those fantasies even came close to the reality of having Dianna in his arms. The feel of her skin was softer, smooth and silky under his hands. The taste of her mouth was sweeter, hinting at the sugared frostings she likely sampled and the creamy coffee she sipped all afternoon. She was too perfect to resist. Everything he’d imagined and more.
Too much more.
Her kiss was hungry and demanding and laced with a hint of the same desperation he felt, making him hope he wasn’t the only one who’d been imagining this moment for months.
Suddenly she pushed against him, shoving him back a step and separating their bodies.
They stood in silence, both breathing heavy, eyes locked.
He should walk away now. Hire someone else to come in and help her clean up.
But the second Dianna came toward him he was right back in it, lifting his arms as she yanked the damp shirt up his chest and over his head, letting it fall to the puddles of water still covering the floor as her body hit his. Her hands were everywhere, sliding against his skin, warm and wandering as he claimed her mouth once again.
The levee had failed and there was no fighting the current dragging him under. Nothing to do but try to keep from drowning.
Griffin wrapped both arms around her, holding Dianna tight as he lifted her up and slid her ass onto one of the flour-covered counters. Dianna gasped, both arms tightening at his neck, eyes wide as she clung to him.
“I won’t let you fall.” He leaned into her, brushing his lips up the side of her neck. “I promise.”
“You better not.” Her hands came to his face, sliding over the rough stubble already making the skin around her mouth pink as her legs locked at his waist. “Because if I fall, you’re going down with me.”
He smiled, nipping at the fullness of her lower lip as he teased up the side of her ribs with the tips of his fingers. “Don’t threaten me with a good time.” He’d been way worse places than tangled with a beautiful woman on the floor of a bakery.
Griffin buried his face against her neck, breathing in. “God you smell good.”
He was playing a dangerous game. One he had no business dragging Dianna into. But damned if he could stop himself. She was everything he’d never had, and no matter how hard he tried to stay away from her, he failed. She was like a drug he was sure he could quit after one last hit, but the addiction was too strong.
And he was definitely addicted to Dianna. To what she represented.
