Page 24 of 40 and (So Over) Fixing It
“Easy, there.”
Warm breath hit her skin as Carter bent farther to blow gently on the cut, dissipating the sting. Erin sucked in a breath, her lungs filling with the faint dusty scent of the shed and something spicy, like cedar.Carter.She closed her eyes and tried not to notice that scent, the strength of the fingers touching her, the heat of his body so close. She fought the urge to shift in her seat and lost.
This was dangerous.
She flicked her eyes open. “You know, you never did apologize.” The words were the slightest bit strained, but she was proud of herself for getting them out. “Now might be a good time for that.”
“I did apologize.” A couple rubs of the wipes across her cut was accompanied by more puffs of air to relieve the pain. “I texted you an apology.”
His prevaricating amused her; why, she wasn’t sure. Because seeing Carter on edge gave her some sense of control, probably.
“You texted me that you needed to apologize. That’s not an actual apology.”
“Same thing,” he bit out, sounding remarkably like his ten-year-old son.
She chuckled. “Is it?” Ducking her head, she forced Carter to meet her gaze. “Would you let Thad get away with that?” she asked, brow lifted.
Frustrated realization flashed in Carter’s eyes. “You know I wouldn’t.”
The words sounded like they were being dragged out totally against his will. She didn’t bother to hide her satisfaction. Carter, face still so close to hers, dropped his gaze to her smiling mouth.
Erin cleared her suddenly thick throat. “Then I won’t let you get away with it either.”
“Get away with what?”
The words were distracted, husky, his gaze still on her mouth.
“Not apologizing.”
The teasing tone had somehow disappeared from her words. In fact, the words barely made it out, her lips feeling too full under Carter’s intense focus.
He nodded absently. “I’m sorry I was abrupt with you when we first met.”
“Abrupt?”
His eyes met hers. “Uh-huh.”
He was staring. Why was he staring? She didn’t know what he saw in her gaze, but whatever it was had his own eyes darkening, and for once it wasn’t irritation she read in his expression. It was…
It took her a moment, maybe because it had been so long since she’d seen that look in a man’s eyes when his attention was on her, but the flare of hunger had a similar spark igniting in her core. Her throat closed completely, almost choking her.
Damn.
Carter’s grip on her arm tightened, pulling her closer. Erin went, though she wasn’t certain she should. The spell those eyes held her in prevailed, however, and she inched closer and closer, arguing with herself the whole way.
Then Carter’s breath hit her lips—warm, sweet like mint. So enticing. Her gaze dropped to his mouth.
At the last moment, before both of them were lost, she saw those tempting lips dip into a frown, and then he was taking her mouth in a hungry kiss that ignited the sparks in her belly to a roaring flame, just as she’d known it would. There was no easing in, no hesitation in Carter’s touch. Only taking, and Erin knew in that moment that she’d been fooling herself. She wasn’t uncertain—she wanted him, definitely, defiantly, whether she should or not. Wanted his kiss, his touch. It didn’t make sense, not with the animosity between them, but in that moment she didn’t care.
And Carter didn’t seem to either. His hands circled her neck, his thumbs firmly guiding her head as his tongue breeched her lips. He devoured her—there was no other word for it. His lips, his tongue, his scent and the heat of his body as he pushed her back in the chair took her over completely. A moan escaped him as she returned lick for lick, thrust for thrust, savoring the taste of man and heat and desire. It was like her skin filled out the second his mouth met hers, making her intensely aware of herself as a woman, of Carter as a man, of all the possibilities between them. Possibilities she wanted to explore.
And then Carter jerked back and the possibilities fizzled like ash in the wake of the fire that had consumed them.
“I—” Carter shook his head as if emerging from a daze. “I apologize. I shouldn’t have done that.”
He dropped her hand, and Erin yelped as it hit his knee.
“Shit!” He jumped up, knocked her hand with his hip, then backed quickly away. “I’m sorry.”
