Page 21 of And Then There Was Us
“Bree,” he said between heavy breaths. “May I kiss you?”
She reached behind his neck and pulled his mouth to hers. His lips were warm and tender. Every caress of his tongue sent a pulse of heat to her core. And when he slipped his hand beneath her hair and cupped the back of her head, then deepened the kiss, all the scary thoughts about his job fell away. His hand found her waist, and in one swift and gentle move, he pulled her to the edge of the counter, pressing against her. He tasted so sweet, like syrup and something more—a taste that was all his own. A taste she’d never forget. When they drew apart, they were both breathing heavily.
Come back. Please come back and kiss me again.She slid her hands to his chest, feeling the hammering of his heart against her palms.
He leaned his forehead against hers. A touch she’d already come to relish.
“Bree,” he whispered. “I’m sorry.”
She could barely think past her own thundering heart.
He pressed a soft kiss to her lips. “I love kissing you, but I have to stop or I’m not going to be able to.”
Then don’t.Her brain told her he was right, but her body craved his touch. She desperately wanted to feel the muscles that teased her from behind his soft cotton shirt and—Oh my!—it had been so long since she’d been with a man. She ached for the delicious sensations nothing else could come close to.
He wrapped her in his arms and pressed his chest to hers again; then he gathered her hair in one hand and kissed her cheek. “How about I drive you to Claude’s?” He kissed her neck. “Then we can shop for Layla’s gift together.”
His hot breath sent a shiver down her back. She didn’t want to be away from him for a second. “Yes,” she whispered, and looked at him with what she hoped was a seductive expression and not some failed attempt that made her look stupid. He still held her hair in his hand, and Brianna’s visceral need took over. She pressed her lips to his and buried her hands in his thick hair, pulling him into a rougher, hungrier kiss and savoring every hard swipe of his tongue. The sting of his fist clutching her hair heightened her desire, and when he reached one hand beneath her bottom and the other around her waist and lifted her up with his powerful arms, Brianna instinctively wrapped her legs around his body. His mouth left hers and found her chin, as he licked and nipped his way down her neck. She arched back, wanting to feel his mouth on every part of her. He licked a sensual line across her collarbone, and Brianna thought she was going to lose her mind. He carried her to the couch and lay down on top of her, tasting her shoulder, her breastbone, and stopping just shy of her bra.
His hand slipped beneath her sweater, and he rubbed across her rib cage with a slow, deep caress. She arched her back, urging him to touch her breast. His hand grazed the underside of her bra, and he pulled his lips from hers.
“Bree, I could make out with you forever.”
She felt like she was dying of thirst and he was a river of fresh water. She couldn’t get her fill. Brianna kissed him again—harder, deeper, hungrier—then took his lower lip in her teeth and drew back slowly, before releasing it and dragging her tongue across the ache she knew she’d left. His eyes narrowed, and impossibly, became even darker. They were both breathing so hard she thought their breath would fill the room.
He pressed another kiss to her lips and shook his head. “You’re not that girl, Bree. I want you more than I’ve wanted any woman, but…”
“Not what girl?” She couldn’t think straight.What did that mean?
He wrapped his arms beneath her shoulders and gazed into her eyes. She loved being in his arms.
“You have a twelve-year-plan,” he said in a serious voice. “We can’t do this. We have to think about Layla.”
“We?” Her voice cracked.
He nodded. “Of course. Layla owns half of your heart. Anyone in your life has to think of both you and Layla.”
Why do I love that you didn’t say, Your daughter?She hated that he was right. She couldn’t throw away her plan and Layla’s stability for a quick roll in the hay. But if that was all he wanted, would he have stopped? As she looked into his eyes, she knew he was anything but a hookup. He looked at her like somehow during the past fifteen hours she’d become his whole life.I’ve lost my mind. I’m thinking with a sex-starved brain.
He lifted himself off of her and sat down as she righted herself beside him on the opulent sofa. He rubbed his hands over his face. “I’m sorry, Brianna. I don’t know what came over me. I just…Every time I kiss you, I want to kiss you more, but you’re such a loving mother. I don’t want to get in the way of that.”
That should have been me. What kind of a mother am I if I was ready to fall into bed with him after one night? Of all people, I know the risks.She didn’t know how to respond.Thank you? You’re right? Forget my plan and take me, please?Even though he was doing the right thing for both of them, his rejection still stung.
“It’s my fault. Gosh, Hugh. I haven’t even kissed a man since Layla was born, and here I was ready to…well, you know. I’m sorry. You were so kind to arrange to have my car fixed and to allow me to sleep last night—which I still feel really bad about—and then to stop me from making a big mistake.” She shook her head, and when she looked up, she recognized the hurt in his eyes. “I don’t mean a big mistake like sleeping with you would be a big mistake. I can only imagine…well…never mind. What I meant was that…” She sighed. “I suck at this. I’m a bartender and a mother, and you’re a gorgeous, famous, race car driver. The mistake would have been yours, not mine.”
He cupped her cheeks again and guided her face to his. “Is that what you think? That I stopped us because I didn’t want to get tangled up with you because you’re a bartender and a mother?”
She shrugged.
“Brianna.” He narrowed his eyes. “Bree, what’s your last name?”
“My last name?”
He nodded. “I just realized that I don’t know it.”
“Heart.”
Hugh smiled, and his eyes lit up. “Heart? Brianna Heart?”
