Page 50 of Sweet on You
As she stepped back, she didn’t see just how close to me she was and she bumped into my chest. I lifted my hands to her elbows, catching her gently.
I felt her muscles stiffen for a fraction of a second before she relaxed into my hands. Instead of pulling away, she leaned her head back on my chest, her eyelids lightly closing.
“Who knew New Hampshire and England would look so good together, huh?”
She blinked, her mouth forming an ‘o’ before her bare lips tilted into another smile. “Who knew, indeed.”
She turned, still in my arms, her shoulder brushing against me with the soft movement, and placed her palms on my chest as she looked up at me.
“I want to kiss you,” I said.
She inhaled a sharp breath, nodding.
It wasn’t like we hadn’t kissed before. We had. But, those felt like stolen moments. Fleeting. This was different. It wasn’t forbidden or riddled with any sort of lie. And frankly, this date with Ronnie was the first date I’ve had since I sobered up. I haven’t been with a woman while not high in years. Once I got clean, my focus was on moving to Maple Grove, opening my business, and finding Olivia. It simply left no room in my schedule for dating or casual sex.
I bent slowly, nervously licking my lips. I planned on something soft. Something tender. But as I bent to meet Ronnie’s lips, she lifted onto her toes, and her mouth connected hard with mine.
I gasped as she kissed me. She tasted like peppermint and something lightly sweet, like vanilla.
It only took that moment for me to realize I didn’t want slow and gentle. I wanted Ronnie in all her raw passion. I scooped my fingers into her thick curls and pulled her hard against my mouth, her lips parting against the sweep of my tongue.
I devoured her moan and as she pulled back for air, I lifted her onto the counter and kissed my way down her neck, nibbling the soft, tender skin there as she tilted her head to give me further access.
She grabbed my face between her hands, pulling my gaze back to her eyes and we stayed there locked in a stare for a long, heated moment. Her lips were puffy and wet from my bruising kisses. Her hair was wilder than before, thanks to my roaming hands. Her cheeks, a flushed pink that matched the hue of her mouth.
After holding eye contact, she kissed me again, nibbling on my bottom lip before I finally pulled away, bracing my weight on the counter between her legs. “We… we should go,” I said, lifting my eyes to hers once more.
She tilted her head in question. “Oh… okay—”
Shit. She thought I was blowing her off? After that kiss? “I just mean—”
She waved me away and slid down off the counter, pushing me slightly away from her with her palm. I don’t think it was meant to be literally pushing me away—just simply her moving me back so she could get off the counter. But it sure did come across that way. “No, no, I get it. We said we would take it slowly—”
“Ronnie,” I interrupted her and cupped her jaw with my palm. I wasn’t usually the guy who interrupted women mid-sentence, but the road she was going down? It wasn’t true. It was the sort of lie we all tell ourselves to protect our hearts. I didn’t want her to guard her heart with me. I wanted her to trust me with it. “It’s not that,” I said rapidly, in a rush of breath. “I just meant that if we don’t go now—if we keep doing that,” I nodded to the counter, indicating where we’d been kissing, “We’ll never even get to dinner.”
A ghost of a smile twitched on her mouth. “Oh,” she said simply.
I stepped back, putting my hands up. “But, hey… if you want to blow off dinner entirely and keep doing this? I amallfor that.”
She bit her bottom lip in what looked like an effort to stop the growing smile on her face—an unsuccessful effort. Her smile shined through and thank God it did. It nearly took my breath away. Yes, that described Ronnie perfectly. Breathtaking.
She sighed and the smile dropped as her gaze shifted to the door. “In some ways, staying inismore appealing,” she said. Then, regretfully, she looked to me, her eyes widening. “I don’t mean that I don’t want to go out with you. I do. But this town… it’s so gossipy. Everyone here knows every little thing about me. And us officially going to dinner?” Another sigh. “It just complicates everything. It’d be nice to get to know you without the prying eyes of every person who’s known me since birth. Especially since I haven’t been on a date in years.Literallyyears…” she clamped a hand over her mouth and shook her head. “Wow. I am saying a lot of things that probably fall under theToo Much Informationcategory.”
“Not at all,” I whispered and crossed to her, closing the space between us. Lifting my hand, I brushed my thumb across her bottom lip. “I haven’t been on a date in years, either, Ronnie.”
One thing I loved so much about this girl was how expressive she was. It almost made me want to laugh the way her brows shot up, nearly reaching her hairline. “You? Come on.”
“I mean it. I haven’t had a date since before I moved to Maple Grove. I haven’t had sex in years. And even then, it wasn’t sober sex.” I chuckled and shook my head. “Now who’s fallen into the TMI category?”
“No,” she touched my cheek, directing my gaze back to her. “This is… amazing. I love that you’re being so forthright with me. I’m used to guys hiding stuff and trying to be tough all the time. Even my stupid brothers pull that shit. This? This is refreshing.”
“It doesn’t scare you that I haven’t had sex in years?”
She shook her head. “Why would it?”
That was a good question. Why would it? “I don’t know. It seems like the sort of thing dates tell you is okay, but truthfully, it isn’t.”
“Or maybe you’ve been watching too much TV?” She smiled at her joke.
