Page 82 of The Calendar of New Beginnings
“Are you nervous?” he asked, holding her close.
“Probably. I don’t know. Sure.” She made a face. “What about you? Are you thinking about Kim?”
His head darted back. “We agreed to be honest with each other, so yeah, I am. A little. I know she’s happy I’m with you. She always liked you, you know.”
Lucy swallowed the lump in her throat. “I liked her too. I was so grateful she never got jealous, you know? When youfirst married her, I was a little worried. But she wasn’t like that.”
“No,” he said with a sad smile. “She was glad I had you. In fact, she used to say she decided I was a keeper when she learned I was still best friends with a girl I’d met in kindergarten.”
“Really?” Somehow that sweet, insightful comment made her miss Kim. So she sent her a quick thanks for…well, everything.
“Kim thought our longstanding friendship meant I was a nice guy, and since she’d dated a few assholes in college, she was looking for something else.”
Andy Hale was a nice guy, and Lucy realized she’d never been with one of those. Those other men had been interesting and smart and courageous, but none of them had been nice in the way Andy was. “Do you feel guilty? About what we’re about to do?”
He took his time answering. “I’ve had my moments since I first started wanting you like this, but I’ve let it go. Lucy, you make mesohappy. Having you back here, first as my friend and now like this… Well, it’s pretty damn perfect.”
“You really do love me,” she said, studying his face. “All the way.”
“Is that finally sinking into your thick skull?” he asked, fighting a smile and losing.
Her heart twisted in her chest. “Seems so.”
He leaned in until he was inches away from her mouth. “Let me show you how much.”
Their lips met with a newness she could only marvel at. Her arms wrapped around him as he pressed lush kisses to her upper and lower lip.
She cupped the back of his neck and stood on hertiptoes to press her mouth more firmly against his. He opened his, and so did she, and she fell into the lushness of the slow slide of their tongues against each other. He was rarely in a rush, she’d discovered, always content to let the heat and friction work their magic.
Her breathing turned heavy, like the feeling in her belly, and she felt the beautiful tension of male arousal against her center. She pressed closer to him, rocking her hips, making him groan.
“Let’s get some of these clothes off you,” he said harshly, edging back.
They helped each other get bare to the waist. And of course, he had to check the healing wounds on her back, kissing each of them in benediction. His hands cupped her breasts, making her head fall back in pleasure. Her knees were turning weak, she realized, and she walked until she sat on the edge of the bed. He sank to his knees in front of her, opening her jean-clad legs and sliding between them. Oh man, that was really hot.
He pressed his mouth to one of her breasts as she ran her hands over the hard muscles of his shoulders. His chest was strong and built, and she couldn’t get enough of him. He seemed to feel the same because he started to tug on her nipple in the most urgent of ways, making things below clench and tighten. She made a soft sound when he switched to the other breast and plunged her fingers into his dark hair.
When he finally released her and looked up at her from his position between her knees, her mouth went dry. A tidal wave of lust crashed over her. She pushed him onto his heels and climbed into his lap, pressing her mouth to his in a hot, wet kiss. Locking her knees around his waist, she gripped him as he rocked against her. Hegroaned, clenching his hands on her bare skin, and then slid his hands down the back of her jeans.
She jolted against his mouth at the caress, pressing away and standing. Her hands unzipped her jeans and pushed them down her legs. He took one of her feet into his hands to slowly slide her pant leg and sock off, all the while kissing the exposed skin of her thigh.
Lucy thought she was going to die. “You’re driving me crazy.”
“Good,” he muttered, kissing the inside of her knee, a place she’d heard was an erogenous zone.
“I had no idea someone kissing your knee could feel so sexy,” she told him.
He might have snorted, but since her ears were ringing, she couldn’t be sure. “How about here?” he asked.
Her eyes crossed. “Yep. Bull’s-eye.”
“You’re a talker,” he said, pulling her last sock off. “I don’t know why I’m surprised.”
Standing before him in nothing but her underwear, she put her bare foot on his bare stomach, getting his attention. “Is that a complaint?”
A slow sexy smile crossed his face as he slid his hand up her foot and then all the way to her core. She might have squeaked when he arrived at his final destination.
“Not for a second,” he said, sliding a finger inside her panties. “Talk to me.”
