Page 33 of All Autumn
His tongue invaded my mouth, and I whimpered. At least I think that needy sound came from me. I leaned into him, pressing my breasts against a chest that was as solid as a rock wall. His hands slid into my hair, his fingers tangling in the wet strands.
When I wrapped my legs around his waist, he lifted his head and stared down at me. A connection like I’d never felt before zinged between us, invisible sparks dancing all around us. It seemed as if the world had disappeared and it was just Connor and me.
And Beau.
My silly dog wanted in on the kisses. He paddle-splashed around us, gleefully barking and licking water droplets off our faces. Connor and I looked at each other, then burst into laughter. It was probably a good thing Beau interrupted us. Another few minutes and we would have been frolicking naked in a public place. I wasn’t sure where this thing between us was headed, much less what Connor wanted from me . . . Well, besides sex.
That was pretty obvious by the erection pressed against my stomach. If he wanted more than a bit of fun between the sheets, however, he’d picked the wrong girl. I was solidly cured of wanting the little house with a white picket fence that came with a husband. Husbands couldn’t be trusted. At least where the Archer women were concerned.
“You’re shivering,” Connor said. “Let’s get you out of here.” Back on dry land, he dug a hoodie out of his backpack, handing it to me.
“What about you?”
He smiled. I’d grown up with the man, had seen him smile thousands, maybe millions of times, but all of a sudden my heart bounced in response to that smile. What in the world was wrong with me that I was imagining connections and sparks happening between us, along with a heart that was acting twitchy?
Connor droppedme off at home to shower and change. Because I couldn’t stop worrying about Taren Blanton, he was going to pick me up later so we could go to the hospital and check on her. Our little hospital didn’t have a trauma center, and in a phone call with Adam we learned that she’d lost a lot of blood, so they’d transported her to Mission Hospital in Asheville.
I love Asheville, which Connor knew, and he’d said that after we paid Taren a visit—hopefully they’d let us see her—we’d have dinner at one of the downtown sidewalk restaurants.
“What should I wear?” I asked Beau. He tilted his head as if attempting to translate my words into doggie talk. “No opinion, huh?”
Was this a date? Connor hadn’t said,I’d like to take you out.But it kind of felt like one, and I wanted to look nice for him. Okay, I wanted him to look at me and drool. Yet, we were paying a hospital visit, so my sexy red dress was out. Since spring nights tended to be chilly in the mountains, I decided on a dark blue turtleneck sweater dress, a silver medallion belt, and black ankle boots with four-inch heels and lace around the top.
My only jewelry was dangling silver earrings and a ruby ring I’d bought with the money my father had given me for Christmas to buy something “pretty” for myself. He was always generous with money on my birthdays and Christmases, but I’d just as soon have a poinsettia if he’d been the one to pick it out. Sadly that was wishing for more than he knew how to give his only daughter.
I pushed thoughts of my father away before I let them depress me, because he’d disappointed me for as far back as I could remember. Or maybe I was the one who disappointed him. Anyway, I wasn’t going to let him ruin my night with Connor.
As for Conner, it still felt a little weird to be having erotic thoughts about a man I’d known since he was a boy whose tree house Jenn, Natalie, Savannah, and I had stormed, determined to find out what he and Adam did up there. And now that boy was looking at me with hunger in his eyes. I was hungry for him, too.
The doorbell chimed, sending Beau scrambling down the hall, barking a greeting aimed at whoever was on the other side, because surely they were here to see him.
“It’s just Connor, silly dog.” Apparently Beau had learned Connor’s name, as he went into turbo excitement mode.
Couldn’t say I blamed him. My excitement mode revved up a notch or two, right along with Beau’s. And when I opened the door, my breath swished out of me. Not that I’d never seen Connor dressed up. I had; at my wedding and Jenn’s, at a funeral or two, or at community events. But that was BTK, because everything to do with him now seemed to fall into two categories:before the kissand after.
BTK I would have thought,Connor looks nice tonight. Now my girlie parts were screaming,Gimme, gimme, gimme!Charcoal-gray pants, a thin black, silver-buckled belt, a light gray shirt—rolled up at the sleeves—a silver watch, and my favorite thing, his one emerald earring, all added up to a man who could give a girl erotic dreams. I was very much afraid I was going to start drooling the way Beau did at the sight of a new chew stick.
Before I could say anything, Beau barked, demanding attention. Connor bent over, scratching Beau behind his ears. “And how is Beauregard tonight?”
While his attention was on Beau, I let my eyes feast on Connor, on his black hair, not quite touching his collar, and the full lips that were curved up, the smile reaching his eyes, as man and dog greeted each other as if they hadn’t seen each other only two hours earlier. My gaze was caught by the way Connor’s muscles bunched under his shirt and the way his long fingers stroked Beau’s fur. I wanted to snatch his hand away and put those fingers on me.
And seriously? I was jealous of my dog?
18
~ Connor ~
The only reasonI was fussing over the dog was to give me a few minutes to get my feet back on solid ground before I decided to throw Autumn over my shoulder in a fireman’s carry and haul her straight to her bedroom.
Good God, that dress clung to her every curve, and those little black boots with the heels put all kinds of naughty thoughts in my head, like her stripped of everything but the boots, for a start.
Once I was sure I could talk without sounding strangled, I straightened. “You look nice.”Dumbass. You’d think I’d never paid a girl a compliment before. “Beautiful. Hot. Sexy. Delicious,” I rushed to say when the light faded from her eyes at my lame praise. “Take your pick of any of those.”
She smiled, kind of shyly, which was strange because I’d never known Autumn to be shy about anything. Had it really mattered that much how I saw her? We were still standing in her foyer, and it seemed as if this was an awkward first date with a girl I had a crush on. I hadn’t experienced this kind of ineptness since high school when I was trying to impress Kyla Hamlin, head cheerleader and the lead in all my teenage wet dreams.
“You pick one.”
“Huh?” Oh, right. The compliments. “I can’t. Pick just one, I mean.”
