Page 46 of Love Out Loud

Chapter Eighteen

Fiona’s adrenaline was off the charts. She’d never had a man in this apartment before. She and Caitlin had agreed to a no-penis policy when they were roomies, so all dates had happened elsewhere as a courtesy, until Caitlin met Taylor. She, on the other hand, had never gotten serious enough with someone to want them to see her place.

She liked this. Liked being with Jake in a familiar setting. Her turf, so to speak.

He was staring at her with one lifted eyebrow, as if asking her what came next. Oh, crap. Whatdidcome next? She wanted to tumble onto her bed and rip off their clothes, but maybe that was too much. She glanced down his body at his obvious erection straining behind his jeans. Maybe it wasn’t too much.

Fortunately, he took making the next move out of her hands and pulled her against him for another devastating kiss. This time, his hands wandered not only over her spine but over her backside, then under her T-shirt to cup her breasts. Heat shot through her, coalescing between her legs, and she clung to him to keep from melting into the carpet.

“My God,” he said, breathing hard. “Who would have thought it?”

“Thought what?” she practically gasped.

His warm palms were still covering her breasts. “That you are scorching hot and kiss like the devil.”

“I’m shy, Jake. Not dead.”

He chuckled. “Clearly.” He kissed her again, then made slow circles over her nipples with his thumbs, which sent shivers up her spine and more heat to her core. He lifted his head, moved his hands to her waist, and maneuvered them toward the bed. When the backs of her legs met the mattress, she fell backward and tightened her hold to pull him down with her. He lay over her for a moment, grinning as if he was having the time of his life, which made her even hotter. Sex was fun, and it bothered her when people went about it as if it were life-altering or serious. Of course, there were serious aspects to it, like…

“Do you have a condom?” she asked.

For a moment, he appeared stunned. Then, his expression changed to one of delight. His eyes narrowed in challenge. “In my right back pocket inside my wallet.”

She ran her hand over his backside—a very fine one, by the way—and felt the outline of his wallet. She slipped her fingers in and pulled it out, then peered over his shoulder as she searched it over his back. Pulling out the foil wrapper, she pitched the wallet to the floor and squinted at the lettering.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“Looking for an expiration date,” she said. “My body, my temple and all that.”

He rolled to his back and took her with him. She settled in on top of him and continued squinting at the wrapper. He put his hands behind his head and watched her as if she were an entertaining movie on TV.

“We’re good,” she said, delighted she wasn’t going to have to go to her bathroom to search for one of her own that had been collecting dust and probably wasn’t in date like this one.

“The Highlander’s Seduction?” he said. “Ten Days in Paradise?”

Still straddling him, she sat up, mortified he was reading the titles of the books on her nightstand. “Now listen here, Jacob Ward. If you make fun of my books, you’re not getting laid. Are we clear?”

His expression went from amusement to absolute seriousness. Then he said in a somber voice, “I think your choice of reading material is admirable and unequalled, and making fun of your books would be a colossal mistake.”

She ground down where their bodies touched, and he groaned. She leaned close to his ear and said, “You bet it would.”

“In fact,” he said, struggling to pull her T-shirt off over her head. “I think those books should be required reading.”

“Would you like me to read to you?” she asked, helping him unclasp her bra.

“I thought you didn’t read out loud to anyone,” he said.

“For you, I’d make an exception. Shall I read?”

“Not right now,” he said, pitching her bra to join his wallet on the floor. “But yes. Absolutely. I want you to read one of those books to me.”

She’d never felt this at ease with a lover—not that she’d had a lot of them, but there were a few guys in college and then a couple more in vet school. Since then, only an occasional date, but none of them ended up like this. Usually, her initial quirkiness because of her shyness turned people off, which turnedheroff. College and vet school had been different because she’d spent time with the guy in class or labs and felt more comfortable. Dating sites or casual hookups were Fiona’s idea of a special kind of hell, ranking right up there with group therapy sessions. This, though, was heaven, she decided, as he raised up on his elbows to run his tongue over her nipple.

“Jake, I need…”

“Yeah, me too,” he said.

Rolling her over to her back, he rose to his feet and pulled off his T-shirt, then kicked off his shoes. Smiling at her, he shoved his jeans and underwear down in one motion, scraping his socks off with them.

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