Page 32 of Game On

“Let me get you a drink at least.” He moved past her in the small kitchen, the need to touch her growing every second he spent near her. But he opened the stainless-steel refrigerator instead, hoping the cool blast of air would help. “Would you like tea? A water?”

“Water is fine.” She let go of the pen and leaned a hip into the counter while he pulled out the pitcher and set it on the counter.

Retrieving two glass tumblers from an open shelf of dishes, Nate filled them both and returned the pitcher to the fridge. His throat had gone dry just being near her, so he chugged the drink gratefully while Keely watched him with thoughtful eyes.

“I’m really glad you’re here,” he told her as he set the glass down, leaving his bandaged hand on the counter close to hers.

He counted his heartbeats after he said it. Each one louder than the next. One.

Two.

Three.

“I meant what I said the other night,” she said finally. Her fingers walked across the counter and landed on his. The pad of her middle finger stroked up his exposed thumb, then tread along the edge of the cloth wrapping just below his knuckles.

His breath whooshed out fast enough to make him dizzy from that barest of touches. From the implication of her words.

“Remind me?” he prompted her.

Needing her to say it.

Wanting her more than he’d ever thought possible to want a woman.

“I’m ready to live in the moment.” She said it with a certainty he couldn’t miss, a finality in her words that told him how much she meant it. “Enjoy whatever we can together for as long as it lasts.”

Chapter Nine

Standing in Nate’skitchen, fully clothed, Keely felt a flush of desire sweep over her skin from her lips to her knees, tingling in the best places in between.

She’d come here to put herself on the line. To take a chance with Nate and see what happened. She’d nearly chickened out when he hadn’t answered the door. Who knew it would be so much more intimidating to have an affair with a man the second time around? But now, a tremor of want shivered through her and they hadn’t even touched beyond where her finger brushed his knuckles.

That all changed when Nate shifted closer, his focus on her lips as his good hand cupped her chin. Tilting it.

When his mouth claimed hers, she melted into him. Like a long-awaited homecoming, her breasts, hips, thighs all sealed to his taut muscles until there was no space between them. Only heat and want.

She wrapped her arms around his neck, her denim jacket slipping off her shoulders to land on the slate tile floor behind her. She drew him down to her, holding him there. His hair was still damp from his shower, the ends curling against her arm. His lips teased hers apart, deepening the kiss. Making her head spin until she felt dizzy with awareness. She ran her fingers over his strong back, savoring the ripple of deltoids, grateful for the reward of the risk she’d just taken.

She’d told him what she wanted. In return, she was getting…everything.

His arms slid around her waist, surrounding her with his strength and warmth. Through the thin cotton fabric of her sundress, she could feel the callused texture of his palm on his uninjured hand, the fingers flexing against her spine.

“When I said I was glad you’re here…” He spoke the words against her mouth, his minty breath cool against her swollen lips. “I meant I’m so—” He kissed her slowly. “Damn.” Another deliberate, thorough kiss that ended with him rolling her bottom lip gently between his teeth. “Glad.”

She stretched to whisper in his ear, breathing in the clean scent of his soap. “Then don’t keep me waiting.”

His muscles bunched and tightened, his whole body responding to her words with satisfying speed.

“Keepyouwaiting?” He returned the favor of whispering in her ear, a tantalizing huff of air over sensitized skin before he kissed her neck. Then he spoke over the place he’d kissed, creating another teasing, phantom sensation. “I’ve known I wanted you since I came home. The waiting has been killing me.”

He speared his hand through her hair, sifting through strands to cradle her scalp. Pleasure shimmered through her, lighting her up from the inside while his attention returned to her lips. He feasted on them, the contact revving her higher until her knees felt too weak to support her.

She scraped her fingers down his chest until she reached the hem of his tee and skimmed them back up the warm flesh underneath it. He sucked in a breath between his teeth before he let go of her, repositioning his hand around her wrist.

“Come with me.” He spoke with reassuring urgency, tugging her along behind him as he strode out of the small kitchen and through the living area between two low-slung love seats.

Darkness had fallen outside, but the plantation shutters were already closed, giving them privacy from anyone who might be on the grounds below. Though her presence here would hardly be a secret if anyone from his family was around tonight. She’d parked her delivery van out front.

Nate’s hand slid down her wrist and he threaded his fingers between hers as he led her into the bedroom suite in back where a careful design made the small area seem spacious. The built-in bed with crisp white duvet was plenty big though, positioned by a dormer window with a deep sill that served as a bedside table. A bronze pendant hung in front of the closed shutters, and it illuminated when Nate flipped a switch. When he lowered the dimmer, her gaze met his in the soft golden glow.

---