Page 89 of What About Love

He laughed fully this time, the sound rich and seductive. She would have melted if not for the drum solo going on in her brain. But she wasn’t so far gone in her morning-after semi-stupor that she didn’t notice how gorgeous he looked in her bed, the sage-green linens the perfect backdrop for his tanned skin.

As his eyes twinkled with merriment, his straight white teeth flashing in his lady killer smile and the elusive dimple that usually only appeared when he really let go indented his left cheek. Hangover and all, she felt moisture gather between her thighs.

“I was referring to our quick and dirty screw against the wall at Rossi. I do not take advantage of drunk women. Once I put you in my truck, you passed out before we left the grounds, then you snored—”

“I do not snore!” she gasped, thoroughly mortified.

“Darlin’,” he crooned softly, tilting his head, his smile and tone challenging her denial. “It was mostly soft breathing with a little snuffle now and then. But you did it with your head resting against my shoulder and your warm curves snuggled into my side, so it was cute. I certainly didn’t mind.”

“How benevolent of you,” she grumbled, rubbing her pounding temples. “We didn’t have sex again?”

“Nope, I carried you up here and tucked you in.”

“After stripping me, evidently.”

“Consider it repayment for the taxi service.” He grinned up at her as she scowled. “Seriously, nothing happened except us sleeping soundly in your very comfortable although much too short bed. Next time we’ll go to my place where my feet won’t stick out the end.”

“Next time! I must still be drunk. You look like T and you sound like him, but what is coming out of your mouth is unrecognizable to me. Mostly because they don’t include I don’t or I can’t.”

She’d worked herself into quite a dither. Afraid she’d say something she couldn’t take back, she scooted toward the edge, sheet and all. She didn’t get far with his long legs entwined in the linens. Turning back, she gave the sheet a one-handed tug, while keeping the other from baring what he’d already seen too much of, too often.

He moved, and the sheet slipped free. But rather than exiting the awkward quagmire that had once been her heavenly bed, she found herself hooked by a long arm around her waist and flipped onto her back on the mattress. Propping himself on an elbow, he leaned over her, blocking out everything other than his now very serious face.

“I know I’ve set your head spinning, Angie, and I’m sorry.”

She blinked up at him, thinking her head might actually explode. An apology was the last thing she expected to hear.

“Excuse me? Can you repeat that? Better yet, let me record it so I can play it back when I’m recovered from my DTs.”

“I deserve that,” he acknowledged. “I want you, Angie, and seeing you with Arturo last night made me realize how badly. You’re going to have to be patient though. I have some baggage I need to work through.”

Her mouth fell open. Did that mean he’d changed his mind and decided that he could give her what she wanted?

“T,” she breathed. “I—”

A phone on the nightstand interrupted what she was going to say. He cursed, his hand gliding across her cheek before he rolled away. She was left staring at the wide expanse of his naked back, the muscles bunching and bulging as he moved. Her mind was now doing more than spinning. It began whirling faster than a tumbleweed in a south Texas dust devil.

“I’ll be there in ten,” he rumbled, but when he glanced back at Angie, he amended his estimate. “Make that twenty.”

When he disconnected, he dropped his phone on the nightstand and rolled back to her. Now the wall in her face consisted of his smooth, muscled, magnificent chest. Her mouth went dry. None of this was helping her think any clearer.

Lord,she prayed silently,don’t let this be an alcoholic hallucination.

“I’ve got a call out for Rossi, darlin’. I gotta go.” He shifted toward her, lowering his mouth until it hovered above hers, close enough for her to see his eyes gazing into hers without being distorted. “We’re not through here. Not by a long shot.”

He paused, holding her captive as if waiting for a response. Tongue-tied, she was incapable of one, which evidently was agreement enough because his head lowered the fraction of an inch left for their lips to touch.

Open-mouthed and with lots of tongue, he kissed her fully, sensuously, blissfully. She also got the warm press of his naked body as his hand yanked down the sheet.

For the next ten minutes at least, he possessed her, his mouth taking, his hands stroking, his hard cock pressing against her hip. She was putty in his hands and even if he hadn’t apologized, she would have been his for the taking. It all ended too soon when he dragged his mouth away, burying his face in her neck instead.

“Damn, I hate to leave you.”

“You gotta go,” she stated breathlessly.

“Yeah, I do, although I’ll be damned if I want to.”

She didn’t want him to, either. Taking in slow, deep draws of air, she willed her body to calm. “I’m confused, T.”

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