Page 34 of A Reckless Memory

He was sending me off-kilter, spinning through the air like I’d just been bucked off. I had to right myself. “And you? Why aren’t you married?”

A rod of tension slipped through his body. I didn’t think he’d answer, but he brushed his thumb across his lower lip. “In case you don’t know, emotionally unavailable men are catnip for women.”

“I’ve heard that before.”

“And those men are sometimes too clueless to know when they’re leading someone on.”

“Some women might consider it callous.”

He dropped his head. Maybe I shouldn’t have brought it up, but he was so close his presence scraped the rest of the haphazard bandages off my heart.

“I don’t like how I hurt you, Aggie. I wish... I wish you’d had the same faith in me then you do now.”

Was he suggesting I believe he would’ve married me without the money? He hadn’t looked at me twice before getting paid. I wasn’t falling for it.

But... his longing was hard to get past. I couldn’t afford to look too deeply at what he said. “I’m not one of my rescues.”

“I am.” His lips whispered over mine. The pressure increased, and he crowded closer. I put my hand on his chest to push him away before he activated every last synapse until I was nothing but a live wire needing to be grounded.

I hit hard muscle and immediately curled my fingers into his shirt. So much for resistance.

A low growl left him, and he wrapped an arm around my waist, securing me to him. When his tongue licked out, I opened for him, desperate for a taste. His flavor was back in my mouth, and it was everything I never thought I’d have again.

Awareness nearly trickled back into my lust-filled haze, then he wedged a knee between my legs, and oh god, I remembered. He was just tall enough that when he did that, I’d grind perfectly against his thigh.

A whine sounded deep in my chest and I rocked against him. Shivers racked my body and the steady beat between my thighs grew. I listened to the demanding thrum and continued to shamelessly rub myself against him.

Two weeks of knowing he was so close had been hell on my nerves. Energy was coiled so tightly—I needed a release.

“That’s it,” he said and adjusted the angle to deepen the kiss until I thought he’d swallow me whole.

Another whimper. The bulge of his erection pressed against my belly, and memories bombarded me. The way he’d moved inside me. How he filled me. The heart-stopping explosions of the orgasms he could give.

“You’re so fucking beautiful when you come.” He ran his lips along my jaw. “Ride me.”

I drank down air, the smell of frying steak and grease entering my nose. My eyes flew open. The lights of the parking lot shone onto my face, lighting us up like we were the main performance.

With a gasp, I shoved him away and straightened. My nipples were so tight the slide of the fabric almost elicited a moan. I was in bad shape. His tight stance and the rigidity of his shoulders were a small consolation. He was as uncomfortably turned on as I was.

“Don’t touch me again.” I needed to sound angry. Instead, I was breathless.

“You don’t want that, and neither do I.”

I glanced around. Had anyone seen me scaling him like a rock wall?

This man had a way of stopping logical thought. I couldn’t trust myself around him, and I couldn’t trust him. “The thing is, Ansen, I’m always going to wonder what your motives are.”

With that, I got in and fired up the engine. He didn’t step away when I backed out. I left him in my rearview mirror one more time.

Seven

Ansen

Morning chores were done, and I put five more eggs into the carton on the counter. It’d been years since I’d had so many farm-fresh eggs, and I was becoming a spoiled man.

After last weekend, I was a starved, horny guy. That kiss in the parking lot had stolen sleep and solitude.

Was Aggie feeling the same? She’d avoided me all week. Yesterday, I had spotted her and Tex out with the horses when I was in my trailer eating lunch. The barns and pens were like neutral ground. She didn’t come here and I didn’t go to her house and we rarely met in the middle.

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