Page 57 of Second First Kiss

He knew the answer to the first but hadn’t a clue to the second. Even worse was that he didn’t think Kat knew how to answer that question either. He couldn’t blame her. She’d been so busy being everything to everyone, that there wasn’t anything left for herself.

That’s what this is about, remember?

This was about reminding Kat that she was beautiful, desirable, deserving, and so much more.

“Kitten, like doesn’t even begin to cover how I feel about you in this number.” He ran his hands up her arms and took the top with him, the wet material making a plopping sound when it hit the deck. “Or out of it.”

Nolan looked down at her body and, holy shit, what a picture she made. Sitting on his lap, her arms still looped around his neck, back arched provocatively, her tits bobbed up and down at the waterline as if they were a pair of X-rated buoys gently swaying with the tide.

“I’m guessing you like the ‘out of it’ part better,” she teased.

“Very much.”

Where most women would have self-consciously sunk beneath the water, Kat sat proudly letting him look his fill, completely unabashed by her state of dress—or undress. God, he loved a confident woman.

“Well, that’s only because you haven’t seen me in my green nightie,” she said.

Oh, he’d seen her in the green nightie. It was silky, see-through, and matched her eyes. It was also his wardrobe of choice for Fantasy Kat when she visited him in his dreams. Now she was visiting him in his hot tub.

Fantasy Kat had nothing on IRL Kat.

“Is that your way of saying ‘Next time?’” he asked.

“Depends on how this first impression goes,” she said with a challenging smile.

He couldn’t help himself, exploring each rib, down and back up until he was holding her breasts, pressing them together to make a defined valley between. “Honey, I’m going to leave such an impression you won’t be able to walk tomorrow.”

She cocked a brow. “That’s some mighty big words.”

“I’m a mighty big guy, and I like a challenge.”

He wasn’t sure what he said, but she recoiled on the last word like it hurt. Some of the spark in her eyes dulled and her smile bottomed out around the edges. All of that confidence disappeared, leaving heartbreaking uncertainty. “I’m about as challenging a person as you’ll ever meet.”

She said it like it wasn’t a compliment. Like being a challenge was a death sentence when it came to receiving love and care. He didn’t know a lot about her dating past, but from what he knew of her childhood, she’d had it rough. And that tore at him.

Nolan tightened his arms around her so that there was no way for her to escape the moment when he said, “In all the right ways.”

The still night air hung thick, nothing between them but moonlight and steam, then she met his gaze and her eyes were dilated with surprise. Then disbelief. And that last part had him cursing every man who’d come before him because beneath the storm of need was a hint of something raw that punched him in the gut.

“You don’t have to sweet-talk me. I’m the sure thing, Nolan.”

“This isn’t sweet talk, this is me stating facts. You are amazing and adorable and aggravating and addictive as hell.” She looked so goddamned lost and uncertain that he gently kissed her before continuing. “You’re also smart and sharp and sexy as hell. If some asshole can’t see just what you have to offer, then they don’t deserve you. They don’t deserve you. Not the other way around.”

He watched her struggle to process his words and take them as fact. He also watched her eyes moisten and her throat bob from swallowing back the emotions fighting to escape. It made him wonder just how many assholes there had been in her life. Then it made him promise he wouldn’t be another in that long line.

“Your complexity is beautiful, Kat. Don’t let anyone else tell you differently.”

“Don’t go getting all Good Guy on me.”

“I wouldn’t think of it,” he said, and to prove he had a bad-boy side, Nolan gave her nipple a pinch before soothing it with his thumb.

“Nolan,” she said on a moan.

“Yeah, Kitten?”

“I’m done talking. Can we get to the hands-on portion of the evening?”

“Like this?” he asked, tilting his head so that he could take her mouth with his.

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