Tempt Me - By Shiloh Walker Page 0,16
doubted he was seeing anything inside the display case. When he looked back up, his eyes were serious. “I’m no longer the taken type.”
Rocki blinked. “What?”
“You heard me.” He straightened up and pushed a hand through his hair, only to have the thick blond strands fall right back into his eyes. “I broke things off with Mara the night of the benefit, and just so you know, it had nothing to do with you and everything to do with Mara and me. Also, it happened before the auction. Well before. It happened before I talked to you. And I don’t think you could even consider me a rebounding type. Things between us having been...hell. Gone. They’ve been gone for a long time. I just wasn’t seeing it. Mara couldn’t, either.”
Rocki studied him. “I’m sorry.”
Cole shrugged. “Don’t be. It needed to end.”
“Whether it needed to or not, it always sucks to end something. And that sounds really, well...sad. You were going to marry her. There must have been something there.” She studied his face, and knew she was right, even if he didn’t say anything. There was the echo of something in his eyes. She could see it. “You don’t strike me as the kind of guy who’d start a relationship that casually. If you’d asked her to marry you, you must have had feelings for her at some point. Losing that, whether it’s fresh or not, has to bother you.”
She absently worried her wedding ring with her finger and studied the toes of her heels. “I still don’t think ...”
Hearing the boards creak, she looked up and saw that Cole had moved around the counter. She swallowed. “You know what I think?” he murmured.
“What?”
He passed a hand down her hair, tangled his fingers in it. A jolt of longing shot through her. Hell. It had been so long. Too damn long.
“I think you think too much.” He dipped his head and pressed his mouth to hers.
Oh.
Heat. Hunger. They flooded through her and she pushed off the counter, pressed her body to his, her hands going to his waist.
She did think too much.
And she was wearing that wedding ring again—here she was worrying about him being on the rebound and she was wearing her wedding ring, five years after her husband had died. He should turn around and walk back out—forget the damn date.
But instead, he had his hands fisted in her hair, that thick, dark hair. And she had her body pressed against his, that lush, warm body...oh, shit, she was like a fucking drug. Groaning, he tangled a hand in her hair and tugged her head back. She opened for him, and when he plunged his tongue into her mouth, she bit him lightly.
Banding an arm around her waist, he whirled her around and pressed her up against the counter. Greedy for the feel of her, the touch, he raced his hands along those ripe curves, palming her breasts in his hands. The warm, heavy weight had him shuddering. He wanted to see that amazing, soft body of hers, see it, feel it, cover it with his.
Instead, he pulled away, pressing his brow to hers. “You think too much,” he said again, in a remarkably calm voice. “Now, about that date. A nice, friendly, casual date...”
Her eyes, sleepy and hot, stared into his. She blinked, and then to his surprise, she started to laugh. She shifted, resting her head on his shoulder. “Hotshot, I have a hard time thinking straight when I look at you and you want me to play nice, friendly and casual...after you kiss me like that?”
“Well. I’m not your type, remember?” He stroked a hand down her back, absently toying with the laces of the corset she wore. It was black today, a new sort that he hadn’t seen before, worn over a shirt with long puffy sleeves. It almost looked more like a cross between a vest and corset, fitting below her breasts. Again, it did things for her body that should have been illegal. “You know, you’re going to give me a fetish if I keep seeing you in these things.”
Rocki tipped her head back, smirking at him. “Maybe you’ve already got one.” Her eyes dropped, lingering on his mouth. Then she sighed and eased her upper body back. “So. A date. Friendly. Casual.”
“Yeah. Friendly. Casual.” Dipping his head, he nibbled at her lower lip. “At least until I can convince you that maybe I am your type after all.”
Chapter Five
“What do you