The Best Mistake - Cookie O'Gorman Page 0,71
I spoken that thought aloud? Ah well. “Oh, I was just thinking. I’m glad you asked me over. It was a welcome surprise.”
She sat up, putting some distance between us, and met my eyes. “I’m glad you came. I wasn’t sure you’d be able to with your busy baseball schedule and everything.”
“It’s our bye week,” I said. “Other than practice, the team has off.”
“Oh, that’s right. Also, sorry again for telling Baylor about…you know. I just assumed, since he’s your brother, you’d talked about it.”
“Never.” I pushed a strand of hair that’d escaped behind her ear, watching her eyelashes flutter. “Whatever we do stays between us.”
“You mean that?” Honor asked.
I nodded.
“Does it bother you when he does things like that? Baylor, I mean.”
“Yeah.” I sighed. “It does, but I know his heart’s in the right place. That was just his way of looking out for me.” Grinning, I added, “Plus, watching you tell him off was hilarious. I wouldn’t trade that moment for anything.”
She rolled her eyes. “It wasn’t that funny.”
“Hilarious,” I repeated.
“Glad you enjoyed it. For a minute there, I thought he was serious.”
“You know, it wouldn’t have mattered if he was.”
“I do know. You already volunteered as tribute after all,” she said.
“That I did.”
She looked down at her hands, twisting them together like she was nervous. Her voice though was strong when she said, “And if I wanted to try some things, romantically…are you still interested in the position?”
My heart began to pound. Waiting until our eyes connected, I nodded.
Her gaze dropped once more to her hands. “Are you sure? Because it’s totally okay if you’ve changed your mind.”
“I haven’t changed my mind,” I said, reaching out and tilting her chin up. “Just tell me what you want.”
“Can I—”
“Yes.” My answer was immediate.
Honor gave me a look. “But you didn’t even let me finish. I could’ve asked for anything.”
“Exactly. And I would give it to you.”
She shivered, looked like she took a deep fortifying breath, then finally said in a whisper, “Can I…touch you?”
As if I would ever deny her.
Archer closed his eyes.
I didn’t know where I’d gotten the courage or the audacity to ask him that question. My thoughts had turned into a puddle as they so often did in his presence, Charlie’s tips on seduction nowhere to be found. It was just me this time. Asking for what I wanted and hoping he wouldn’t laugh or run away.
When his eyes opened again, they were an intense gray storm. But he didn’t look amused or like he was about to run.
“You can touch me wherever, whenever, and for however long you want,” he said, his deep voice rolling over me like a wave.
His words burrowed inside my chest, gave me the courage to keep going.
Lifting his hand in both of mine, I placed a kiss on each of his knuckles and then his palm. “I love your hands,” I murmured as he cupped my cheek. “How rough and strong they are. How good they feel against my skin.”
I went to his jaw next and felt it flex as I ran my fingertips over it. “You chin, this neck…these shoulders.” My hands smoothed across them. “Gah, they’re beautiful. I feel like you could carry the weight of the world—and maybe you do sometimes.”
Archer shivered beneath my hands as they moved lower.
Trailing my hand to the bottom of his shirt, pushing up on the material, I said, “Can you take this off?”
His shirt was on the floor before I could blink. Archer had tugged it up and off with just one hand.
I lifted a brow. “That was sexy.”
“Honor,” he said, but it was more of a plea than anything.
I wanted to give him everything he’d asked for in that one word and more. Skimming my palms along the ridges of his pecs down to his abs, I shook my head. That golden tan of his, the way his muscles rippled and tightened wherever I touched. Real people were not supposed to look like this.
“Your body is ridiculous.” I sighed.
“Honor, please,” he laughed—but stopped short a second later when I got to his waistband. My fingers hovered there a moment. Not to tease, but to seek permission.
“Wherever I want?” I asked.
Archer gave a tight nod.
I licked my lips then unbuttoned and unzipped his pants—thanking God when my hands didn’t shake. My hand slowly slid below his belt, palming the hard length of him. The groan that followed was music to my ears.
“Is this okay?” I said, shifting my hand up,