me, the friction growing.
“If our timing was different, I’d take you right here,” he murmurs against my lips and then slams them down on my mouth as though he can only handle not kissing me for a few short seconds.
“People.” I pull away from his lips and glance around.
Instead of stepping away, he thrusts into me, effectively hitting the center of wetness in my panties. “I don’t care about them. If this wasn’t going to be our first time, I’d already have you in the truck with ripped panties, but…” He leans in and kisses me slowly then cups my cheek. “Our first time will not be fast.” He presses his lips to mine in a chaste kiss.
“I’m good with fast.”
He chuckles, tucking another strand of my hair behind my ear. “You won’t be after I’ve had a whole night with you.”
I could melt into the concrete right here with that declaration and I can’t wait for him to prove himself right.
Roarke’s hand glides down my arm and disappears behind me, opening the vehicle door. He pats my hip with his other hand in a motion to tell me to climb in. “Let’s get this over with.”
I sit in the passenger seat of the Range Rover in a lust-filled daze waiting for Roarke to make his way to the driver’s seat. He climbs into the truck, puts the key in the ignition and then freezes.
“What’s the matter?” I ask.
He leans over and his lips land on mine, his body hovering over mine. The spark between us ignites into a fire and I grip the hairs on the back of his head, keeping him against me.
“We shouldn’t? Right?” he asks when he pulls away for a second.
I giggle like a lovesick teenage girl and run my hand along the light stubble on his cheeks. My thighs clench with thoughts of how that stubble will feel between them.
Before I have a chance to answer, his forehead falls to mine. “You need to work on your timing. You give me the green light when there’s no possible way of me having you.”
“Would you prefer a red light?” I ask, narrowing my eyes.
“Relax Firecracker. I’m kidding.”
“Good because…”
He shuts me up with another kiss and I sink into the soft leather seats reveling in his taste.
Too quickly he tears his lips from my mouth, pulls the seatbelt over my body, and starts the car.
“You’re so damn hard to resist. A chink in my willpower.” He shakes his head, more to himself than me I think.
I smile and look out the window. I shouldn’t like that I weaken him, but I do anyway. I like it a lot.
Chapter Twenty
It’s a bar-b-que buffet for the rehearsal dinner at a restaurant on the river’s edge with tables inside and outside. There are gas-lit fire pits with Adirondack chairs circling the flames. Kids run around the green grass while men hang around the tables jabbering on about all the local news. Women sit in clumps sharing the latest gossip and for a second I feel like I entered the movie Steel Magnolias.
I sip my spiked lemonade, appraising the crowd.
Allie and Wyatt sit at a table with their friends, beer cans and Solo cups piled high in front of them.
Edie sits with her boyfriend and two other women, smoking, laughing and carrying on.
“What do you think?” Roarke’s hand winds around my waist and he pulls me to him, his head burrowing into my neck. My body hums as his lips land on the sensitive flesh.
“It’s nice.”
“It’s not the Ritz,” he murmurs, his teeth latching on to my earlobe.
My hand lands on his chest and I push him away. He’s too strong and stubborn though, his hand never leaves my hip.
“Pushing me away already?” he asks.
“If you keep talking like I’m some stuck up bitch who can’t enjoy anything other than the best, then yes. And the teasing isn’t appreciated.”
“I do love your firecracker side, but you should know it only makes me even hotter for you.”
I chuckle. “You’ll have to wait until later tonight.”
He sips his whiskey neat and then holds the cup down at his side.
“If I was a better man, I’d wait until we got back to Chicago. Lucky for you, I’m not.” He winks.
“If you keep latching on to my earlobe then you’ll be taking me in the women’s restroom.”
He chuckles. “You have no idea how hard it’s been the past two hours not to bend you over one of these tables and have my wicked way