Fight Like You've Never Lost (Summer Lake #14) - S.J. McCoy Page 0,24

be grateful. He was grateful.

He leaned across the console and planted a kiss on her lips. He needed to stop doing that. But just like grabbing her hips, he couldn’t help himself. “I told you—even if you wanted more, I couldn’t offer it. Don’t dig too deep, Leanne. Let’s just enjoy this weekend for what it is, huh?”

“Sure. It’s not a big deal.” Her smile was a little too bright. She’d go along with it because, apparently, she had her own reasons for not letting him get to know who she really was either. He got out of the truck and went around to her door when she didn’t follow.

She looked so damned cute sitting there smiling down at him.

“Problem?”

She rolled her eyes. “No. I’m just figuring out the best way down. I think this is the tallest vehicle I’ve ever been in.”

He held his arms out to her. She wrapped hers around his neck as he lifted her out. Instead of setting her down, he kissed her and held her close to his chest. She felt so good in his arms. He knew he should knock it off, but this weekend was going to be all he ever had with her—why not make the most of every chance he got to hold her and kiss her and … he was hard again, thinking about everything else he wanted to do with her.

He loosened his arms and let her slide down his front until her feet hit the ground. He’d been surprised how much shorter than him she was when she finally took her heels off yesterday. He’d liked it when she’d stood almost eye-to-eye with him. She felt like an equal that way. But he liked it even more when she only came up to his shoulder. Like she had last night barefoot and wearing his sweats. Like she did now in her little pink sneakers. It made her seem more vulnerable, made him want to protect her. Jesus! What was he … some kind of caveman?

She smiled up at him. “Are you going to show me around? I want to see this hot tub.”

He nodded and went to get their bags from the back seat. He wanted to see her in the hot tub—naked.

~ ~ ~

Leanne held up her glass; she was feeling a little tipsy. They’d done a lot of drinking this weekend, and it was only Friday night.

Ryan didn’t seem any the worse for wear. He touched his glass to hers with a wry smile. “A toast?”

She nodded.

“What are we drinking to?”

“To the best weekend ever.”

He chuckled and touched his glass to hers again. “I can go for that.”

She watched him bring it to his lips and take a sip of the cabernet sauvignon she’d picked up when they’d stopped at the grocery store in Monterey. His glass steamed up with condensation when he lowered it too close to the water.

She loved hot tubs. And this one was her favorite ever. It was huge. She’d guess it was made for ten, maybe twelve people. But the best thing about it was that it had a Ryan in it.

She watched his tongue move over his bottom lip. He was the sexiest guy she’d ever met in real life. His shoulders were broad and muscular; his chest was, too. His waist was narrower and even though she couldn’t see it right now, she could remember all too well the perfect V shape that led down to his … she licked her lips then took another sip of her wine.

When she looked up again, he was watching her. She’d been with him for the last twenty-six hours and she already knew a few of his looks. She knew when he was getting horny—that one was easy. His eyes turned a deeper blue and his jaw tightened. She knew when he was amused. The lines around his eyes crinkled a little deeper and his mouth turned up at the corners even though he wasn’t smiling. There were hints of both of those on his face now, but there was something else, too.

“What?” She needed to know. Whatever he was thinking, it looked like something more, and although they’d both agreed that there wasn’t going to be anything more between them than whatever this weekend held, she still wanted to know him—who he really was, what he really thought.

He smiled. “I’m just wondering who you really are.”

Her heart thundered in her chest. Not only because he’d been thinking the exact same