her and held her close, taking control of the kiss until I heard the soft, erotic moan slip from her lips.
It had driven me crazy, taking all of the restraint I could muster not to strip her down right there in the middle of the food festival and the whole damn town and show her just how real the rumors about me were. But I couldn’t.
“Get a room,” Eddy Henderson had called out with a laugh, bringing us both back to the present and aware of the audience that surrounded us.
“Crap,” I muttered with a smile. “Totally worth the gossip.”
Mikki’s fingertips went to her lips and a shocked smile played around the edges of her mouth. “I don’t know about that just yet,” she said, clearly having been privy to more than a few of the rumors swirling around town—some true, some false, and some so outrageous no one could tell the difference. “But Nate?”
“Yeah?”
She grinned and took a step back with a flirty wink. “It was definitely worth the cost of the kiss. See you around.” With a sexy little finger wave, she walked away, leaving me hard and hot and ready for more.
“Count on it, sweetheart.” There was a small hint of satisfaction when my words caused her to trip over her own feet, and I knew there would be a later for us. Very soon.
“We’re burnin’ daylight here, Callahan. Wipe those dirty thoughts out of your head and put on your game face.” Janey snapped her fingers in front of me until I blinked myself back to the present. “Think about those perverted things on your own time.” The smile threatening to break free took the sting off her words, but I knew she meant them.
Still, it pissed me off to be caught daydreaming about a woman I shouldn’t be thinking about, even though Janey had no way of knowing who was occupying my thoughts. “This is my own time. I’m here as a volunteer, remember?”
Over the past few months, a sense of regret had crept in because, every other day, it felt like a Hometown Hero was required for something or other. It had turned into my least favorite thing, a big damn deal, and quite honestly, I was over it. All of it. Hell, that damn kissing booth was the reason I was so distracted lately, mostly. The kissing booth and the woman. Mikki. What the hell kind of name was Mikki, anyway?
Too bad it wasn’t her name causing the sleepless nights or the cold showers, nor it was those sweet, exaggerated curves that made my mind instantly think of sex. That small waist that flared into hips that were more than a handful and a round ass that was perfect for grabbing onto while I thrust from behind. Something I now knew as a fact—and would know forever, since it was permanently etched into my mind.
“Damn you Nate,” Janey growled. “You’re doing it again.” She glanced around the state park where I spent most of my day, and up at the sun that would soon start its decline behind the horizon.
“Sorry,” I told her honestly and when she aimed the camera at me, I did my best to give her the brooding look she kept asking for. Whatever the hell that meant.
After a few shots, she removed the camera from in front of her face and perched a hand on her hip, expression filled with attitude and irritation. With me. “Want to talk about it?”
Hell no. “About what?”
“Fine.” Janey threw her arms in the air, exasperated. “You don’t want to talk about it, fine by me. At least give me the next fifteen minutes before the sun goes away completely. Do you think you can do that, Nate?” Janey was always a feisty one. Petite and fiery, with big green eyes that revealed every emotion the moment she experienced it, she was a force to be reckoned with—which is how I’d ended up spending the afternoon on my day off deep in the woods with the bossy photographer.
“I can do that,” I told her with a confident nod I didn’t feel. Mikki was a sneaky woman, creeping into my thoughts at the most unexpected times. It was always the smallest things that made me think of her. The red on Big Mama’s diner menus reminded me of the shade often found on her plump mouth. The flowery scent that permeated Tulip reminded me of her sexy, earthy scent with floral undertones.