as I gaze at his profile, the way his jaw ticks and the easy smile that moves across the lower half of his face as he maneuvers his beast of a truck between two others. He always looks like he’s having the time of his life when he drives this old thing.
Come to think of it, I can’t recall a time he hasn’t looked like he was enjoying himself. It’s incredibly appealing, his zest for life.
Resisting the urge to fan myself, I shift in my seat and swallow the lump building in the back of my throat.
“You gonna be all weird now cuz I kissed you?” His tongue darts out to wet his lips, and it’s all I can do not to jump him. Get a grip, woman.
Instead, I toy with the pendant on my necklace, sliding it back and forth along the silver chain. “I’m not trying to be.”
“We screwed against a trash bin, for crying out loud.” He shoves the gear shift up into park, twisting his entire body to face me. He just threw that out there so casually, without an ounce of mirth. “If we could get past that…” His gray-green eyes meet with mine, and I cease my fidgeting, completely entranced by the seriousness of his ruggedly handsome face. “It was a kiss.”
A kiss that, by my estimation, was far more intimate than some drunken fuck.
Then we were strangers looking for nothing more than a good time. But now? Now, I’m actually getting to know the man behind the six-pack abs and chiseled jaw, and finding that I like him—I like him a lot, actually. And so does my kid.
Wyatt could be the one…or our complete undoing. There’s no in between. If I decide to take a chance—to go all in—the result could be the family I’ve always dreamed of for me and Prissy or complete annihilation of what little faith in love I have left.
“You’re right,” I say, rather than reveal any of what I’m thinking. “I’m being silly.”
He stares at me for a beat before tipping his head, turning for his door, and exiting the cab.
I take a few deep breaths, adjusting the part in my hair in the visor mirror while waiting for him to come around to let me out. There’s a good chance he’s ruined me for all other men. I can’t imagine any other guy in this day and age will ever live up to the standards he’s setting.
Wyatt Landry, unfortunately for the women of today, is a dying breed, and I’m constantly fighting the urge to grab hold of him with both hands and see how far this thing might go.
Maybe it’s time I quit fighting?
“How was it?” he asks when my door swings open, holding out a hand for mine. “Scale of one to ten.” He waggles his brows suggestively. “Ten being orgasmic.”
I scoff, because I’m too flustered to speak.
“Come on…you have to have an answer, being it’s all you seem to think about.”
I give him my glariest glare as I step down into the gravel lot with his assistance.
He doesn’t even flinch. “Maybe you could use a refresher?” he offers, pinning me against the side of his truck with his chest pressed to mine. My heart starts beating double-time.
I lick my lips, practically panting for it and shake my head. “A three.”
“Bullshit.” The deep timbre of his voice rumbles against my temple, sending my blood rushing.
I can’t be sure, but I’m almost positive I feel the tip of his tongue trail along the shell of my ear. My head thumps against the window, and I look up at his scruffy chin. Without thought, my hand follows my line of vision, and I’m running a thumb back and forth in that stubble, imagining the way the coarse hair would feel on other parts of my body…brushing along my hard nipples, scraping the delicate skin between my thighs. “Seven,” I amend, still taunting him.
My voice is pure gravel. My limbs, putty.
My breath heady with desire.
He dips his head, and I shut my eyes, every cell of my body springing to life with awareness. His warm, minty breath clouds what remains of my senses. All I want in this moment is to taste him. To feel him. To surrender all my inhibitions.
“Ten,” he says, before clasping my face between his massive hands and crashing his mouth to mine.
Without hesitation, my lips part, easily succumbing to his advance. I vaguely hear the moans of desperation sneaking out from the back