wouldn’t be that bad,” he murmured against her mouth before gently nipping her lower lip.
Liv pulled his mouth back against hers, wrapping her arms around his neck as she kissed him, shoving aside her plan to discuss expectations, parameters and limitations. She’d get to it. In time.
Matt’s hands settled at her waist when he raised his head again, his grip possessive, his fingers warm through the satin of her shirt. He smiled slightly, making Liv wonder what he was thinking, then he boosted her up onto the platform formed by the nose of the trailer. Liv landed with an oof and a laugh. She popped a hand over her mouth, hoping no one had heard her.
And then she didn’t make a sound as Matt slowly unsnapped her shirt with one hand, watching her face as he did so, his eyebrows going up in a silent question as he reached snap number four.
She really needed to say “Stop.”
After the last snap popped open, he pushed the fabric aside and then leaned in to kiss her breasts, now at perfect mouth level, where they spilled out of the top of her simple demi-bra.
He traced his tongue under the edge of the fabric and Liv swallowed a groan. Then she buried her fingers in his hair as he went lower, his mouth trailing down her stomach to the waistband of her jeans, his tongue warm and deliciously wet against her skin. Liv’s eyes drifted shut as her head fell back. Her fingers left his hair, found his shoulders, dug in.
Not since her high school crush on him could she remember wanting something so badly that she simply couldn’t have. Not with all the people walking by. Not with the very tiny lock, the lock that undoubtedly wouldn’t stick when she wanted it to, between her and Matt and the world. She might be living her own life, following her own rules, but she wasn’t yet ready to be literally caught with her pants down. She reached down to take hold of Matt, lift his head so she could look into his eyes.
He smiled at her. A smile that said, “I know what you want and I know what you’re about to say.”
“Rain check?” he said.
Liv nodded, reaching behind her and by some miracle not only managing to find both ends of her bra, but to fasten them in one practiced motion.
Matt reached out to snap her shirt, one small click after another. Liv very much wanted to say that she could do it, but she was fascinated by the sight of his strong fingers moving against the red satin.
“Do you think we’re really locked in?” Matt asked.
“One way to tell.”
He held out his hands and Liv put her fingers in his as she slid off the platform, her thighs brushing over his erection. She almost groaned out loud.
Almost. She had some pride, although apparently not much where he was concerned.
She stepped back to tuck in her shirt, and once Matt was certain she was put back together, he reached out to unclick the lock and try the door. It opened easily. Unfortunately.
And the fact that she was thinking thoughts like that bothered her. But not so much that she was going to take back the rain check. She liked making out with Matt. She liked doing it on her own terms.
She liked being like Shae.
The thought came from nowhere. An unsettling, sobering thought.
Just because she was looking out for herself, it didn’t mean she was anything like her stepsister.
* * *
IT’D BEEN A DAY, all right. After the encounter in the trailer, Liv had hightailed it off to visit her father, and Matt had gone back up into the stands to watch the rest of the rodeo. But he couldn’t get Liv out of his mind.
He’d watched her ride Beckett in the drill, and even though he couldn’t say it’d been easy to watch his horse doing something besides the job he was bred to do, he was making his peace with the issue. He missed the gelding, wanted him back, but he was done trying to strong-arm him away from Liv. If anyone was going to own the horse other than him, he’d just as soon it was her.
Which was something to think about.
He’d expected sleeping with Liv to be...well, interesting...but he hadn’t expected her to knock his socks off. She’d surprised him, and he’d surprised himself. He’d slept with women since Trena and had enjoyed each and every encounter, but he