He opened the driver’s-side door before she could. She glanced down. “You do like opening doors for me.”
He didn’t know what she was talking about at first, and then he recalled. Back on the beach, he’d had to almost lunge ahead of her to get to the bar door, her house door. She’d teased him then. Oh, thank God, I don’t know how I would have opened things without you here. “It’s manners. I open doors for everyone.”
She braced her arm on the open door and tipped her head up to him. “You can kiss me, by the way. I’ll allow it.”
His smile was slow and real. This woman was tough and blunt and made no sense, but she was also super adorable.
He slid his arm around her waist. “Good. I’ve been dying to do that.”
He didn’t rush it, though, lowering his face to deliver a mere brush of a kiss. It wasn’t their first kiss, but the distance they’d crossed to get to this moment made it feel like it was. Her head tilted, her lower lip dragging over his. “You smell good,” she murmured.
“So do you.” She smelled like peppermint again, but there was an underlying hint of chocolate mixed in with that. Like the sexiest cool-sweet peppermint patty he’d ever come across. Samson tugged her closer, squeezing the soft flesh above the waistband of her pants.
A feather light touch drifted up over the side of his face, up to his hair. Her fingers tunneled through the strands, playing over his scalp. He shivered and followed her cues, angling his head, deepening the kiss.
The first touch of her tongue against him was like dropping a lit match onto dry kindling, both of them turning needy and hungry. He stepped her back, so her car could give them a bracing surface. Her legs parted, and he settled between them. One of her legs slid up the side of his, and he grasped her limb under the knee. It was rude, and they were in a public place, albeit a deserted public place, but he anchored that leg against his hip, the better to keep her open and available to him.
His other hand slid up her side, under the hem of her shirt, and finally, finally, after months, he rediscovered the joy of her more intimate skin against his. He rubbed his thumb over the small of her back and she made a soft sound into his mouth. She made another noise when he found the clasp of her bra and plucked at it. One hook released. Then another. He slid his forefinger and thumb under the fabric and—
A car horn had them parting, the noise the equivalent of a bucket of cold water thrown over them. He stepped back and she huffed a small laugh. “That escalated quickly.”
He winced and resisted the urge to adjust himself. That would be crass. More crass than making out in public? Possibly. “Tell me about it.”
She blew out a breath, the tendrils against her cheeks vibrating. “I gotta go, or I’ll be late for this meeting.”
He almost missed her next words because she reached behind her to secure her bra clasp, arching her back.
“Keep an eye out for that contract.”
The contract. Business. Right. He dragged his gaze away from her round breasts. “Will do.”
She scowled at him. “Stop grinning. I could one-eighty on the sex again by the next time we meet.”
“But you’d follow through on the business side,” he pointed out. “Which means I’d see you, even if I didn’t get to kiss you, and I like seeing you too.”
She shook her head. “That Lima Charm thing isn’t a joke, is it.”
She was getting inside her car, so she missed his smile momentarily slipping. It was back in place by the time she rolled down her window. “I’ll be in touch.”
He tapped the corner of his mouth. “You may want to check your lipstick before you go to your meeting.”
Instead of looking in the mirror, she smirked. “You may want to do the same. You got some sparkle on ya there.”
He examined his finger, which did indeed have some pink glittery residue. His smile grew. “I’ll see you soon, Rhiannon.”
She peered up at him. “Rhi.”
He’d call her whatever she wanted, and he couldn’t deny that he liked the intimacy of a nickname. “See you soon, Rhi.”
Chapter Twelve
It’s okay to forgive him and trust him a little, but be careful.