it if I didn’t fall in line…and you know, Dad doesn’t make empty threats.”
The look she gave me said she agreed. A beat later she crossed her arms and exchanged the commiserating expression for an accusatory one. “And?”
“And it was a stupid thing to do regardless…I apologize––I don’t respond well to blackmail.” Her face went blank again. Not a good sign. “And I’m screwing this up again. Let’s just say I’m sorry and that I regret what I did.”
Without remark, she marched past me into the kitchen and I followed.
“Want something to drink?”
A smile stretched across my face. “Sure.”
At the threshold, I leaned against the doorframe and watched as she reached up to grab a couple of glasses from inside the cabinet, her bare stomach getting my attention as the sweatshirt rode up. Then I spotted three trays overflowing with baked muffins and whatnot sitting on the counter.
“Ryan misses your muffins.”
That sounded grossly suggestive. Not what I’d intended, but she did that to me. Mixed me up, turned me inside out…Turned me on and had me questioning everything I thought I wanted. Like maybe my old man was right. Maybe I would enjoy marriage if I gave it a fighting chance.
Bending at the waist, she examined the contents of the refrigerator while I took my time appreciating the view. She bent lower and a different image slammed into me, an image of her sitting on the counter with her legs spread apart and her feet on my shoulders as I ate her muffin.
Jesus…
Straightening, I rubbed my face. This was not a good time for my dick to get hard. And yet they kept coming, wave after wave of sexual images, sounds, and smells. My mouth on a soft patch of blonde curls. The scent of woman filling my lungs. The soft skin on the inside of her thighs brushing my cheeks. I wondered what she sounded like when she came. If she was loud or quiet. I wondered if she––
“Beer or wine?”
I needed to get a handle on this. “Uh, beer. Beer’s good.”
“Glass?”
“No, thanks,” I mumbled, incapable of taking my eyes off of her.
I stepped closer and she handed me a bottle of Sam Adams, told me where to find the bottle opener. “Third drawer on the left,” she said.
I liked knowing that about her house. I wanted to know more. I’d been fighting her––or maybe it was myself I’d been fighting, who the hell knew anymore––for so long it felt good to just go with it. To let myself enjoy her company. It felt natural.
She opened one for herself, leaned her hip against the edge of the white marble countertop, and stared at me while she brought the bottle to her lips.
“You know…” I started, incapable of holding back anymore as the sexual tension between us reached fever pitch. There was every chance she’d shoot me down and yet it didn’t stop me from running my mouth. I had to have her and that’s all I could think about. “This marriage could be mutually beneficial in more ways than one.”
She blinked. “Are you for real? Or is this another one of your pranks? You and your father are so much alike sometimes it’s spooky.”
Warmth spread in my chest as I edged closer to her. “No more pranks. Scout’s honor.”
“Oh spare me, Scott. You were never a Boy Scout.” She huffed, chin tucked, staring at the bottle as she ran the pad of her thumb along the rim. Her voice grew softer. “I haven’t even forgiven you yet”––her gaze snapped up––“for being a dick.”
How did arguing with this woman become the highlight of my life? “Well…do you forgive me?”
She gave me a half-hearted stink eye. “Maybe…yes, I guess. I didn’t lose any fingers to frostbite so there’s that––anyway, it’s already beneficial enough.” She took a sip of her beer. I hadn’t pegged her as the beer type. Then again, I hadn’t gotten anything right about her.
“We’re married. You’re not seeing anyone else and neither am I…three years is a long time, Syd.” She searched my face as I moved closer, got in her personal space, put my hand on the counter and not-so-accidentally brushed my fingers against hers. “Don’t tell me you don’t feel it. You know I want you. I think I’ve made it pretty clear…and I have a hunch you want me too.”
She didn’t argue my points, only got this hard, recalcitrant look on her face that was so damn cute I almost bent down and kissed her