all along, and she could feel some very potent sexual desire beginning to bubble, thick as molasses, gooey and warm and sticking to every part of her.
He continued to kiss her so reverently, and yet with so much passion, that every bit of female in her was kindled, ready and willing to explode into a rainbow of pleasure. His hand moved down her hip, his fingers squeezing into her flesh, pressing her into his body. It felt as if the clouds parted and the sun beamed down, and a team of angels gathered their harps and lutes and played the music of lust above their heads.
And then one of the bassets stuck his nose in her butt.
Carly let out a yelp.
Max didn’t seem fazed. He grinned, brushed his palm across her cheek to move her hair from her face, and said, in a voice so deep and sexy that she felt in danger of orgasming, “But first, we need to walk the dogs.”
Fourteen
There was some discussion about whose house they would go to as they walked along the path. They decided on Max’s place, although Carly was at first reluctant. “What if something crawls out of your kitchen while we’re not looking?”
“Is that a libido killer?”
“And future grounds for divorce.”
“That bad, huh?”
“Pretty bad.”
“Well . . .” He brought her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles like a proper Jane Austen character, then whispered, “I cleaned the kitchen. I even mopped.”
“Oh. Oh.” Her heart sprouted wings. “Max . . . you have no idea how turned on I am right now.”
“I’m hoping you’ll show me later.”
They strolled dopily behind the dogs, hand in hand, smiling at each other like they were in a Cialis commercial. “How long do we have to walk these dogs?” she asked.
“Just long enough to trick them into thinking they’ve had their walk.”
“And then?”
“And then I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve.”
“Okay. But seriously, it’s a little hard to meander along now that I’ve thrown down the gauntlet.”
He laughed. “Then, madam, allow me to pick up the gauntlet and hurry things along.” He whistled at the dogs, and they both obediently loped back. Max bent down to attach their leashes, then with a smile that shot right into her groin, held out his hand for her. “Come on. You’ve got a sitcom to star in.”
She slipped her hand into his. “Did I really say that?”
“You really did.” He squeezed her hand. “And it was a huge turn-on.”
Her blood couldn’t run any hotter. It was a good thing that they were leaving the dog park, because Carly was on the verge of asking Max to talk about the hippocampal region or something like it to bring her back to earth.
* * *
Max was standing in the open door of his house when she arrived just a few minutes behind him. She quickly checked herself out in the rearview mirror, took a deep breath, and opened the car door. She was not the sort of person to brazenly propose sex like she had, so this was all new territory for her. Was she supposed to take the lead now? Maybe it was her mother’s insistence on regaling her with tales of her sexual liberation. Or maybe because she was just that horny. She had a real thing for this guy, and she felt empowered and ready. Tomorrow, she could wonder about the new person inhabiting her skin. At present, she was too tingly to think straight.
She let Baxter out of the back seat, and he raced for the door like he lived here. She followed like she did not live here. Max smiled and opened the door wider. She ducked under his arm and walked into the living room.
He hadn’t been kidding—the kitchen was sparkling clean. So was the rest of the house. She put her bag aside and looked at Max.
“Shall I make something to eat?” he suggested.
“Maybe later.”
One dark brow rose. “Okay, then. Let me, ah . . . let me just take care of those two.”
She nodded. A thought suddenly occurred to her—what if he was bad at this? What if she’d made this grand show of wanting sex with him and he left her unsatisfied? What if she was bad at this?
“If you want, you can freshen up. My room is just down the hall.”
Did she need to freshen up? Did he think she needed to freshen up? Okay, stop. Stooooppp. One could not be sexually liberated and then suddenly worry about