Page 30 of Full Coverage (Boys of Fall)

“Because we all need to know those stories. Because if we’re living the same story, we need to know we’re not alone. If we’re not living that story, we need to know someone is.”

Randi didn’t say anything for a long moment. Then she licked her lips and said, “I’d really like for you to suck tequila out of my belly button.”

Chapter Four

She washorny because of a book. That was a new one.

And it wasn’t even a whole book. It was one chapter. But she had never wanted to take her clothes off for a guy more than she wanted to for Nolan Winters after reading his rough draft chapter of his new book.

She didn’t really read newspapers. She skimmed theQuinn Quibbler, but it only came out once a week, and she usually knew all the news in it days before it went to print. The shop subscribed to theSan Antonio Express-Newsbut she tended to flip straight to the sports section and was always called away before she got through it all, and she never thought to go back for other sections.

Maybe all newspaper articles were like what Nolan had just described. And if so, she’d been missing out on sleeping with journalists all this time. It was a huge turn-on. She didn’t know if it was the words, or the emotion in his tone as he told her about his stories, or what, but there was something about Nolan being able to make her feel things just with his written words that pushed buttons she hadn’t even known she had.

She was a physical person. She liked to touch things, get dirty, make things happen with her hands. She’d always been that way during sex too. She responded to some dirty talk, but it was always about touch, really.

Until now. She had a definite desire to have Nolan tell her what he wanted to do to and with her in words. Written down on paper. So she could read them over and over again.

But they’d have to get up to get a keyboard or a pen and paper. They didn’t need to get up for the tequila.

She reached for the lower shelf on her side table and grabbed the half bottle of Patron, the salt shaker and the plastic container of lime slices she’d stashed earlier. It was out of sight so as not to seem too overeager, but easily reached if needed.

“Prepared?” Nolan asked, sounding impressed and amused.

“Optimistic,” she told him with a grin.

She felt his fingers tighten on her hips and she definitely felt the evidence that he was turned on.

She set the shaker and limes on the cushion next to them and propped the bottle in the corner of the couch next to Nolan’s hip. She stripped her shirt off, leaving her in only a lacy crimson bra.

Nolan gave a low, very male groan. He lifted a hand and traced a finger over the top edge of the bra. Her breath caught at that simple first touch.

“This is so girly,” he said, watching his finger as it ran over the lace. It was clear that he meant that as high praise.

“I love girly stuff when I’m not at the shop,” she said.

“I’ve noticed.” He lifted his gaze to hers. “The dresses, your hair curled, the shoes.”

“You’ve noticed my shoes?” she asked.

“And your boots. You’re a gorgeous woman who makes me hard just breathing the same air you breathe. I find everything you wear hot. But yeah, I notice the heels and boots.”

“A shoe fetish?” she teased, trying not to let on that his words had wrapped around her heart and squeezed. His words got to her.

“A Miranda fetish,” he said, with all seriousness.

Hegot to her.

Male attention wasn’t new. She liked it. She loved sex, and she knew that the guys who asked her out knew that. Quinn was a tiny town and the surrounding area was made up of similarly tiny ranching towns, and word got around. But the guys also knew that she wouldn’t hesitate to use her impressive right hook and that she could load and shoot a gun—and knew lots of places to hide a body and had plenty of friends who would give her an alibi. If she slept with someone, it was because she wanted to, and she didn’t do it all that much anymore.

It hit her right then, looking at Nolan and acknowledging that hiswordshad been part of her getting hot, that she hadn’t been really turned on by a guy beyond his arms and ass in a long time. And arms and asses—her favorite parts, beyond the obvious—didn’t keep her attention beyond a few dates.

It was kind of sad how many dinners she’d rushed through to get to the bedroom because that was the only place the guys really did anything for her. But Nolan…she wanted to rush to get to the bedroom, but she also hoped he’d stay for breakfast andtalkto her.

And to think that she wanted to talk to Nolan without worrying about making a fool of herself was a damned miracle.

She reached for the bottom of his shirt and slid the cotton up to expose hard abs and a chest that made her mouth water. She loved arms and shoulders and chests. She supposed it was the football linebacker thing that had always wound her up, but Nolan was making her heart pound just as much as any of the players ever had.

Nolan seemed reluctant to let go of her, but he stretched his arms overhead and let her strip his shirt off. She let it drop on top of hers next to the couch and he immediately brought his hands back to her hips.

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