Page 6 of Full Mountie

I settle for the briefest of kisses, a light brush of my lips against hers that feels anything but simple. She makes a little noise in the back of her throat, and I run my fingers down her neck, over her shoulder, and along her bare arm.

She shivers, and I kiss her again before picking up her hand and pressing my lips to her knuckles, too.

“Let me take you home,” I say. I mean it however she wants me to mean it.

She sways towards me. “I want to be smart about this,” she whispers, twisting her hand out of mine and pressing her fingers against my chest, this time inside my jacket.

She doesn’t need to spell out how complicated her feelings are. I draw her in close, wrapping her in a hug that she leans right into. God, she feels perfect in my arms—soft and sweet and strong at the same time. “You know what I think we should do?” I murmur against her hair. “Go on a second date. Talk more. Kiss some more. And not worry too much about anything else.”

She inhales slowly, her ribcage expanding under my touch, then she lets it out. Slow. Steady. Thinking.

I didn’t want him to intrude on this date, but maybe that was impossible to avoid. I squeeze her tight. “Do you want to talk about Lachlan?”

She laughs. “God, no.”

“I’m not trying to stake some kind of claim here. We’re not going to be two bucks fighting over you.” I ease up my hug, and she leans back far enough to look at me, her eyes searching my face. Did that surprise her? “I’m not the jealous type. If anything, I usually get dinged for being a little too Mr. Free Love.”

“An interesting thing to advertise at the end of a first date,” she says, a hint of laughter drifting back into her voice.

“But maybe the right thing to tell you?”

She smiles. “Maybe. Yes. I’m not in a good place to get serious right now.” She hesitates, and I hear the unspoken,but if I were, I’d have thought it would be with Lachlan, the stubborn and confusing jackass.

“Let me drive you home.” I change the offer to make it clear I’m good with whatever she wants. “And we can talk about what we want to do for our second date.”

She directs me to her apartment, a short drive away, and I park just down the street.

This time, she’s the one who takesmyhand as we step onto the sidewalk. She lives in a tall apartment building with decent security, so we stop in front of the passcode-protected entrance.

She doesn’t punch in her access code right away. She doesn’t let go of my hand, either.

Fuck me. “I want to kiss you again,” I admit, my voice a bit rough.

She bites her lip and smiles. “Good?”

I laugh and pull her close, both of my hands sliding into her hair. This one isn’t going to be chaste, not after that saucy little display.

Her lips part for me and I get my first taste of her for real. So fucking good. Sweet and bright, like the sun at high noon, and just as far away. I chase her, curling my tongue around hers, and she welcomes my exploration. It’s playful and hot, a flash of what she’ll be like in bed.

Will be. Definitely betting on that happening now. She’ll want to be on top. There will be lots of laughter, and teasing.

I move my hands down her body, forming the shape of her through her soft sundress. My fingers tighten on her hips, and the urge to walk her back, to press her up against the bricks is almost overwhelming.

But her dress feels delicate, silky, and ruining a date’s outfit is bad etiquette. So I turn us around and press my own back against the wall as I spread my legs, urging her into the space between them.

She comes so eagerly it makes my cock pulse with anticipation.

Down boy, we’re not doing more than this tonight.

But soon. I can’t wait to get inside her.

She presses in closer, nestling my growing erection against the soft swell of her belly. “I wish we’d done this sooner,” she whispers, kissing my jaw.

I close my eyes and try to do some advanced algebra. Her breath on my skin is dangerous. “We’re doing it now, and that’s all that matters.”

But that’s a simplification of the situation, a fact that’s rammed home when I open my eyes and over the top of her head, I see the outline of a familiar body leaning against a car in the shadows across the street.

What the fuck?

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