Page 48 of Before We Fell

“Ohh. Well, I like Riley.”

I should have let her go then. I should have hung up and gotten back to work. I didn’t. “And her uncle?”

“Well,” she huffed, and I imagined her cheeks turning pink. Her eyes flickering to the side like they tended to do when I embarrassed her. “Well, her uncle’s sort of a jerk.”

“Yeah. He can be.”

“But I don’t think he’s all bad.”

Her admission was hesitant, like she was afraid to admit it. Who could blame her? I hadn’t exactly been Mr. Nice Guy.

That would change.

Twenty-four hours back in St. Louis and suddenly, things were becoming crystal clear.

“He’s not.” I forced my eyes open before I passed out on the couch and sat up straight, popping my neck. “I gotta get back to work, but I’ll see you later, okay?”

“Okay, Noah.”

“And Lauren?”

“Yeah?”

“Riley’s uncle likes you, too.” I disconnected, but not before I heard the hitch in her breath and her sudden, but very soft, “oh,” in a way that shot straight to my dick.

Screw this case. The harder I worked for the next few hours, the quicker I could get my hands on Lauren again.

Her back yardwas dark as I hurried my way through it. She was already at the back sliding door, curtains pulled back, lights on behind her. I called her three hours ago when I was already on the road and even though I was exhausted as hell, and driving four and a half hours at night was a dumb thing to do, I still didn’t take her up on the offer to stay in St. Louis and have her keep Riley overnight.

Now, an energy pulsed through my veins as I reached her door. She grinned at me, flicking the latch and pulled the door open as soon as I hit her patio.

“Hey. You look like crap,” she teased. I probably did. Wrinkled shirt, messed hair, and I hadn’t shaved since I left yesterday afternoon, I probably looked a complete mess.

That didn’t stop me from moving toward her, my hand went to her waist, and I yanked her to me. Her hands slammed to my chest and her lips parted.

I took total, complete advantage of her surprise and pressed my lips to hers.

Her lips were heaven. She tasted sweet, like she’d been eating chocolate and washing it down with something fruity. Her fingers curled into my chest and her body stiffened as I kissed her, not bothering to warm up or tease her.

I’d craved her for too long. Jerked off to her far too many times, and I didn’t care about the risk.

Slowly, her body relaxed, melted into mine and she let out a soft sigh of pleasure. It rang in my ears and burned straight to my chest and my only reaction was to tighten my grip on her, slide my hand to her neck and tilt her head, diving my tongue inside her mouth to taste her deeply.

“Oh,” she whimpered as my tongue brushed against hers. Her fingers at my chest curled in harder and she was no longer a surprised, passive participant, but she tugged me to her. I moved, pushed us backward and turned, shoving her against the wall. My hand at her neck curled around the back of her head, bracing the impact as she hit it and I leaned in, rolled my hips.

I wasn’t fully hard, but getting there quickly, and the friction of her legs, the way she separated her thighs for me and let me slide mine in between…perfect. So damn perfect.

“Wait,” she gasped against my mouth.

Waiting was the last thing on my mind. But her hands uncurled from my chest and she pushed against me. “Noah, wait.”

“You feel amazing,” I groaned, dragging my mouth off of hers. I’d respect what she wanted, but stepping back wasn’t an option. Looking down, her head was tilted back, eyes warm and liquid as she blinked, gazing up at me. “What are we waiting for?”

Her eyes fell to my lips, closed, and met mine again as she opened them. “What are you doing?”

Her adorable face was soft with wonder, hands roaming my chest. “What I wanted to do the first time you stomped into my yard, shouting at me.”

She laughed softly, her warm breath danced across the column of my throat. “We can’t.”

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