Page 72 of Claim to Fame

“My lady,” he said with a wink, a bit of his Slade Hardcastle accent slipping into his voice as he held out his hand and ushered her towards the Adirondack chairs.

Her eyes lit up and she took the seat he indicated, accepting the soft, knit blanket Mrs. Greene and the knitting circle at the senior center had made after his father’s first heart attack. She wrapped herself in the blue and white stripes and watched, delighted, as he opened the cooler, removing bowls and silverware and setting them on the wide edge of the fire pit.

“Jamie’s famous vichyssoise,” he said, holding up the plastic prep container he’d retrieved from Jamie earlier in the day. “There’s bread, sourdough, I think, and some kind of butter with herbs in it. And a lobster corn salad thing. I think he said to spoon it on top of the soup? Or maybe on top of the bread.”

Ethan paused, looking between the containers Jamie had carefully packed into the cooler for him. Each one had its own set of instructions and he was struggling to remember them all. He swore under his breath as he held up another container, this one with some kind of green herbaceous sauce that he had no idea what to do with.

“You got enough food to feed a small army,” she said.

“And s’mores with Tessa’s homemade marshmallows.” He gestured to another bag resting beside the fire pit, long metal poles sticking out of the top for roasting the marshmallows. “But the graham crackers are store bought because Tessa says making graham crackers from scratch is a waste.” He’d worry about figuring out how to get the soft, homemade marshmallows to stay on the stick after he figured out what the hell to do with the green sauce thing and the small container of chopped herbs. “How many herbs does one dish need?” he mumbled to himself as he pried off the container of the sauce. It immediately slipped, spilling half its contents on the grass. “Fuck!”

Hannah leapt out of her seat. “It’s fine.”

“It has to be perfect,” he said, shaking drops off green sauce off his coated fingers and setting the open container down on top of the cooler.

“Ethan, it alreadyisperfect.”

“It’s not. I know it’s not New York, but I thought if you could see…” He ran his clean hand roughly through his hair and sighed. “We have great food here, too, Hannah. Our museums don’t have any Van Gogh’s, but we have museums, and bookstores, and I know it’s not the same, but I thought if I could give you this perfect night…”

She stepped in closer to him, wrapping her arms around his waist. He held the oil covered hand away from her. “You don’t have to convince me to love Aster Bay.”

He deflated, his eyes scanning the mess he’d made, the scattered plastic containers, the half-plated meal. “I wanted our first real date to be perfect.”

Her warm mouth slid down over his finger before he knew she was moving. He sucked in a breath as her tongue roved over the digit, licking the sauce from his finger. She slid off his finger with a pop and looked up at him with a mischievous gleam in her eye. “Our first date, huh?” She held his gaze as she took the next finger in her mouth, sucking it clean.

A low rumble gathered in his chest and he cupped her cheek with his other hand as she drew the last finger between her lips. Each movement of her tongue went straight to his cock, and damned if she didn’t know it.

“Yeah, city girl,” he said, his voice gravelly. “Haven’t had a girlfriend since I was a teenager. Thought maybe you’d like to help me change that.”

Her eyes darkened. “Ethan Hart, are you asking me to be your girlfriend?”

He pulled her closer, his now-clean hand winding around her lower back and pressing her hips against his. “Are you saying yes?”

She smiled, the kind of bright joy on her face that made him feel like his skin was buzzing. Her lips skated over his jaw, the tip of his nose, his Adam’s apple, until her mouth settled at the hollow of his throat. “I’m saying yes.”

He gathered her against him, tumbling them to the ground in his rush to kiss her, to feel her. Her laughter turned to moans as he pulled down the front of her sundress and took her nipple between his teeth, worrying the peaked bud with teeth and tongue and lips as his hands roamed the dip of her waist, the plush curve of her hips, seeking the hem of the dress that had taunted him all afternoon. He rucked the dress up to her hips, hands skating over soft skin until his thumb traced her seam through the simple cotton panties she always wore.

“Yes?” he asked, looking up.

She threaded her fingers through his hair and tugged. “Yes.”

He moved to the other nipple as he slid his hand down the front of her panties, fingers sliding through soft curls to the place where she was already slick and hot. He teased at her entrance, played with the little button of her clit until she whimpered, her hips rising to meet each stroke of his fingers. She came before he even put a finger inside her and he swallowed her soft cries as he continued to work her through the waves of her climax.

“Can I fuck you out there, sweetheart?”

“Yes.”

The sweetest word he’d ever known, made all the sweeter coming from her.

He kneeled between her legs and pulled her panties down, tucking them into the back pocket of his jeans. Hannah sat up, her beautiful breasts with their pink, furled tips distracting him, but only momentarily. How could he be distracted when her soft, clever fingers were unbuckling his belt, undoing the button beneath, drawing down the zipper? How could he think of anything but her hands when they were slipping inside his jeans, those fingers wrapping around his shaft and drawing him out into the cool night air? She stroked him slowly, her eyes locked on his, as he pushed his jeans down over his hips, giving her better access to his body.

Her mouth was heaven, hot and wet when she slid over his erection like a dream come true. He moved the hair from her face so he could watch, traced his thumb over the hollow of her cheek as she took him deeper.

“You’re so goddamn pretty with my cock in your mouth,” he groaned. “Love being inside you, Han.”

Not that she didn’t already know.

She took him further back, her throat constricting, and he pulled out with a curse.

---