Page 33 of Ignite

“You want more than words?”

“What I want, I doubt you could deliver.” She licked her lips in response.

I didn’t get to return serve in our verbal match.

Rylee tasted of pear cider and draught beer, her tongue soft and gentle in nervous exploration. This was our moment. My hands rested on her hips, she didn’t need any encouragement to fist my shirt and draw me closer.

Thump, thump, thumpety-thump. Her heart pounded against mine.

I met and matched her pace, afraid of going in too hard and scaring her off. No woman wanted a man to shove his tongue down her throat without permission. I felt her relax into my arms as our tongues danced.

It wasn’t therip your clothes off and ride me hardkind of kiss that I’d been dreaming of.

It wasn’t theoh, I didn’t expect that and now I don’t know what it meanskind of kiss we shared in her workshop.

More an,I’ve been wanting to know if you’re as good as I imagined. Yes. Yes. Yes. Kissing Rylee was like lighting a long fuse firecracker. I’d hoped we’d get a second chance, and now I knew the explosion had been worth the wait.

“I think we lost our table,” she whimpered, not breaking our embrace, keeping up the pretense, despite hearing the drunk dude re-join his friends.

“Is that a problem?”

Holding my breath while she studied me, I realized she had every reason to walk away. I’d been an ass. I’d crashed into town. Rylee had crashed into me. And instead of heading to one of the other dozen bars in town, I’d gate-crashed her girls’ night out.

“Rylee?” My fingernails scratched at her short skirt. “Is it too late to tell you how many times I wanted to ask you out on a real date?”

“Why?”

“Why what?” Yet again, my brain refused to function around her. “Why didn’t I tell you?”

“No—why didn’t you ask me out. The best you offered was beating me at darts.”

“Truthfully, I bought you dinner so that could have been our first date.”

“Nah. I deserve better.” She bit down on her lip. “But tell me. Why didn’t you ask me out on a real date?”

“‘Cause you’ve got no reason to sayyes.“ Did I really need to give her a reason to give me a brush-off? She tensed before pressing against me. Now, we were joined from chest to toes and only our lips remained apart.

“It’s a long way home.” Her foot rubbed the inside of my leg, and my skin warmed all the way up to my chest which tightened. How long had it been since I’d been with a woman? I didn’t care. No other woman existed, not since Rylee had crashed into my life.

“I never planned on driving back tonight.” Yes? No? What if we didn’t get another chance? I took a breath and tried to get the answer in her eyes before asking the question. A smart man would sweep her off her feet before she had time to change her mind. But a man who wanted her for more than one night would give her space and time to make up her mind. “I’ve got a room across the road.”

Rylee didn’t need space, time, or words to give me her answer. Her kiss told me all I needed to know—

Yes.

Rylee moved backward, letting me press her against the table, her lips touching mine, and refused to let go. I tasted her beer, and her fear. But I also tasted her passion. She was as scared as me, but willing to take the leap. Could I? This wasn’t just a one-night or one-weekend fling.

This was Rylee.

Our feet were frozen in place as kisses multiplied. One would start before the previous one ended as our tongues dueled and bodies tried to forge together. The chemistry that grabbed me from that moment Rylee knocked on my car window, ignited.

We exploded on impact.

I’d expected meek and mild. I got a hungry, sexy, firecracker.

Rylee dug her tiny little fingers into my ass even though I didn’t need any encouragement to press my hips closer, grinding against the thin fabric of her skirt until calls ofget a roomfilled the bar.

Crap. I’d forgotten where we were or who could be watching. All I’d been thinking about was Rylee.

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