Page 49 of The Edge of Summer
“I saw your car outside. Thought I’d check in.” I make a show of looking around the otherwise empty building. “Speaking of, why the hell are you closing by yourself?”
“Jimmy’s daughter is sick. He had to go. I told him I’d be alright by myself, and Iam, so you can leave.”
I lean back against the bar, folding my arms over my chest. “No, thanks. I think I’ll hang out right here.”
She rolls her eyes. “Fine.” She tosses the rag at my chest. I catch it before it can hit me. “If you’re not gonna leave, then the least you can do is help.”
We work in tandem over the next few minutes, and we let the music fill the silence. Every time Delilah leans over a table to clean it, I have to force my eyes away. After the tenth time, I swear she’s doing it on purpose to taunt me. When she makes it to the table I stand beside, I know she’s teasing me. She presses back slightly, the curve of her ass brushing against my leg, and I can’t take it anymore.
“Delilah.”
She straightens and then turns to me. “What?”
“You can’t ask me to pretend we never kissed and then strut around in a skirt like that.”
The look she gives me is puzzled. “We both agreed it shouldn’t have happened.”
“But it did,” I say. I run a hand through my hair in frustration. “And fuck, I don’t think I can pretend anymore.”
She brushes past me, back toward the bar. “You don’t even like me,” she says. “I don’t see why this is such a problem.”
Fuck,this woman still has no idea what she has done to me. What she continues to do to me.
Delilah is quick to set the glasses in the dishwasher and turn it on. I follow her behind the bar. When she turns to look at me, she has to tip her chin upwards to meet my eyes. I love the way she looks in this moment—face set in stubborn determination.
I grip the edge of the bar on either side of her, caging her in. “I like you just fine.”
“Yeah?” The word comes out as a challenge. “Prove it.”
I press into her space, causing her chin to tip further to keep me in her sights. I bend, hovering my lips over hers. “I think I will.”
Her brow arches. “Any day now would be lovely.”
I release the counter and let my hands fall to her hips. Then I lift her up and place her on top of the bar in one fell swoop. Much like that day in the walk-in fridge, her legs fall open and I slot myself between them. I can’t help but marvel at the way we fit together, like I was always meant to be here doing this.
Delilah’s eyes flutter shut, and I close the distance, letting my lips caress hers. This kiss isn’t urgent like our first. I take my time settling into it, slowly coaxing her to let me in. I could spend endless moments just like this, getting lost in the feel of her. This should scare me, but I am past the point of caring.
She pulls back, attempting to catch her breath. “Kissing me doesn’t prove anything,” she insists. “We’ve already done that, and nothing changed.”
That is where she’s mistaken. After that kiss,everythingchanged. I’ve given in to temptation so wholly, I can’t even identify the reasons I was reluctant before. This woman is going to ruin me, and damn it, I’m going to let her.
“What kind of proof do you need, then?”
She hums. The heat in her gaze incinerates me where I stand. “Be extra nice to me and maybe I’ll believe you.”
The smug look that occupies her face quickly melts away when my hand slips under the hem of her skirt. The skin of her thigh is smooth, but goosebumps begin to prickle her flesh as my fingers trail their path. She widens her legs, giving me easier access. When I reach the apex of her thighs, the pad of my thumb presses against the dampness of her underwear. She bites her lip, stifling the sounds I would give anything to hear in all their glory.
I lean forward, lips brushing the shell of her ear. “Is that nice enough for you, Shutterbug?”
She shakes her head. “You could be nicer.”
My lips curve into a grin. “As you wish,” I say. “But Delilah?”
“Hmm?”
My teeth graze her earlobe and I can feel her shiver. “I want to hear you.”
I toy with the lace of her underwear. She writhes, but stubbornly, her teeth clamp down on her lip, silencing her breathy cries.
