Page 27 of Bad Boy for Hire
“What’s the first?”
His smile turned devilish when he answered, “Skylight over my bed.”
Here came the heavy flirting. Teasing him, she asked, “Who says I’m going to your house tonight?”
“You do. Just waiting for another yes.”
Oh, he was smooth. Smooth and handsome and making her want to do a host of bad-girl things with him. At the Bluffs or at his place. Or both. She wasn’t picky.
Of the recent dates she’d been on, most had ended in disaster—William came to mind—and others had ended with fooling around, though rarely to her satisfaction. In short: It’d been a while since someone had curled her toes.
At the Bluffs, Xavier parked and shut off the engine. May stepped out of the Range Rover, bracing herself for the breeze. She wasn’t disappointed. The wind whipped her hair around her head and chilled her legs as it sliced through her dress like a sharp knife.
Before she could mention that she was freezing, Xavier draped his jacket over her shoulders. The material was warm from his body heat, infused with that piney scent she’d come to crave. It was masculine, grounding, and safe.
She let out a sigh.
His arm at her lower back, they walked to the edge of the cliff, but not too close. She doubted it was every star, but there were about a million of them out tonight, each winking their happy hellos.
A fat full moon glowed from the other side of the lake, lording over the hill of pine trees that gave Evergreen Cove her name.
“I never saw the man,” Xavier said, chin lifted as he admired the moon.
She followed his gaze up. “No?”
“Never. Where the hell is he?”
She leaned close and outstretched one arm. “You can sort of make out a face in the shadows and craters. If you squint, you can see a nose, a mouth, spaces for his eyes… Right there. See the shadow of a cheekbone?”
His breath dusted her face when he turned his head. “I see a cheekbone.”
She was suddenly nose-to-nose with him. So close that if she took one step closer to him, her breasts would be on his chest. Which sounded lovely.
“How the hell are we going to do this, May?” He drew his fingers along her chin before gently tipping it up. His eyes reminded her of warm honey, which was the consistency of her spine right now. He was so damn potent.
“Do what?” she whispered.
“Break your rules—hopefully all of them—and then make sure you walk away better for it.” He thumbed her chin, sincerity swimming in his eyes. “I don’t want to push you into anything you’ve sworn off. I mean, I want to. Badly. But not like that.”
She laughed softly.
“I respect you. You are allowed to stay your independent, incredible self without owing anyone an explanation, especially me.”
Her laugh faded. He respected her, wanted her to keep her independence. Didn’t want her to agree simply to fulfill his needs. She wanted to sleep with him more than before.
“Is this reverse psychology?”
“No.” He chuckled. “But that’s what I’d say if it were.”
“Not to burst your bubble, but I think I can handle kissing you good night and walk away intact.”
“You are in danger of a lot more than a kiss good night.” Serious now, he erased the space between them. “I have a feeling once our lips touch, both of us are going to want more.”
Too late. But what she said was, “Only one way to find out.”
Before she could blink, his lips were on hers. The softness of his beard tickled her face while the warmth of his tongue lit her on fire. Her heart hammered, her blood heated. The world fell away.
It was a good thing he hadn’t kissed her at the wedding because she would have lost herself in him—no matter who was watching. This was the temptation she’d been avoiding for the past few years. Now that it was happening, she could hardly believe it. Kissing Xavier at the Bluffs had not been on her bingo card.
