Page 26 of A Lot Like Love
“Kiss me,” she ordered.
He obeyed, moving his lips faster against hers, his champagne-flavored mouth and warm lips making it hard for her to keep playing the boss. She would have liked to let him take charge, push her back onto the sofa and do with her what he wanted, but she was playing a different game with him, and that wasn’t part of the plan. There was nothing normal about this situation and she needed to remember it.
“Still excited?” she whispered, pulling back and then kissing him again, plucking at his lips before sucking hard on the bottom one.
“Uh-huh,” he grunted back.
“Good,” she said, laughing as she let go of him and pushed him back into the sofa, reaching for her champagne.
“Good?” he asked, voice an octave deeper than she’d heard it before.
Chloe smiled at him, holding her glass high. “Cheers.”
“Cock tease,” he muttered, adjusting his jeans and making a hasty grab for his beer, but it didn’t stop him from grinning like he couldn’t wait to get her back.
“A tease is someone who doesn’t go through with what they started,” she mused. “I haven’t made my mind up yet.”
“Huh. Well, make it up damn soon or I’ll have to find it elsewhere, if you get my drift.”
Chloe saw red. “Don’t you dare.”
Now it was Ryder grinning.“Gotcha.”
She turned to face him, doing a terrible job of disguising her anger as she sipped her drink again. “Don’t mess with me, Ryder.”
“I’m not messing with you, baby. Not a chance.” His tone was more serious now.
Thinking of him with another woman made her furious. She scowled at the mental picture of him with the hot attendant, bent over in that gorgeous bathroom she’d just visited. One nod and she’d probably have been on her knees.
“If we’re going to go through with this whole”—she paused—“charade, then we need to set some ground rules.”
“Oh yeah, like what?” He leaned farther back into the sofa, hitching up a leg and propping his beer on his knee.
She mimicked his movements, slowly sipping her drink and casually leaning back. “Like the fact that while you’re with me, there’s no being unfaithful.”
“Sweetheart, if you’re not warming my bed then someone will be. I appreciate what you’re doing for me, but I’m not a fucking monk.”
“Funny,” she said, twirling the narrow stem of her champagne glass between her fingers then meeting his gaze, “because I thought the most important thing to you right now would be getting your ranch back. Or have you forgotten about that already?”
His stare was dark. “No, I haven’t forgotten. You damn well know I haven’t.”
“Yet you can’t bear the thought of being celibate even if it gets you what you want.”
“Or maybe I just can’t bear the thought of being celibate with you around?” he said, voice deep as he picked at the label on his beer bottle. When his eyes met hers, the stare was so intense she went hot all over. “I’m not sure you know quite how”—he laughed—“temptingyou are. But I’m also getting the feeling that you’re not good at taking a joke.”
She would have burst out laughing, only she wasn’t convinced he was actually teasing. “If that’s true then why couldn’t you keep it in your pants before whenshewas over here?”
This time he roared with laughter. “Oh, I kept it in my pants. You didn’t see them around my ankles, did you?” He nudged her foot with his. “Besides, it’s one thing to look, right?”
She stood up, no longer wanting to engage in whatever the hell they were doing. Ryder loved to tease her, maybe he was the same with all women, but she was sick of taking the bait.
“Look, I don’t know what kind of girls you’re used to…” she started.
Ryder interrupted, leaning forward and waggling his eyebrows. “Pretty ones,” he whispered. “But not firecrackers like you.”
Chloe kept her back turned, walking a few steps until the plane jerked and she had to grab the back of a seat to stop from stumbling. “Ouch.” She was super unsteady when the same happened again, only the lurch was much stronger second time around.
“We’re experiencing a little turbulence,” the pilot said, voice calm and steady through the overhead speaker. “Please ensure you stay seated with your belts on until further notice.”
