Page 48 of Small Town Frenzy
She starts to saunter across the bar like she owns the place, her confidence on full display. Such a turn-on.
She only gets a few feet away before she stops. The way she angles gives me a stunning view of her profile. The straight of her nose, and the long lashes that curl skyward, her chin the southernmost point of her sweet face, and the gentle slope of her neck when her hair is pulled to one side as she studies the view ahead. I sure like looking at her, but it only gets better when we’re talking.
I hadn’t felt my heart in years until I laid eyes on her again. The beats were subtle, barely detectable thumps that confused me at first. But every time I’m near her, they grow louder, harder until I feel every beat deep through my bones. I feel it growing stronger. Ifeel, which is something I wasn’t doing at all before returning, before seeing her again.
I’m not sure what to think anymore. Women have neverbeen a priority, but that was before I met her, and before I was set up like it was kismet to fall into the same place at the same time again. The signs are getting really hard to ignore, so I’d best start accepting that some things might be meant to be.
She comes back to me, stopping at my side while facing the exit. “I’ll text her. She’ll be going home with Blake anyway. I’ll save them the trouble if you can take me home?” Looking back in her cousin’s direction, I see she’s propped on Blake’s lap. Judging by their engaging conversation, I understand why Cricket came back. “Or I can call a?—”
“You’re not calling anyone.” That I selfishly get more time with her isn’t worth mentioning, or that I like the way she looks sitting next to me in my truck. I’ll happily take the wins when they come. “I’m happy to do it.”
“Be careful, cowboy. I may not be a romantic, but you’ve managed to charm me before.”
We start walking toward the front of the bar. Her words are playing on my mind, and a smirk wants to reveal itself, so I ask, “What happens if I don’t heed your warning?”
Pushing through the door, I follow her and the sound of her laughter outside. “You just might be stuck with me.”
“Torture,” I tease, covering my heart with my hand.
She spins around and tucks her fingers into the top of my Wranglers to pull herself closer to me. I can’t lie and say I don’t like how handsy she is. But just when I think I can read her mind, she surprises me all over again. Holding her hand on top of her hat, she looks up at the night sky. I thought her profile was quite the sight, but damn, I could stare at her all night and see something new and untamed, a side of her that wants to break loose while she walks such a steady line on the daily. She’s both otherworldly yet standing before me like I’m worth her time.
She turns to look at me. “I thought about you more times than I didn’t.”
I want to kiss her so badly that I cup her face and lean down. With our eyes closed and only a breath between us, I whisper, “I never forgot you, babe.”
Her eyes flutter open, her gaze connecting with mine in a moment of silence shared between us. I breathe her in, running the tip of my nose along the bridge of hers. She sucks in a breath, then on the exhale, she asks, “Are you going to kiss me, Twenty-two?”
Smiling against her cheek, I lower my mouth to reach her lips. “I want nothing more, Little Chirp.”
A smile touches her lips before I can. Her eyes close softly, waiting so patiently that it’s hard to resist giving her what she wants. But the way her body leans into mine lets me know that what she wants and what she needs are two very different things.
I eye the pink of her plush lips, the round of her breasts in that vest as they start to heave from heavy breaths, and the trust she’s giving me to do as I please. I should reward her for being such a good girl, though I’m the one making out like a bandit in this situation. I brush my mouth over hers, then come back to steal her breath away entirely. Covering her mouth with mine, I start gentle, but like so much else with her, it escalates quickly. Our lips part, allowing our tongues to find sanctuary inside each other’s mouths.
Running my hand down the side of her neck, I lean in, going deeper. I want her so badly that my discomfort starts to be apparent. I shift to create some space but am given a harsh reminder that Wranglers aren’t the most forgiving denim. Needing relief, I point to the left in the parking lot. “I’m parked over here.”
I barely beat her to the door. Opening it, I help her step up and settle in before shutting the door, then walk around to the other side. Passing in front, I slow down just to give myself a moment to appreciate Cricket tucked snugly in my truck. I’m insanely attracted to this woman, but I like the way my chest warms when I see her sitting there. It’s like that’s where she belongs.With me.
Climbing in, I buckle up and start the engine. I reverse out of the space but stop when I pull up to the main two-lane highway out here. Right leads us to Austin. Left leads us back home. We live miles and a county apart, but somehow, the two of us met in another part of the world, and we live in the same direction.
She turns on the radio and rolls down her window. When I roll down my window, the wind whips through the ends of her hair while the hat holds the top in place. “Tonight has been perfect. Look at that full moon, Griffin.”
I lean forward to look through the top of the windshield. Big and bold, the moon rides high in the sky and lights our way between fields and farms. “Pretty amazing.”
Sitting back, she pulls her knees up to her chest. Her skirt slips down her legs but stops mid-thigh. With her arms around her boots, she says, “This is the most fun I’ve had in a long time. Thank you.”
I reach over and rub her bare knee, then slide just a little lower. “I can say the same. Feels like we’re getting away with something every time we’re together.”
“You think the feud is buried in our bones.” She laughs, looking out the windshield again. “A Greene and Dover getting together . . .” She stops too soon as if she shouldn’t have said it.
Giving her leg a squeeze, I shake my head. “There’s nothing wrong with what we’re doing.”
“It doesn’t feel wrong. My brain just makes me wonder sometimes.”
“Give me the night and I’ll convince you.” The slight part of her legs to allow me more access has me sliding my hand lower. I reach the bend to her bliss and slip a finger between the fabric and her soft lower lip. With her mouth open and eyes set on mine, she closes it and bites her lip.
I could make her come before we reach Dover Creek Winery. Gliding through her slickness, she makes it hard to concentrate on the road ahead. Add in the strangulation of these jeans, and I should probably wait. “I want to touch you, but we only have a few miles left, and I don’t want to rush this.”
She nods as the words won’t come. When I slide my hand from the embrace of her legs, I bring the tip of my finger to my bottom lip and slide it across a few times, then follow with my tongue to taste her.
