Page 41 of Bad Boy Done Wrong
He broke the kiss, his hands on her waist, putting her back on her side of the cab. “Mind if we’re late?”
“You want to ravish me, don’t you?” she asked eagerly.
He reached across her, his knuckles purposely brushing across her nipples as he reached for the seatbelt, and then skimming her nipples again as he pulled the belt back in place. He was such a wicked bad boy.
He gazed at her pointy nipples before meeting her eyes. “I want you on a blanket in the bed of my truck, spreading your legs for me.”
She squirmed, already hot and wet. “I love when you talk dirty.”
He held her chin. “I love when youaredirty.”
She laughed, giddy again. “Yes, let’s go.”
They made love under the setting sun by a lake Zach knew about deep in a nature preserve. She was extremely comfortable first on a thick sleeping bag he’d set out for her and then on top of him. He made a wonderfully warm mattress.
After, she rested her head on his chest, listening to his heart pounding. “Zach?”
“Mmm.”
“What’re we doing?” She lifted her head and waited for him to open his eyes. “Are we being stupid putting a time limit on things?”
His voice was rough and gravelly. “You tell me.”
“I don’t know.”
He slid his fingers through her hair, cradling her head. “Here’s what I do know, you had a specific goal, try out a few items. I had a specific goal, be the one to make that happen and keep you safe. If we keep this thing going, that’s deeper territory. And we both know we’re heading in different directions soon. Literally.”
She blinked, a little stunned not only at the flood of words from a man of so few words, but also that he got to the heart of the matter so succinctly. He was right, of course. She started grad school here in a little over a week; he was heading to Singapore soon. Besides, he’d said he didn’t do long-term. She shivered, suddenly cold despite his heat under her. His arms closed around her, pulling her tight against him, warming her. She told herself to get off him, but she couldn’t seem to move, every part of her needing this closeness. His heartbeat under her ear steadied her. It would be way too easy to let herself fall. Way too difficult to recover. And she refused to give up on her own dream of graduate school just to be with him.
She lifted her head and stared into the face of the man she had to learn to let go. He studied her in his quiet observant way, running his fingers through her hair. It didn’t make sense to push him to give long-term a try when they wouldn’t even be on the same continent. And was she really ready for another relationship, or was it just post-sex bliss that made her imagine a different future for them? How could anyone think clearly lying naked in their lover’s arms? It swayed her thinking and she needed to stay sharp.
She smiled. “You have a keen analytical mind, don’t you?”
One side of his mouth quirked up in a bemused expression.
“How come you didn’t take me here for a Sunday drive the first time? Ethan probably wouldn’t have found us here.”
“Yeah, he could’ve if he wasn’t working. He comes here all the time fishing and camping. Anyway, it’s much harder to get in and out of this place in the dark. No streetlights.”
She kissed him. “Let’s go. Poor Ethan has no idea why Hailey has decided to make him hers.”
He sat up, bringing her with him, one arm around her waist. “He knows. I told him yesterday. He says he likes flirting with Hailey, but now that he knows her ulterior motive is to kill that ridiculous rumor, he’s out. He’s bringing backup to put the rumor to resthisway.”
Her jaw dropped. “Omigod! You told him? You weren’t supposed to tell him.”And won’t Hailey be surprised?
He watched her with hooded eyes. “I don’t always do what I’m supposed to do.”
Such a rebel. She lifted off him, reached for her bra and pulled it on.
He stroked a hand down her side and over her hip. She loved that he still wanted to touch her after sex. There was something almost reverent about his touch afterward that made her want to purr and rub against him like a contented cat. Or maybe she was just reading into things, imagining a tenderness in him that wasn’t there. Maybe he was touching her and thinking about having her again. They did have a lot of sex. She really had no idea what was in his head. Maybe nothing at all. She went cold all over and grabbed her dark green dress, quickly pulling it on.
“Help!” Her arm was stuck. Zach helped her straighten out the twisted cap sleeve and get the dress on. She leaned back and slipped on her panties. “Meet you back in front.”
She stood up and he gave her a light slap on the ass. “Zach!”
“Can’t help it. You’ve got the prettiest ass I’ve ever seen.”
She smiled to herself and got out of the bed of the truck, hopping down and slipping on her heels. Sometimes he said the sweetest things.
