Page 44 of Love Lessons
I don’t turn around, even though the scrape of his voice makes me prickle with awareness.
Ian moves to stand beside me, copying my posture, his hands on the wall beside mine.
Every cell of my body screams,touch me!But he doesn’t.
“Did you seeAttack of the Clones?” he asks. “With countess what’s-her-name and Anakin?”
“Sure. It sucked,” I say sourly. “Worst dialogue ever written for a major motion picture.”
He chuckles. “All those scenes of her, though, standing on a terrace and staring out at the lake? They were filmed at a villa near here. The whole secret-love-affair thing. Just like this.” He moves his hips to playfully knock into mine.
“We’re not having a secret affair,” I point out. “You just like to tease me.”
“Not true,” he says immediately. “But I gave you some homework, and I don’t think you got the message. I’m a little disappointed in my student. I had high hopes.”
I turn to him, wearing an incredulous expression. “What the hell do you mean? I’m right here waiting for you.”
His smile is a little too smug for my liking. “That’s the problem, honey. You’re waiting, when you could be practicing your technique. I gave you some pointers last night. I showed you the way. But today? Nothing. No footsie in the hot tub. No feeling me up under the table in there.” He jerks his head toward the restaurant. “Get off the bench and show me some hustle, rookie.”
I stare up at this hot creature beside me and realize he’s serious. “You were waiting for me to seduce you?”
“Of course. Isn’t that what you wanted to practice? How’s Mr. Banker Man going to know you’re interested if you just wait for him to make all the moves?”
It’s a perfectly good question, but I still don’t like it. “Women are cultured not to initiate,” I point out. “This is harder for me than it is for you.”
“Didn’t say it wasn’t.” He spreads his muscular arms in a show of acceptance. “But you asked me for help, lady. And seduction is all about confidence. It’s not how you use your tongue, or the one right way to touch a guy’s balls. It’s the presumption of success.”
“I see.” Although I’m still full of questions. Like—there’s one right way to touch a guy’s balls?“Ian, I stink at this. The whole thing! Where do I find some confidence?”
He cocks his hip against the stone wall and gives me a smirk. “It’s like anything else in life, contessa. It comes from practice. So, if you want this…” He points at his hot self. “You’d better come and get it. I’ll give you ten seconds.”
“What? Right now?”
He glances down at the watch on his wrist. “Somebody had better kiss me in the next eight seconds, or I’m gonna go find someone else who wants to practice seducing me.”
Why do I feel like smacking him instead?
FOURTEEN
That Escalated Fast
IAN
Vera narrows her eyes.She’s looking up at me with a fierce glare that’s half annoyance, half yearning. That’s good. The woman needs to get out of her head. “I just have one question.”
“Yeah?”
“Is there really one right way to touch a man’s balls?”
Startled by the question, I laugh. Andthenthe little minx makes her move. She leans in and presses her mouth to the underside of my chin, which is probably as high up on me as she can reach.
And it feels so fucking good. Soft lips kiss my stubbled skin. My heart thumps with joy as I act on pure instinct, widening my stance and tipping my chin down so she can reach my mouth.
We slide together in a heated kiss. I let her kick things off for atleasttwo seconds. I’m the worst teacher ever, but that’s all I can wait. My mouth captures hers, and my whole body shoutsfinally!Hers does, too. She lets out a breathy moan as I deepen the kiss.
Big brown eyes lock on mine as I encircle her waist with my hands. The fabric of her dress slides against her body, the same way I’d like to. I tug her closer and lick my way into her mouth. She tastes like bubbly wine, and she smells like heaven.
Her arms wrap around my neck as my hand finds her ass. Hell, that escalated fast. I kiss her hotly now. I’m vaguely aware that there was a point to all this: lessons in seduction. Vera finally made her move, and her reward is that I’m losing my mind as we come together in kiss after kiss.
