Page 36 of Waitress at the Shadow Ridge Inn
He snorted. “Let’s get a few things straight. First, I’m not stupid. Second, I’m not buying thisI’m an islandbullshit. Talk to me, Casey. Maybe I can help.”
It was things like this—tenderness and concern—that were the hardest to defend against.Thiswas why I kept moving and avoided getting close to people.
But I wanted to tell him. I wanted to confide in him and have him pull me into his arms and tell me everything was going to be all right. I liked to think I was a strong woman, but there were times—like now—when I really wanted to lean on someone, if only for a little while.
“Why do you care?” I whispered.
“Isn’t it enough that I do?”
My lips parted, ready to tell him all the reasons why he shouldn’t, but I didn’t get the chance. Instead of pushing him away, my terse words seemed to have the opposite effect. In one long stride, he was there, towering over me with his much larger frame. The adrenaline that raced through me wasn’t from fear, but from something else. I sucked in a breath, drawing in scents of freshly washed cotton, rain-scented air, and something woodsy and masculine that was uniquely Steve.
He curved his index finger beneath my chin and tilted my face upward. I stared into his eyes and knew to the depths of my soul that he was going to kiss me. Desire, want, need, and longing formed a knot and swelled inside me. I craved the physical touch of another human being—thishuman being—with a frightening intensity.
“I could have lost you last night, and that isnotokay.”
He paused, giving me an opportunity to say no. To stop him.
I didn’t.
He hummed softly—or maybe that was me—and lowered his head to brush the gentlest of kisses over my lips. It was soft and tender, quite possibly the sweetest kiss I’d ever had.
And the most powerful, given the way my heart was racing and my entire body was practically vibrating with tingles.What was it about this man that flipped all my switches?
“I’ve been wanting to do that since the first moment I saw you,” he murmured.
I had to bite my tongue to stop from responding in kind or asking if there was anything else he’d been wanting to do. Or worse, telling him the things I’d been imagining doing to him.
“Let me in, Casey. Give me a chance.”
I wanted to tell him that I had no chances to give, but his kiss made that impossible. The moment his lips touched mine, the impossible suddenly seemed possible, and my logical, rational side was shoved forcibly back by my illogical, emotional one.
I wanted this man. Right here. Right now. Good sense be damned.
I licked my lips. His eyes snapped to my mouth and followed the movement of my tongue. My heart pounded so loudly that I was certain he could hear it. My nipples pebbled. My core clenched, wanting desperately tolet him in. No man had ever elicited such a fierce and immediate response from me—and certainly not from a chaste kiss and a softly spoken plea.
“I’m not convinced I should,” I said, my voice unintentionally husky. “Maybe you should kiss me again.”
A smile slowly curved his lips. A wicked smile that told me he was right there with me.
I knew there would be consequences. I didn’t care. I would deal with them later. At that moment, I just neededhim.
His next kiss was anything but chaste. Deep, slow, and thorough, it left me breathless and electrified every cell in my body. His big hands splayed across the curve of my waist, and he pulled me closer. I could feel the hard length of him against my stomach and nearly groaned at the thought of having that inside me. It had been so long since I’d allowed anyone into my personal space, and those before couldn’t hold a candle to this. My breasts pressed against his chest, anxious for contact, any contact. When his hands moved down and cupped my ass, I was a goner. I loved the feel of his hands on my ass. Big and solid and possessive.
“You don’t play fair,” I told him.
“Never said I did,” he replied with lust in his eyes and a smirk that ensured my panties were thoroughly drenched.
His hand slipped under the hem of my flannel shirt and down into my stretchy pants. The feel of his callous hand on my sensitive skin made me shiver. After a few deft and most welcome caresses, he extended his reach and discovered the soaked state of my panties for himself.
“Fuck, Casey,” he murmured.
His fingers pushed the material aside and then slid along my slick folds, teasing, exploring while he continued to kiss me. Somewhere in the far reaches of my mind, a tiny voice told me I should stop him, but I didn’twantto. After a weak rally, that voice disappeared entirely.
The sensations continued to build. I closed my eyes and let my other senses take over. The feel of him touching me. The sounds of pleasure, both mine and his, as he skillfully played my body. The scent of fresh, clean, delicious man.
I ground myself into his hand as I got closer and closer to my peak. His fingers were long and thick and knew exactly where to curve inside me to make me forget everything else. I curled my nails into his biceps as I came undone, clamping down on his fingers hard.
He cursed again. The next thing I knew, my feet had left the floor, and I was sitting on the counter.
