Page 19 of Wild Rush Of Love
“Mrs. Abbott—” At the arched brow, Reena stopped. “Sorry. Mary. Please. Start at the beginning. I don’t understand—”
“Oh bother. Time’s up. Here he comes.”
Reena’s head snapped around to look in the direction Mary indicated.
“Oh god.” It couldn’t be. All that wishful thinking must be making her hallucinate. Her knees shook as she pushed to her feet. “Rush.” His name whispered through her lips, through her veins, and left behind a sensation thatdidfeel suspiciously like being swept off her feet.
A tug on her arm stopped her when she hadn’t realized she’d moved. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw Mrs. Abbott watching her closely, gaze imploring. Unable to decipher what the older woman tried to communicate with her eyes, Reena shook her head and frowned.
“Let him come to you,” her neighbor whispered out of the side of her mouth. “There’s nothing wrong with making him work a little for your time.”
Nodding, Reena turned back to watch Rush coming closer and closer. Her heartbeat picked up speed and her breathing stuttered with every step he took. His gaze devoured her, the deep blue sweeping over her like the feathery fingers of a lover’s caress, and she couldn’t stop the shiver that electrified her from neck to knee.
God. This was what he did to her. With one look, he had her fluttering and clenching, dampening in places that had no firsthand knowledge of what they eagerly prepared for, only that he could deliver it.
“Reena.” Smile sparking in his eyes, along with a healthy dose of lust, Rush bounded up the two stairs of Mrs. Abbott’s porch and pulled her into his arms. Burying his face in the crook of her neck, he breathed deep and murmured, “God, I missed this. Missed you,” against her skin.
Eyelids drifting shut, Reena lowered her head to rest it on his shoulder. “Rush.” His name sighed from her mouth, her body melting into his embrace with a familiarity that spoke of more than the short time they’d known each other.
The gentle clearing of a throat had them breaking apart.
Stepping back, Reena turned to her neighbor to find the woman regarding her with a knowing smile. “Mrs.—” Reena stopped at the waggle of a finger and shake of a head. “Sorry. Mary. This is my friend Rush. Rush Whelan, this is Mary Abbott, my neighbor.”
“We met earlier without an official introduction but it’s lovely to meet you again, Rush.” Mary indicated the seat next to the one Reena had been in moments ago. “Won’t you join us? We’re having tea and scones.”
Rush’s eyes met Reena’s, his gaze questioning, when she answered with a small tip of her head, he returned his gaze to Mary and smiled. “Thank you, Mary. I’d love to join you.”
With a hand on her elbow, Rush urged Reena back into her seat before taking the one Mary offered.
Too stunned by his presence to speak, she watched as another cup of tea was poured and a plate of scones passed over.
Rush undoubtedly complimented Mary on the scones, although Reena couldn’t be sure. The only thing registering in her ears was the pounding of her heart and the rasp of her breath as it flowed in and out of her nose in short little bursts.
She didn’t remember drinking her tea or eating the scone she’d been given before Rush’s arrival, but when she finally dragged her eyes off the man beside her and glanced down, Reena found both plate and cup empty.
“Well, it was lovely to have company for tea today, but I must be getting inside now. Things to do, you know.”
Mary winked at Reena as she gathered empty dishes and stacked them on a silver tray.
Rush stood and tried to take the tray from Mary’s hands. “Let me carry that for you.”
“Nonsense. Get on with both of you now.”
Without another word, and with a skill even Reena’s years of waitressing couldn’t beat, Mary maneuvered herself and the loaded tray into her house and closed the door behind her, leaving them alone on the porch.
“I…” Reena licked her lips and swallowed as she turned to face Rush.
He was watching her with that deep blue gaze, the one that sent shivers down her spine and curled her toes. She was helpless to prevent her body from reacting to him.
Her skin flushed, her muscles tightened, and a throbbing beat echoed along every nerve ending.
She wanted to wrap herself around him.
Wished she hadn’t stopped him from taking her virginity.
God, she wanted to beg him to take it now.
Instead the words that blurted out of her mouth were, “What are you doing here?”
