Page 11 of Four Money (Ever and Always 1)

As if Trent could sense her stare, he glanced down and smiled. But he didn’t stop there. The dazzling lights made his eyes glow like neon as he lowered his head and brushed his lips across hers.

Fuck the fireworks outside. Plenty of them were going off in her mind and body as they kissed for the first time. It was every bit as magical as she’d pictured during those nights in her bed as she stared out her window, which faced his. Too bad the gap between their houses and their very different lives had seemed insurmountable then, or maybe she could have done this years ago.

Holly spun around to face Trent so she could get a better taste of him.

He sealed their lips more completely as he groaned and began to devour her. As he did, he walked her backward around a corner into a shadowy nook near the service elevator, away from the crowd and the hundreds of eyes that were admittedly not paying them any attention with such a spectacular distraction in progress.

He tucked her beside some giant palm in a pot and used his body to shield her further. Of course, the only thing she could think of was that she was finally getting her turn—sort of—with him in the bushes.

Trent might have read her mind. He lifted his head long enough to wink at her and laugh before diving in for another kiss. This one a hell of a lot hotter than the innocent exploration they’d shared by the windows.

His hands dropped to her ass, cupping it and using the firm grip to pin her to his pelvis.

The hard length of his cock was even more obvious as it nudged her mound than it had been when he’d been rubbing up against her ass on the dance floor.

Holly reached up, her fingers spearing into his hair. Electricity arced through her, brighter than the fireworks they’d left behind, inspiring her to clench her fists and draw him down so she could deepen their kiss. She couldn’t say what got into her, but next thing she knew, she was nipping his lower lip, desperate for him to take things further. To be the guy she had always assumed he was. The kind who would fuck a woman in plain sight if that’s what he needed. Because right then, she wouldn’t give a damn if he decided to lift the skirt of her dress and satisfy them both, everyone else within a couple hundred feet be damned.

What would she do if one of his roommates came looking for them, or even found them and gawked like she had? Hell, what if they wanted to make out with her too?

Holly moaned. She raised her knee to hook around his hip, not giving a shit when her dress rode up. And with some goading from his hands on her ass, she hopped, wrapping her legs around him.

He leaned in, pinning her against the wall, his lower body smooshed against hers as his mouth and tongue drove her wild. She’d never been kissed like that before, so thoroughly or possessively, and she couldn’t say she minded one bit.

For once in her life, Holly realized she could let go. She gave in and trusted Trent to make them both feel good, because no matter what else happened he was extremely capable of that.

Her thoughts evaporated and all she did was experience the moment. The pounding of her heart drowned out her worries. The sweet rush of arousal snuffed out the objections of her better sense. And the sweep of his lips over hers lulled her into relinquishing control.

Until she realized she was lightheaded from more than just the exhilaration of making out with her college crush. She needed to breathe.

Holly tipped her head back, not caring when it clunked against the wall. She gasped as she drew in gulp after gulp of air, with the goal of returning to exactly what they’d been doing as quickly as possible.

“Damn, Holly.” He sipped from her lips again as if she was as delicious as the chocolate raspberry torte he’d selected for their dessert. “You have no idea how many times I thought about doing this…and more…with you.”

“Then why didn’t you?” she wondered.

“I didn’t think a girl like you would be into it. Especially not after how you looked down at me after…that night.” He cleared his throat. “I’d already gotten into a big fight with my family a few months before that, because they didn’t like…well, whatever. I didn’t think you’d be into it, or me. It doesn’t matter why.”

“I think it does.” She kissed him again, once, sweetly but drew away before they could get carried away.

“Let’s just say they didn’t approve of my shenanigans any more than you did. And I think that stung some. Because I assumed you’d be like them. Sorry, though, I should have talked to you about what you saw. That guy…he’s not me. Not usually. I was working through some shit, and drinking more than I should have pretty much every weekend. I don’t do that anymore. Just so you know.”

To be fair, he’d limited himself to the single beer they’d shared over their dinner tonight. Maybe hewasdifferent. Or possibly he’d never been the person she’d assumed.

Then again, here they were sharing the dimly lit nook as they practically sucked each other’s faces off.

Holly had judged Trent pretty harshly, but she was willing to admit, at least to herself, that part of her disdain had been a way to mask her disappointment that he’d never tried to do the same with her. Who could have guessed he’d felt likehewasn’t good enough forher?

Suddenly she wanted to be honest about her emotions, to keep from wasting any more chances. So she cupped his face in her palms and aimed it toward her so he could see the sincerity in her gaze. Except this time, she didn’t try to consume him like she had their meal. She savored both his lush lips and his startled expression. Holly kissed him like she meant it, as if they were both the people they had wanted to be before life had gotten in the way.

He groaned and deepened the exchange, though not in some desperate, uncouth fashion. He was suave and seductive and made tingles spread from her toes upward.

When they reached her knees and kept climbing, she got a little unsteady.

He was there, keeping her close to his strong frame so she wouldn’t slip down the wall and melt into a puddle of goo at his feet.

“You know, my place isn’t that far from here.” Trent winced. “It’s nothing fancy like this. We could get a room here instead if you want to keep the fairy tale going for the rest of the night…”

“Are you saying you want to spend it with me?” Holly asked, blinking. Now was not the time to presume anything and embarrass the hell out of herself.

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