Page 51 of Bombshell (Whiskey Dolls 1)

“Can I—” She swallowed down a croak. “Can I come to you?”

I answered by reaching out and grabbing her by the waist. I spread my legs and twisted her around so she was resting pressed up against me from shoulder to groin, her back pressed into my chest. I wrapped my arms around her tight, one along her collarbone, the other at her waist, and burrowed my face in her sweet-smelling hair.

Her hands came down on my arms, squeezing tight, trying to pour all her comfort into me. “Pierce, I’m so, so sorry.”

“It was a long time ago.”

She twisted her head around and looked up at me. “That doesn’t mean it doesn’t still hurt.”

She was right. It still hurt every goddamn day, but it was much more manageable than it used to be.

“Thanks, baby.”

“Am I—am I the first woman? Since...”

“Yeah,” I answered in a gravelly voice.

She broke out of my hold then, turning around so she could straddle my thighs and take my face in the palms of her hands. “Then I want you to know how much that means to me, that I get to be that for you.”

For as long as this lasts, I thought, but for some reason, those words lodged themselves in my throat, and I couldn’t get them out.

For as long as this lasts was all she and I would ever have, all I’d be able to give her. But I couldn’t deny that there as a part of me that hoped it lasted for a good, long while. Even if this was all it would ever be.

22

Marin

Iwas doing my best to concentrate, but it was getting harder and harder to focus, because Pierce was doing his best to distract me.

He came up behind me, his hands landing on my hips as he used his chin to nudge my hair to the side and pressed his lips to my neck.

“Will you stop?” I giggled and squirmed, trying to get away from him.

“Can’t help it,” he grunted against my skin. “I can’t stop touching you.”

I wasn’t sure there was a woman alive who wouldn’t melt on the spot at hearing that. “I’m trying not to burn this, and you’re making it impossible.”

“Give it up, babe,” he said on a chuckle as the eggs in the frying pan began to put off a smell that couldn’t have possibly been right. “You and I aren’t built for the kitchen. Whatever you’re trying to make is going to come out ruined. It’s inevitable.”

“It’s eggs over easy, and you’re wrong. I can do this!” I declared, trying to will it to be true. Unfortunately, when I slid the spatula under the egg and flipped it, the underside was completely black. “This is your fault,” I accused, spinning around and stabbing my finger into his chest. “If you hadn’t been distracting me with your big hands and soft lips and good looks, I wouldn’t have messed that up.”

He grinned patronizingly. “Hate to break it to you, but I could smell that burning five minutes ago.”

I knew he was right, I’d smelled it too, but I wasn’t willing to let him off the hook that easily yet. “Yeah, well maybe if you weren’t making my head all fuzzy, I would have noticed before it was too late.”

The expression on his face screamedarrogant, satisfied male. “I make your head all fuzzy?”

I rolled my eyes, trying to play it off that I wasn’t freaking out that I’d possibly just given too much away. “Don’t pretend you didn’t already know that.”

Flipping the burner off, I carried the pan to the sink and dumped the ruined contents down the drain, flipping on the disposal. Steam rose up with a hiss as cold water slid across the scalding pan.

Grabbing the sponge, I squirted soap onto it and began scrubbing at the charred bits that had burnt on when Pierce came up behind me and pressed against my back. His hands slipped around the front of me. One traveled up, cupping my breast while the other slipped beneath the waistband of my shorts.

“Wh-what are you doing?” I asked, my question coming out breathy as arousal flooded my veins.

“Helping you learn to multi-task better,” he answered against my neck. “Maybe if I keep touching you, you’ll eventually get used to it and your head won’t get so fuzzy.”

“I-I don’t think . . .” I swallowed past the tightness suddenly squeezing my throat as his fingertips breached my panties and slipped between my thighs. “I don’t think it works that way.”

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