Page 56 of The Holiday Heartbreaker

But they were just around the back of the barn. And he couldn’t do that. No. Lord knew, he could not do that. He would get carried away, and the whole King family could be standing there next to them with their mouths open, and he wouldn’t even know it. “Brody,” she whispered, arching against him, and he flexed his hips forward, letting her feel what she did to him. Letting her feel just how hard he was.

And he was hoping that she was going to put her hands on him again. He wasn’t disappointed. She reached between them, cupping his arousal through his jeans, moving her hand over him, taking in the shape of him.

“Oh Lord,” she said, the sound reverent and a curse, all at the same time.

“You want that?”

His words came out thick, slurred, and he would love to say that it was all practiced dirty talk from years of hooking up, but that wasn’t it at all. He just genuinely wanted to know if she wanted him. Because it mattered. It really mattered.

“Yes,” she responded.

And suddenly, there was a raucous cheer somewhere around the barn, and music started playing. And that made her jump. Seemed to jar her back to the side of reality.

“Oh gosh,” she said.

And the innocence of that exclamation, in light of what they had just been doing, made him smile.

“Yeah,” he groaned. “I think I forgot myself.”

“We were...”

“Making out,” he said. “Like teenagers.”

She started laughing. Helplessly. And she buried her face against his shoulder. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

“There’s nothing wrong with you.”

She lifted her head and he could see her eyes glittering, even in the darkness. “I think that’s because you don’t know me very well.”

“No. That’s not it.”

“I don’t do this,” she said.

“You may not believe it, but neither do I.”

“You’re right, I don’t believe it.”

He sighed. Hard and heavy like his body. “No, what I do, Elizabeth, is hook up. I do not make out with women that live on my ranch.”

“I imagine that proximity is not exactly ideal for you.”

He laughed, but it was painful. “No. Like garlic to a vampire.”

“But here you are,” she said.

“Here I am.”

“We should get back.”

“We should. We really should.”

“Benny might want to leave.”

He nodded slowly. “Yeah. He might.”

“I...”

“I’ll tell you what. Let’s not make any proclamations. I did that last time, and I ended up feeling and looking like a horse’s ass.” He leaned in and kissed her. Just light. Just briefly. “Let’s see what happens.”

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