10. Keep It Light
KEEP IT LIGHT
“Are you ready to talk now?” he asked when their dinner was done.
She stopped picking up his plate. “We’ve been talking.”
He stood next to her and took his plate out of her hand. He didn’t need her cleaning up after him even if she washed his shorts.
“About this wild thing that came up thirty minutes ago?”
“Oh that. Sure, we can talk. You go first.”
Figured she’d say that.
But if she had enough courage to start it, he could not be a wimp and continue.
“Are you still thinking you want to try it?”
“I’ve got nothing to lose if we keep it light.”
He wasn’t sure how he felt about that. That she might think this was just casual.
But wasn’t that what he wanted anyway?
What he had been doing for years?
Talk about a mind fuck going on.
“Good point. I just need to know if I’m a tool for you or not.”
She spun at the sink, the water she was rinsing her plates off with splashing onto the floor. “A tool?”
He bent with the paper towel to wipe it up. “I don’t know. Maybe you’re just horny.”
Might as well put that out there too.
If it were just sex, he could get behind that. It’d be better that way for him since it was the world he’d lived in for almost a decade.
The look in her eyes said she didn’t appreciate his comment.
“Too much?” he asked when he was greeted with silence. “You should know this is how I am. I say it the way it is. I thought you were the same.”
He didn’t think he was that wrong about her.
“I do. I’m trying to decide what way to answer.”
“How about truthfully?”
“Then yes, I am, but that doesn’t mean I’m jumping in bed with you anytime soon. We don’t even know if we’ve got any chemistry.”
He burst out laughing. “Honey, if we didn’t have chemistry I wouldn’t be standing here cleaning your kitchen with you. I would have fixed your tire and then been on my way.”
She dramatically rolled her eyes. “Fine. I think you’re handsome.”
He leaned against her counter, his ankles crossed, his arms matching it. “Only handsome?”
Her fingers came up in a pinch. “With a touch of smoking. Totally not the type I’ve been with before.”
“And how is that working out for you?”
“Not wonderfully since you’re standing in my kitchen and we are having this conversation.”
Good for her.
“If it makes you feel any better, you’re not exactly my type either.”
She looked adorable when the frown filled her face. Her nose scrunched up, her eyebrows came down and he had the crazy urge to smooth them out.
Fuck it, he did it. Just to see if she shrank back.
She didn’t. She almost curled into him more without thought.
Yep, the attraction needle was moving in the right direction, even subconsciously.
Not that he had any doubt.
“Is it because I’ve got a child?”
He knew his answer would hurt her. It wasn’t really the truth though.
If he took Micah out of the equation, she still wouldn’t be the type to draw him in.
Nope. Wrong.
He’d totally be dragged down in those blue eyes of hers. The endless curves.
The funny confidence and open nature.
But he’d see forever and it’s one thing he’d told himself he wasn’t sure he was made for.
Not like he had a lot of experience with it. Or an example.
He tried it the way he thought it should be and had it shoved down his throat.
There was only so much punishment a man could take before he learned his lesson.
“No. It’s not that.”
“Good. Because I can’t change it nor would I.”
“You shouldn’t have to change anything about yourself. If someone you’re with doesn’t like it, it’s on them not you. I don’t picture you the type to be malicious. Unless you’re a tease. I probably should know that.”
She laughed. Genuine humor.
“I don’t think I’m a tease.” She leaned close to him, close enough he could smell the scent on her skin. Not perfume, but maybe lotion.
Sweet as honey.
His fingers itched to reach out and run them down the side of her neck and see if she’d lean into him like a wanting kitten.
Too soon.
“What are you doing now?”
“It’s called flirting. Building the anticipation. That’s what I like. Waiting, guessing, then going full out.”
He gulped. “It has its place.”
She snapped back quickly as if she’d just aced the test she’d put on herself. Maybe one to see if she could see his reaction.
“It does. But, you know, my situation makes men think I’m loose. I’m hardly that.”
“Considering you haven’t been with a man in two years, it’s a given to me. What about before Micah?”
“I’ve been in a handful of relationships. I only have sex when I think it’s going to go somewhere. I’ve never been someone to pick a person up for some action. Just not worth the guilt.”
Which meant Micah’s father was something she expected that didn’t pan out.
“Then why are we having this conversation? We both agree it’s no commitment.”
“Because, like you said, nothing I’ve done so far has worked out. But I can see where it’s confusing to you. Maybe I’m only doing it because in some odd sense of the world, I think you’re a man of honor. That you won’t gossip about this. You won’t play it up to more than it is to your friends.”
“Never,” he said firmly. “I don’t fuck and tell.”
“The person who knows the most about me is Margo. Though I want to say whatever we end up doing, or nothing at all, I’m most likely going to tell her. If that is a problem I need to know.”
“I don’t have a problem with it.”
It’s not like Margo was going to run her mouth to anyone other than her husband.
The Fierce family might be a lot of things, but they were honorable. They were trustworthy.
They were a class act.
“There might be nothing to even tell Margo, but throwing it out there just in case.”
“There will be something to tell her,” he said, his voice with a touch of wicked in it.
She wiggled her eyebrows. “I’m hoping that at some point.”
“Guess this is where we have to figure out the rest. You don’t want me around Micah.”
“Does that bother you?”
A little, but he understood. “It’s your call, not mine.”
“I think for now it’s best. Maybe it will change in a few weeks. No one can predict the future. I sure the heck wouldn’t have thought this night would be happening.”
“The power of Jolene Fierce.”
“She isn’t to know anything. I don’t care what arrangement you’ve got with Gavin. If Jolene thinks we are even blinking at each other, helpfulness turns to pressure,” she said.
“I don’t like pressure.”
“Neither do I. I shut down if it’s too much.”
He nodded. “You took the words right out of my mouth.”
“I think we have a good understanding of each other than.”
“Not yet,” he said, reaching for her before she could step back.
His hand closed around her waist, pulling her in slow enough she could stop him, push him away, or tell him he was out of line.
She didn’t. Instead, she threw her head back and laughed, the sound brushing over his skin like a dare.
Her palms came up, warm against his cheeks, and she pressed a quick, playful kiss to his mouth. Light, teasing, and the kind meant to keep things safe.
Fine.
She could have that one.
But the second one was his.
He caught her hips, drew her closer, and dipped just enough to let her feel the shift in him. Intent, heat, and full of certainty.
Then he kissed her back. Deep, slow, claiming.
It was time she learned he wasn’t some soft, pretty boy who’d be gentle just to be polite.
Not when it came to her.
Not when she pushed every button he had.
And definitely not when they hit the sheets.
The moment his mouth covered hers, her playful edge vanished and melted right out from under him. She softened, then pressed in hard enough he felt the shift of her breath, the way her body aligned with his like it had been waiting for this moment.
Her fingers slid from his cheeks to the back of his neck, nails grazing lightly, sending a sharp, possessive spark straight through his chest into his dick.
She wasn’t about to let him control this no matter how much he wanted to.
She kissed him deeper, matching his pace, matching his intent with no hesitation and no second-guessing. Just want.
He angled his head, taking more of her and letting the kiss turn slow and hungry. Her lips parted, inviting him in, and he didn’t waste the opening. He deepened it, tasting the warmth of her breath, the laugh still lingering at the edges of her mouth.
Her hands fisted in his shirt. Not to pull away but to drag him closer.
Her need was right there. Telling him that yeah, the chemistry was off the charts and they were proving it to each other.
He smiled against her lips, satisfied and completely undone in a way he’d never admit.
She broke for air only because she had to, he was positive. Her forehead rested against his, their breaths mingling, and her smile shaky with heat.
“Well,” she whispered, her voice unsteady. “That was not what I expected.”
His thumb brushed her lower lip still swollen from him.
“Then you really don’t know me yet.”
Her answering grin was slow. Wicked. And unleashed a power in him he wasn’t sure he could contain.
“Not yet,” she said. “But keep kissing me like that and I might learn fast.”
He didn’t bother responding.
He just kissed her again.