Chapter 3
3
She wasn’t going to show. Ethan had to accept it.
He tipped back the last of the Jack and Coke he’d been nursing for an hour and glanced up at the baseball game filling the flat screen over the bar.
He’d known he’d blown it the second he’d jerked out of their kiss. What a fool. She’d probably spent the last hour finding out who he was and what he now did for a living, and was already back at Phoebe’s or a hotel, stabbing hot pins in a voodoo doll of his likeness.
He’d been handed Delaney Hart, the goddess of his every fantasy as a youth and still one of the most beautiful women he’d ever met, on a goddamned silver platter, and he’d blown it—the definition of loser if he’d ever heard one.
“What’s the score?” The female voice made the skin along Ethan’s neck tingle.
Delaney.
He snapped his head toward her as she leaned lazily into the bar, her gaze on the screen.
Ethan’s heart tripped all over itself. His throat narrowed around a lump of excitement, of disbelief. Her scent drifted to him, bringing with it the memory of the way her lips felt against his. The erotic way she stroked her tongue into his mouth. The fit of their bodies together.
And he went instantly hard.
Her gaze lowered and met his. Her eyes were blue. Not sky blue, not gray blue, but stormy blue. The color fit her perfectly. Her brows lifted, and a little smile tipped her mouth. “Score?”
Hell yes, he wanted to score. He wanted to hammer out a home run. Nail a grand slam.
Ethan cleared his throat. “Nine to six. Giants are?—”
“Winning,” she said with a small smile. “The Pirates suck this year.”
And she liked baseball? Could she get any more perfect?
Gus, the bartender, passed on his way to the opposite end of the bar and paused. “Hey, Delaney. Get you a drink?”
“Hey, Gus. Tonic and lime, please.”
He nodded, then glanced at Ethan’s empty. “Want another?”
“I’m good, thanks.” When the bartender moved away, he asked Delaney, “How does Gus know you?”
“We met earlier, remember? That shot of tequila?”
“Right. What’s up with the tonic and lime? Did my beer push you over the edge?”
“My buzz is long gone.” She lifted a hand and brushed her fingers through his hair at the temple in an intensely intimate gesture. “And I get the feeling I’m going to want to remember every minute with you.”
Holy. Shit.
Tingles spread through his stomach. He wanted to pinch himself. If he woke up in a cold sweat, alone in his bed, he might jump off a bridge.
But there was still something...off...about her. The spark in her eyes was gone. “I didn’t think you were going to show. Thought your talk with Phoebe scared you away.”
“We didn’t talk about you. I was going to ask, but she was so focused on the bar, there wasn’t an opportunity. And, of course, any discussion over that place always tanks my mood, so I didn’t plan on coming. But then I was in my car, lost in thought, and I found myself headed this direction. If you were bad news, it would have been the first thing out of her mouth once you were out of earshot. That tells me a lot about you.”
She turned and pressed her back to the wood behind her. Her hip brushed his knee, and when she settled, she left it there.
And, yeah. He should tell her that her interpretations weren’t accurate, and that if Phoebe had known what Ethan had on his mind, she would have definitely warned Delaney away.
But, no. He really didn’t want to.
And, hell, what did it really matter?
“Here’s the thing.” She shifted closer and laid her hand on his thigh. Pressure registered first, then her heat penetrated the fabric, spreading up his leg and through his groin. “I’ve had a really, really rough month. A month I really don’t want to talk about. And I’m only in town for a very short time.
“I wasn’t looking for any kind of hookup until I saw you. For you, with you, I would be willing to do something easy and fun and light. But you need to know that’s all I do. I don’t do ties or boyfriends or dates or family. You know my past, so you know why I’m not made that way, and why I won’t be sticking around. So, I know all I need to know.”
This confirmed it: Delaney Hart was perfection personified.
Gus returned with Delaney’s drink, and she lifted it to her lips without taking her eyes off Ethan. He’d never felt this...this...electric connection with anyone before. He didn’t know if it was just the thrill of a fantasy come true, some wild pheromones she emitted, or a true chemistry between them.
Whatever it was made his blood bubble in his veins, his muscles tight and hot, his cock full and pulsing.
He leaned back on his stool, angled toward her, then eased her between his thighs with a light grip on her waist. She seemed to glide into position and melt against him, as if it were the most natural move in the world. Her eyes sparked with heat, her lips curved with approval, and she ran her hands across his shoulders, down his arms, and back up.
“Mmm,” she hummed.
Ethan let his hands roam over her waist, up her back, down her spine. Her nipples peaked beneath her silk blouse, and the sight ramped Ethan’s lust. She was surprisingly sleek and strong beneath the dressy clothes. “These aren’t exactly clothes that belong in The Bad Seed.”
“Interviews. I quit my job a couple of weeks ago.”
He cupped her jaw and stroked her cheek with his thumb. Her skin was petal-soft. She closed her eyes and tipped her head into his hand.
“God, you’re beautiful,” he murmured. The awe in his voice embarrassed him. Until she turned her head and kissed his palm. Then Ethan’s stomach triple-flipped.
He took a quick look around. Gus had his back to them, his gaze on the television as he chatted with a customer at the other end of the bar. Only two or three other customers filled the seats, none near Ethan and Delaney.
“What’s the matter?” she asked, covering his hand with hers and kissing his palm again, finishing with a flick of her tongue. Heat arced up his arm. “Worried someone will see you with me?”
“No,” he lied. “I’m just not much for public affection, you know?”
She grinned, and a devilish little chuckle vibrated in her throat. Then she traced the lifeline on his palm with her tongue. And followed up that erotic display by taking his index finger into her mouth.
The sight of those full lips closing around his finger, of the naughty look in her eyes as she did it, speared his groin with raw lust. Ethan siphoned air in surprise, then held it as the warmth of her mouth closed around his skin and the suction of her mouth tugged. Her eyes were heavy-lidded and held his as she drew his finger from between her lips only to slowly lick it, then slide it back in with another sexy hum.
He growled, pulled his hand from her mouth, gripped the back of her neck, and dragged her lips to his. She opened to him and kissed him back, her tongue as hungry as his, her teeth grazing his lips. The sound of pleasure at the back of her throat felt like an M-80 exploding inside Ethan, spreading heat everywhere.
She broke the kiss, her gaze swimming in liquid heat. “How close do you live?”
“Around the corner.”
Her gaze scanned his face while her hands slid down his chest and his belly, covered his crotch, and squeezed. Sensation rocketed through his groin, swamped his belly, pushed up his spine. He clenched his teeth, and both hands fisted in her hair.
She pulled in a little gasp, winced, then smiled. “Do that too hard, and I’ll come right here.”
His mind slipped out from under his tight control, his thoughts turning a little crazy. Just split flashes of sex so wild it hurt—body and soul.
“Let’s go.” She covered his hands with hers and eased them from her hair, then pulled cash from her purse, dropped it on the bar, and led him to the door. Outside, she asked, “Which?—”
He turned, body-slammed her against the wall of the bar, and kissed her silent.