Chapter 7 #2
His eyes lit up with boyish glee that made her giggle.
He was so cute and so damned sexy, especially when he looked at her as if he wanted to have his wicked way with her.
As he released the front clasp and pushed the cups aside, he said, “Do you suppose Stephanie has told the whole island that she caught us making out?”
“Maybe not the whole island. I’m sure she told Grant and Grace and probably Evan.”
“We’ll be in for it,” he said as he kissed the slope of one breast while cupping the other.
“Do we care?”
“I sure as hell don’t. Do you?”
“No, not really.”
He raised his head to make eye contact. “What?”
“I wonder if people will think I’m kind of slutty.”
His face went slack with shock. “What? What the heck do you mean by that?”
“I married someone else in May. I’m pregnant with his baby but making out with you in October. It all happened kind of fast.”
“It didn’t feel fast to me.” He rolled her extra-sensitive nipples between his fingers, drawing a gasp of pleasure from her. “It felt like pure torture, wanting you for weeks and weeks while having to keep my hands to myself.”
Damn if that didn’t make her blush again.
Laura hated being the source of gossip. As Judge Frank McCarthy’s daughter, she’d gone out of her way to lead an exemplary life and to stay below the radar so nothing she did would ever embarrass her father.
Until her husband’s post-marriage dating escapades, she’d never given anyone cause to gossip about her. “Still, people might talk.”
“I don’t think they will,” Owen said. “The people who matter know what happened with your husband, and our friends know we’ve been hanging out for a while now.”
“I suppose you’re right.”
“No one who really knows you would ever think you’re slutty.”
She buried her fingers in his hair and tugged gently but insistently, bringing his attention back to her breasts while tilting her hips to press against his erection. “Maybe I want you to think I am.”
All the air seemed to leave him in one big exhale. “Jesus,” he muttered. “You never cease to surprise me. Please, by all means, be as slutty as you want with me. You’ll never hear me object.”
Laura laughed, thrilled with him and by him. Her laughter turned to moans when he zeroed in on her nipple, licking and sucking and rolling it between his teeth. Thanks to the pregnancy, her breasts were supersensitive, and the pressure between her legs continued to grow.
He seemed to know what she needed without her having to tell him. Shifting so he was cradled between her legs, he pushed against her, simulating intercourse as he continued to worship her breasts.
Even though he was driving her out of her mind, she still noticed he was careful to keep his weight off her abdomen. That he thought of her child, even in the midst of runaway passion, was just another reason to love him.
She massaged her way from his shoulders to his waist, hesitating for a moment before she let her fingers wander inside his jeans.
He sucked in a sharp, deep breath. “God, Laura, I want you so bad.” Slowing the pace, he kept up the insistent press of his erection as he sucked hard on her nipple.
The combination had her crying out as the orgasm hit her fast and furious, leaving her quivering, pulsating and panting afterward.
“Wow,” he said reverently. “That didn’t take much.”
Laura released an unsteady-sounding laugh. “I think it’s the pregnancy hormones. It’s not usually that easy.” Even though she was sort of embarrassed by her unbridled reaction, she forced her eyes up to meet his. “Or maybe it’s you and the way you make me feel.”
“And how is that?”
“Safe, comfortable, amused, frustrated—”
His brows knitted. “Why frustrated?”
“You’re not the only one who’s been trying to keep his hands to himself the last few weeks.”
The grin that stretched across his face made her heart do that pitter-patter thing. “Is that so?”
She nodded and reached up to frame his face with her hands. “I find you completely irresistible and ridiculously sexy.”
“Oh. Well . . . wow. I like that.”
“I wish we weren’t being so upstanding about the baby and telling Justin before we, you know . . .”
He rested his head on her chest, still breathing harder than usual. “Believe me, I know. But it’s the right thing to do. I don’t want anything to mess up what we have.”
Laura put her arms around him, hoping to keep him right there with her. “Neither do I. Friday will be here before we know it.”
He shifted his body to the side but kept his head on her chest. “If I live that long.”
Laura fell asleep with her fingers buried in his hair and a smile on her face.
Grace finished brushing her teeth and took her long dark hair down from the ponytail she’d worn for work. As much as she loved the challenge of running the pharmacy she’d bought in September, her favorite part of each day occurred when she finally got to crawl into bed with Evan.
It was ridiculous, really, how much time she spent thinking about him when she should’ve been thinking about work.
Of course when she was doling out prescription drugs, her focus was always on what she was doing.
The rest of the time, however, she found herself staring off into space, thinking about him and, lately, worrying about him.
The poor guy had been so anxious since he found out the album he’d spent nearly a year recording in Nashville was caught up in his record company’s bankruptcy proceedings.
There was a chance that megastar Buddy Longstreet would succeed in acquiring Evan’s album from the bankrupt company, but that was a long shot, and waiting to hear the judge’s verdict was doing a number on Evan’s nerves.
It made Grace sad to see him so unhappy, even if he went out of his way to hide his worries from her.
He was already in bed, shirtless and propped against the pillows, staring up at the ceiling the way he often did these days. He’d lost some of his sparkle as the waiting dragged on for weeks, and Grace would do anything to help him get it back.