Chapter Eighteen #2
Better yet, maybe I’ll tell her I can’t do this at all. It’s too much, too intense, and dangerous.
Heavy footsteps pound behind me, and I pick up my pace, searching for my bag as I tug my socks from my pocket.
“There you go again, freckles,” he drawls, hot on my heels. “Asking about my habits. First it was me shirtless. Then my sleeping schedule. My mouth. The kinks I’m into. And now you wanna know how I bathe?”
He scoffs and I groan, rolling my eyes.
“If I didn’t know any better,” he adds, slow and smug, “I’d say you’ve got yourself a mighty fine list of all the things you’re wonderin’ about me.”
A laugh bursts free, acidic and disbelieving, as I whirl on him, suddenly exhausted from all the whiplash.
He pushes, I pull. He goes too far, or sees too much, I shut down.
And then he’s right back at it, and so am I.
Every single time.
“Don’t flatter yourself,” I snap. “You think just because you growl, smirk, and say darlin’ in that fake-as-hell accent, every woman in town is wet for you?”
“I don’t need to think ,” he fires back. “You admitted it yourself.”
I press a hand to my chest and gasp, outraged. “I did not—”
“You did,” he interrupts, stepping in.
“What are you talking about?” I whisper-hiss as his boots hit the tips of my toes. I glare up at him. “I didn’t say a damn thing about that.”
“No,” he agrees. “But your body’s screaming loud and clear. Has been since the second you got here today.” His eyes trail down the length of me, stalling on Dolly—or what’s beneath her. “It’s still screamin’, isn’t it, darlin’?”
Between us, my nipples are sharp points, made more obvious by the heaving of my chest. As one, our gazes snag on them—and pause.
My throat bobs, and Kade groans, low in his throat.
“Say it,” he demands roughly, and suddenly, I’m not so sure he’s just goading me anymore. I think he really means to cross a line we can’t come back from. “Say it and I’ll show you just how fuckin’ badly my body wants you right back—”
BANG.
“Georgia!” a sweet voice calls. “Are you here?”
We jolt apart.
“Fuck,” Kade mutters, rolling his eyes Heavenward. “Seriously?”
I spin away from him and hustle down the hall, freezing when I spot Bea in the kitchen, hands full of reusable tote bags.
A massive body collides into my back with an irritated oomph . Hands land on my hips and squeeze. I wince, shifting my weight to accommodate my right hip. It’s still sore as hell.
“Are you ok—”
“Kade?” Bea says sweetly, smile growing. “What are you doing here?”
“It’s my house, Ma.”
She laughs and goes back to unpacking her loot. “But what are you doing here with my Honey Bea Bash assistant? I need her, you know.”
“Me too,” he mutters, voice so low, I barely hear him.
I swallow hard, mind searching for an excuse but with his hands on my hips, body pressed into mine, the hard length of him digging into my back—my brain is suddenly mush.
“Everything alright?” Bea continues, clearly distracted. “I noticed the mud on your pretty car, sweetheart. A few scratches too. Something happen?”
“Bit of a mishap,” I murmur. “But everything’s fine.”
“Got stuck in some mud. I towed her out,” he adds, voice thick. “But she’s got a flat. Told her to come here so I can fix it.”
The fingers of his hand furthest from Bea’s watchful gaze, rub in soothing, soft circles and I nearly groan, but then I blink, his words sinking in.
Shit. I forgot about my tire.
“Glad everything worked out.” Her gaze collides with where we’re hovering like freaks in the hall, and they slide down my body, landing on his hands on my hips. Her eyes flare, and I go to step away, but he holds me in place.
Before I can elbow him and run away, she smiles and glances up at him. “I brought you boys lunch for this afternoon. Wilder asked for my pot roast, but I added some pasta just in case you’re still hungry.”
Bea turns to the fridge and busies herself putting things away, but I’m rooted to the spot, heart in my throat, belly swooping and soaring.
Kade taps my hip and leans down to whisper, “I’m not done with you yet, freckles, so don’t you dare go gettin’ any wild ideas like running for the hills. Got it?”
I squeeze my eyes shut, barely resisting the urge to lean into his intoxicating touch.
“We can’t do this,” I say on a shaky breath.
“Says who?” he asks, just as quietly, burying the words in my hair. “I told you before, when I want something, I don’t stop till it’s mine.”
My heart threatens to explode from my chest. Is it possible he actually feels what I feel?
Does Kade Archer like me the way I like him ?
His free hand slides down my back, keeping his movements slow and hidden in the shadows of the hall. He squeezes my ass and my eyes snap open, staring at his mother’s back as she hums a tune and straightens up, completely oblivious to her inappropriate son a few feet away.
I press back into him, drunk and delirious on his touch—at the forbiddenness of the moment, the risk of getting caught.
“And what is it you want?” I whisper, throat tight, smile lifting.
He brushes his lips over my ear and grips my ass tighter, fingertips ghosting the wetness between my thighs. “ This .”
With that, he lets go and steps around me, leaving my body hot and cold all over.
I watch in a daze as he kisses his moms cheek, murmuring a quiet thank you like he wasn’t just two seconds from discovering how soaked he made me.
“ This ,” he’d said. Not you .
He wants to fuck me. That’s it. He’s attracted to me, annoyed by me, hates me, and wants to fuck me .
Kade doesn’t like me. He doesn’t have feelings like I do.
He has a hard dick, and I’m…
Here .
Flirting with him, letting him touch me, tease me, turn me on. I’m just convenient, a distraction from the woman’s ghost his life is now inundated with.
Suddenly, I feel dirty, just like after the yoga tutorial that shall not be named . I feel like I need a shower, a pint of ice cream I can’t have, a good cry, and to puke, maybe all at the same time.
His hand wraps around my keys a second before the door slams open for the second time.
“What the fuck?” he barks, shooting daggers at the twins as they barrel toward us. “You’re gonna dent the wall!”
“Georgia!” Colby says, grinning from ear to ear, clearly ignoring her brother. “Guess what!”
“We’re going mudding!” Clem answers, clapping excitedly. She flicks her gaze to her mom. “Wanna come, Mom?”
She waves them away, smiling indulgently. “No, no, you go on ahead. Have a good time. Weather’s perfect for it. Just make sure you wrap up the horses well and give them the full spa treatment afterward.”
“Of course,” Clem says, bouncing on her toes. She grabs my hand, dragging me toward the door. “You’re going to have the best time!”
My mouth opens and closes, heart racing, stomach flipping. Mudding? Like with horses? I haven’t done that in years. But while the idea sounds exciting, and appealing, that’s not what I’m here for.
I’m not here for any of this.
Throat bobbing, I tug my hand free and force myself to look away from Kade’s intense gaze, finding Bea across the room.
“I’m so sorry, girls, but I’m here to help your mom with the Honey Bea Bash. I can’t—”
“Oh, don’t worry about it, dear,” Bea says, stashing her empty bags in a cupboard. “You go have fun. We’ll worry about the event next weekend when you come over.”
“See!” the girls cheer, snatching my hand back up. “Mom says you’re off the hook. Let’s go.”
“Guys,” Kade says slowly, and I look up just in time to see his jaw clench. “Don’t know if that’s the best idea.”
They freeze and Colby slams her hands to her hips, glaring up at him. “Why the heck not?”
He stares at me for a long moment, but doesn’t say anything.
And it’s the silence that grates on my nerves the most. All afternoon, he hasn’t shut up. Hasn’t stopped making promises that sound like threats, opening up and battering against my walls like he has any right to.
And the touching… God, the touching .
With a few simple words, his eyes on my lips, hands on my body—he unraveled me in a way no one else has. Had my hopes high, and my lust higher.
Now that we’re not alone, not that his family is here, he’s quiet, refusing to speak, to lay his so-called wants out on the table between us.
Maybe that’s why I smile at his sisters and nod, giving him my back entirely.
“Actually, mudding sounds perfect. Let’s go.”