Cowboy Casanova - Lorelei James [79]
No one bothered him. The groups shifted. He saw his sister-in-law Libby bustling around in the kitchen with Domini and Skylar. No surprise Keely had cornered Gavin, but from the looks of it, Gavin was holding his own.
He realized while amusing himself with his family’s antics, he’d lost track of Ainsley. He turned and there she was. “Hey. I was wondering where you’d gone off to.”
“I’ve been behind you the last fifteen minutes.”
“Really?”
“It’d be easy to get overlooked in this family, wouldn’t it?”
Ben let her insightful comment pass. “You’re welcome to share my section of wall if you don’t mind bein’ overlooked.”
“Thank you.” She scooted next to him, but not right next to him. “You’re pretty quiet around your family.”
“Sorta hard to get a word in edgewise, if you hadn’t noticed,” he said dryly.
“I met Quinn. He’s…reserved.”
“Only around people he doesn’t know.”
She blinked at him. “He doesn’t know his family? Because he hasn’t said much to them either.”
He shrugged. “It’s always been that way with us.”
“Do you two talk at all when you’re working together?”
“Sure. If something needs said. But neither one of us jaws on and on just to fill the silence.” He let his arm dangle by hers. “What enlightening things did you learn about other McKays?”
A panicked look crossed her face. “I’ll never keep the names straight. I asked your cousin…Keely? If they’d developed a smart phone app for the family tree. I was kidding but her husband seemed serious about it.”
He leaned closer. “To be honest, I’d buy one. Then I’d have a reference point for each new baby and that baby’s siblings. I think I called Colby’s second boy the wrong name for the better part of a year.”
Ainsley laughed softly.
“God I love to hear you laugh.”
“Ben.”
“Ainsley.”
“Don’t look at me like that.”
“I can’t help it. I’ve been thinking about the first thing I’m gonna do to you after I peel off that sexy skirt. It makes your ass look amazing, by the way.”
Her gaze fell to his mouth and she licked her lips. “What idea is winning?”
“It’s a tie right now between smacking your ass until you come, or fucking it until you come.”
“I can’t believe you said that. Here in your mother’s house, with all your relatives within earshot.”
His smile held no guilt whatsoever. “But I didn’t hear you sayin’ no.”
Ainsley cocked her head, acting coy. “Because I’m trying to decide which option holds more appeal for me, Bennett. Not that you’d give me a say.”
Without breaking eye contact, Ben reached for her hand and squeezed before releasing it. “I’ll give you a say, but there is a condition.”
“Which is?”
“We leave right fucking now.”
Her hazel eyes heated to a molten gold. Those ripe lips curled into a smirk. “I am feeling tired, now that you mention it.”
It took ten minutes to say goodbye, and Ben knew he’d missed people. If it’d been up to him, they would’ve just left, but Ainsley was too polite for that.
Once they were finally in his truck, he said, “Straight to my place?”
“My car is still at the community center. I need to get it and I’ll follow you out.”
He kept hold of her hand, absentmindedly running his thumb over her knuckles. He’d thought the simple touch would soothe him, would lessen his overwhelming need to pull his truck over and fuck her blind. But it only made him more impatient. He shifted in his seat, trying to combat the pressure from his jeans on his already hard cock. Trying to combat the pressure inside himself he didn’t quite understand.
He’d been with her last night. Pushing her limits. Mixing it up. Not holding back on his Dom side, but keeping their slap and tickle more focused on the tickle side, than the slap. Using the flogger on the front side of her body. Holding her on edge, waiting for the multi-point sting that never connected. She hadn’t acted frustrated, especially not when