Heated Rush - Leslie Kelly [62]
Neither of them realized they’d been overheard. Not until another of those low, dry chuckles emerged from behind the newspaper. And her father, who must not think too highly of the Saturday afternoon tradition spoke.
“I’ll put twenty bucks on the Irishman.”
9
“YOUR PARENTS SEEMED very happy tonight.”
Annie, who was curled sideways in the passenger seat of Sean’s rental car, watching the way the warm summer breeze lifted his hair back as they drove through the night, nodded and smiled. “Yes, they did. I think they were surprised to see how many people care about them and wanted to share their big day.”
It was after eleven and the two of them had just left the Elks Lodge, which was on the outskirts of Green Hills, about five miles from the farm. The party, which started at six, had finally wound down until only Davis family members, both close and extended, remained. Seeing Annie’s yawn—after the long day and the drive to town, as well as Sean’s, after the long day, the drive and the testosterone-laden football game—her mother had insisted that they head back to the house early.
Good thing. Randy had nearly lost his mind when he’d seen Sean’s car. He’d begged to ride with them, and when Anne had told him the Ferrari was only a two-seater, Randy had insisted that his sister wouldn’t mind riding with someone else to the party. She sensed the return trip wouldn’t have been any different.
And there was no way she was riding with somebody else. Not when she’d been unable to take her hungry eyes off the man sitting beside her throughout the entire evening.
Just like almost every other woman there.
“Thanks for not getting upset about my cousin Elizabeth fawning all over you,” she said. “At fourteen, she hasn’t quite learned the art of keeping her feelings to herself.”
Sean glanced at her from the corner of his eye. “I’d say that runs in the family.”
Still too lazily comfortable and happy just watching him, she took no offense. Because it was true. She was utterly incapable of holding back a thing, especially when it came to the things she wanted.
Right now, she had no doubt about what she most wanted. All she had to do was study the strong lines of his face, the perfectly curved mouth, the strength of his jaw, and her body told her with hard, pulsing insistence what she wanted. And when she dropped her gaze to the broad shoulders, the lean hips and the long legs, the moisture between her thighs told her even more.
“Thank you for not getting mad about your brother’s black eye.”
She snickered. “I’d have been more mad if Jed had done any damage to you in that stupid game. And hearing Dad’s laughter—seeing the look on his face when you wiped the field with all of them—was almost enough to make this entire trip worthwhile. Even the five thousand dollars.”
Hell, the five thousand dollars had been more than made up for already. Last night…in the ball pit. And on her desk.
“Well, I hope we can find one or two more pleasant things to do to make this trip worthwhile,” he said, a slight smile on those full, kissable lips.
Oh, she had no doubt they could if they had the opportunity. But they wouldn’t be able to explore those options back at the house, which would be bursting with other Davises in a very short time.
Arriving home first, they’d have a little privacy at the house, but not enough to risk doing the kinds of things Annie wanted to do. And while she suspected her mother had sent them off early specifically because she knew the two of them were having a hard time keeping their hands off each other in public, she also knew the older woman wouldn’t give them too long.
So go somewhere else.
The idea had merit. They could take a detour for some intimate, alone time. They were a good half-hour ahead of everyone else, and no one would be looking for them right away.
A half-hour wasn’t nearly enough. But if it was all she could get tonight, damn it, she’d take it.
“Turn right up ahead,” she said, suddenly remembering some of the party spots she and her high-school friends had discovered along the back roads.