Inside Out - Lauren Dane [53]
“I think that may have been the best compliment I’ve ever been given.” He dipped his head and kissed those lips, the wrapping on the flowers she held crinkled, their heady scent mixing with whatever perfume she wore and the heat rising from her skin.
He groaned, the flowers stopping him from hauling her against his body. Frustrated by the reality that they would be expected at the pub by their friends. When all he wanted was to take her to her bed, undress her slowly and kiss every single inch of her body.
She sucked his tongue, bringing his hips forward into the softness of her body. The fingers of her right hand dug into his left biceps, holding him in place as he plundered her mouth. Damn it, she tasted so good he never wanted to stop kissing her.
Still, he did bring her the flowers, and he hadn’t gotten three steps into her place before he started smooching on her. He broke the kiss, resting his forehead against hers as he tried to get his breath—and his control—back.
“I missed you yesterday. I tried to stop by the café, but my schedule was crazy all day long.” He followed her into the tiny kitchen, where she put the flowers, none the worse for wear, into a vase.
“Well, I did see you today.”
He liked the amusement in her voice.
“Well sure. But not yesterday.”
“As much as I like seeing you, I figured you were busy. Ben came in to give Erin a ride home, and he said you were taking your mom to a doctor’s appointment in the afternoon. Is she well?”
“She’s fine, normal, pretty healthy. But the stress of this rift over Ben is hard on her. She’s having trouble sleeping and all that sort of thing.”
Her smile softened, and she reached out slowly to cup his cheek. “I’m so sorry. I wish I could help.”
She was helping, and she had no idea. Just the way she listened, the way she calmed him down and made him warm and happy was helping.
“I really wish I could have you all to myself tonight.” He hadn’t been prone to blurting in a very long time, probably since he was a teenage boy.
She grinned, ducking her head, the delicate pink of her blush rising up her neck and making his mouth water with the desire to kiss her just there, at the base of her hairline where he was sure she’d be very sensitive.
He sighed. “But we have a date. They’re going to be in our business enough as it is. Imagine if we were late.”
“Enough for what?”
He exhaled slow, looking for his self-control. “Long enough to make it count.”
The moments between them thickened, the energy between them heating. It felt good to be with her, good to have this back-and-forth, and the sexual tension made him as antsy as he’d been at sixteen. Just bursts of desire as he thought about her all day long. When they finally landed in bed—and he knew without a doubt they would—it would be something major.
He held his arm out. “Come on, before I decide to take that invitation in your eyes.” They walked to his car, his arm around her shoulders.
The drive to the pub wasn’t very long. Long enough for his car to smell of her, just lightly, almost as if he dreamed it up. By the time he parked the car near the pub, it had wended its way through him, exciting every part of him, body and mind.
“Did you get a new perfume?” Again with the blurting. She smiled at him, amusement in her eyes.
“No. Well, sort of. One of my new coworkers gave it to me. Her sister is some essential oils whiz. It’s got frangipani in it and something else, I can’t remember what just now. I thought it was lovely. Is it too much?”
“Not at all. I love the way it smells. Warm. Sexy. Provocative.” He smiled slowly. “Did you put it on all your pressure points?”
Her eyes went half-lidded. The long silence inflamed him and then made him nervous and the blurting thing seemed to need to return.
“I’m so glad I can finally say all the stuff I’ve been thinking. You’re so sexy, and it’s driven me nuts. I just, god, I just don’t want to scare you or freak you out. Will you just, you know, give me the sign if I push a button or go too far? I’m torn every