On the Steamy Side - Louisa Edwards [9]
“Well. Not your name, as such, but the fact that we’ve only just met . . .”
Devon studied her, the way consternation drew those straight, too-heavy brows together. The way she nibbled at her lower lip, making him wonder what it would be like to suck that plump, pink morsel into his own mouth.
She was clearly nervous, out of her depth, and Devon found himself strangely moved.
Nope, not his usual type, not by any stretch.
Knowing his dick was going to hate him for it, Devon sighed and said, “Look. If you want, we can have another drink and hang out for a while, maybe wait for your friend to show up. I don’t want you to be uncomfortable.”
When she met his eyes again, Devon saw a flame of desire hot enough to match his own, plus a new, steely determination.
“Uncomfortable,” she said. “Lord. I’ve been doing the comfortable thing my whole life, it seems like. And what did it get me? I think it’s about time I did something a little uncomfortable.”
He needed to buy a minute or two to calm down or risk shocking a bar full of people. Giving his intrepid companion his best seductive smile, he said, “How about a kiss to seal the deal, then?”
Oh, now there was a brilliant plan. Sharing a kiss with the most compelling woman he’d met in weeks—months—maybe years? That was a surefire way to calm things down.
Then she slid one tentative hand around the nape of his neck, stood on tiptoe, and laid her rosebud mouth gingerly against Devon’s—and he knew it was absolutely the best plan he could possibly have come up with.
CHAPTER THREE
In the instant before her lips touched his, Lilah was equal parts terrified and intensely proud of herself.
Terrified, because what in the name of heaven was she thinking of to be fooling around with this man who, whoever he was, was obviously good-looking enough to get any woman in this bar, much less a transplanted ex-high school teacher from Appalachia.
And proud of herself, because she was, to all outward appearances, confidently ignoring the ludicrous gulf between their relative levels of suavity and sophistication and going for what she wanted.
Right then and there, Lilah came up with a new mantra: What would “Lolly” do? Okay, now do the opposite!
So far, following the mantra was a huge success. How huge a success she didn’t even comprehend until the moment their lips met and Lilah was forced to redefine everything she thought she knew about kissing.
The gentle brush of his mouth on hers sent electricity arcing down her spine, shivering out to her fingers and toes, heating and coiling things low in her body. The deepest, most-involved soul kiss she’d ever shared with Preston, back home, couldn’t compare to this—and the man hadn’t even slipped her any tongue!
Lilah’s mouth buzzed and tingled and she thought dazedly that the fact that this guy could send shivers racing up and down her spine with a peck on the mouth in the middle of a crowded nightclub spoke volumes about . . . something.
She gave up trying to puzzle it out and surrendered to the moment.
The man gave her one last nuzzle and lifted his head. Lilah blinked hard to clear the clouds from her vision.
“Wow,” she said, then immediately wanted to kick herself.
“I know exactly what you mean. So what do you think? Want to embrace discomfort and see where the night takes us?”
Lilah studied him as well as she could in the muddy light.
Maybe she was naïve—okay, no maybe about it, she was definitely naïve—but she knew in her heart that this guy was no ax murderer. And the way he’d pulled back and offered her a graceful out made her feel, perversely, a hundred times more willing to follow him home like a lost puppy.
And then there was that kiss. Not only the way it curled her toes, but the delicacy of it, as if he’d read her hesitancy over getting down and dirty in such a public place and had responded with the sweetest kiss imaginable.
He was almost certainly a Romeo type, but what man who looked like him wouldn’t be? And in the end, it didn’t matter. This wasn’t about finding the love of her life, Lilah reminded herself. It