I growl under my breath and muster the strength I need to zip her up and not yank that dress back off. “There.” I step away quickly, and she giggles. The soft, enticing sound acts like a magnet and draws me back into her, my arm slipping around her front and holding her against me. “You’re being a bad, bad girl, Lainey Summer,” I murmur against her cheek, smiling when her breathing quickens as I roll my hips into her lower back. “What am I going to do with you?”
“Whatever you like,” she offers, turning and linking her arms over my shoulders. Her nose meets mine, my knees bending a little to bring us closer. “So, what are you going to do with me, Tyler?”
I groan, low, deep, and despairingly. “First, I’ll peel everything from your body that’s keeping your naked skin from me.”
She smiles, subtly pushing her bottom into my palms when I cup it. “And then?”
“And then I’ll lay you down. Your bed or mine?”
“Yours.”
“Mine?”
She nods, moving in closer, pressing her front into me. “And then what?”
“Then I’ll kiss you from here”—I lower to my haunches before her, resting a fingertip on her ankle bone as I gaze at her—“all the way up”—I unhurriedly drag my finger up the outside of her leg, watching her closely as I rise, working my way up the length of her body, past her thighs, across her tummy, over a breast, her throat, her chin, and onto her lips—“to here.” I dip and place my mouth on hers. “After that, we’ll make love.”
She shudders in my hold. I can smell that she’s turned the fuck on. Fucking hell. I want her now. Fast and hard. “Do we really have to go to this wedding?” she whispers.
“God, I wish not. But my mother won’t talk to me for a month if I bail.”
Her head drops, her forehead meeting my shoulder on a small whimper of dejection. I know how she feels. “Then I suppose we should get going.”
“I suppose.” I sound about as enthusiastic as Lainey. “Come on, the sooner we go, the sooner I can follow up on my plans for later.” I take her chin and lift her face, pecking her cheek lightly before turning her toward the mirror.
“I look awful,” she cries, jumping out of my hold and faffing in the mirror. She’s clearly not seeing what I’m seeing. She looks like a fucking goddess. “It’s no good. I’m not going.”
I laugh, a proper belly laugh. “Think again, beautiful.” I scan the floor and spot some cute strappy gold heels. “Here.” I place them at her feet and take her hand so she can slip her feet into them. “I didn’t go to all this effort to be stood up.”
“What effort?” she teases, looking me up and down.
Quite childishly, I stick my tongue out as I reach into my inside pocket. “Here, these are for you.” I hand her the small cream box.
“You bought me a gift?”
I shrug it off, like it’s nothing. She doesn’t need to know that I agonized for over an hour on what to buy her. “Just a small something.”
Lainey eyes the box, nibbling her lip. “What is it?”
“Look for yourself.” I thrust the box at her until she takes it, then wander over to the window. I don’t want to see her face, because if it’s disappointed, I’ll kick myself. I’ve never bought a woman I’m sleeping with a gift before. I have no idea if I’m doing this right. I pray I’m doing this right.
I hear a few small movements from behind me, followed by a gasp. Was that a gasp of pleasant surprise? Or a gasp of disgust? Oh no, does she hate them? Have I got it terribly wrong? I spin around, finding Lainey staring down at the box with wide eyes. Her expression gives me nothing. I still don’t know if she likes what she’s staring at. “You can exchange them if they’re unsuitable,” I murmur, feeling dejection creeping up on me. I’m never buying a woman a gift again. But I was certain the simple diamond studs were perfectly Lainey.
“You bought me diamonds?” she questions, looking up at me. I recoil when I see her eyes are slightly glazed. Is she tearful? Fuck, I’ve made her cry?
“I’ll take them back.” I fidget by the window, damning myself to hell.
“I’d rather keep them.”
My eyes shoot to hers, finding her smiling mildly at me. “You would?”
“Of course. They’re beautiful, and you bought them for me. I’ll never take them off.”
I did good, and it’s all I can do not to yell my elation. “I’m glad you like them,” I say evenly.
“Like?” She places the box on the nightstand and pulls one of the diamond studs free, taking it to her ear. “I love them.” Watching Lainey fiddle at her ear as she looks over her shoulder at me, smiling, is one of the sexiest things I’ve ever seen. “Thank you.”