“This dress you’re wearing should be fucking illegal,” he said with a growl, his hands skimming back up her thighs, fingers again playing with the hem of her skirt.
Oh God. His fingers were terribly close to her lady bits, and they were tingling, practically begging for him to touch them.
“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?” Her voice was a whispery mess and she cleared her throat, wondering what in the world was wrong with her. She needed to get herself together. Big deal. So she kissed a pro football player. A gorgeous pro football player.
A gorgeous pro football player whose hands just slid beneath her skirt and were touching the underside of her butt.
“It’s definitely a good thing,” he murmured, his fingers dancing along her skin.
Okay, she was seeing double. Little white dots blurred her vision. His touch was blinding her, and she’d certainly never heard of that condition before—and she worked in the medical field. She closed her eyes, a sigh escaping her when he slipped a finger beneath her silky panties, gently tracing the curve of her backside, and then he was kissing her again. Soft, coaxing, lingering kisses with gentle flicks of his tongue and nibbles on her lower lip.
“Your mouth should be illegal,” she whispered against his lips, her eyes flying open when she heard him chuckle. “Did I just say that out loud?”
His chuckle deepened. “You did.”
No use denying it. “Well, it’s true. I don’t normally do this sort of thing.”
Luke pulled away so he could stare down at her. “Do what?”
“Kiss strangers in darkened corners.” She lifted her chin, trying for dignified, and surely she was failing miserably. Hello, his hand was beneath her dress. His fingers were still skimming her butt. She should tell him to unhand her immediately.
Didn’t that sound like something out of a historical romance? Not that she’d read any in a while. She had no time. She missed reading. She missed lots of things. Like going out and having fun and getting wrapped up in a man’s arms and letting him kiss her and…
Luke was kissing her again. Silencing her thoughts, shutting down her brain so all she could do was kiss him back. She clamped her legs around his hips when he stroked the interior of her mouth with his tongue, his hand curving around her butt to squeeze and knead her flesh, getting her all worked up in no time.
God, in no time whatsoever.
She was wet. She could feel her panties dampen and her skin was tingling everywhere, but especially between her legs. She shifted against him as subtly as possible, rubbing herself on his erection, and she swore she saw stars.
She pulled away from him, trying to calm herself down. Keeping her eyes closed, she tried to think of something else. Anything else to take the focus off how close she was to start grinding on Luke like he was her own personal sex toy and she was desperate to get off.
Okay, no, she never, ever did things like this. It was so wrong. Rubbing on a strange man she just met. Letting him put his hands and tongue on her. She wasn’t that kind of girl. She was quiet and reserved and hardworking, and she didn’t like a lot of attention either. She preferred to stay in the background. She was tall, and growing up she’d been so awkward. Gawky, with thick glasses and braces at one point, the cliché biggest nerd in middle school. In high school it got a little better. Bye-bye, braces. Hello, contacts. She filled out a little—she lacked in the boob department but made up for it in the leg department—and boys started to notice. Girls started to hate her.
She could never win. Ever. Only until she met Reagan and Natalie did she feel like she had real, honest to goodness friends.
“Hey.” Luke Nelson’s deep, way-too-sexy voice snapped her out her thoughts, made her remember that she was still in his arms, her legs still wrapped around him, his hand still on her butt. “You okay?”
“Um…” Would he think her cheap if she told him no, she wasn’t okay? That she really wanted to take this further and maybe find somewhere private where they could get naked together?
Yes. Yes, he would think she was cheap. She felt cheap just thinking it.
“I’m moving too fast, huh?” He removed his hand from her butt and she loosened her legs, which allowed him to set her down on her feet. He stepped away from her, and the hollow pang that echoed within her at the sudden loss was stupid.
Stupid.
But it remained.
“Sorry,” he said, his expression contrite. Almost…pained. He swallowed hard and ran a hand through his hair, as if he were trying to get a hold of himself. “I don’t grab random girls and kiss them in dark corners.”
She stood a little straighter, liking how that hollowness filled with hope. “You don’t?”
“Hell no. I’m not a total asshole.” He dropped his hand from his head, staring at her. “You felt it too, right?”
She nodded, all the words she wanted to say drying up and disappearing. She knew what he referred to. The attraction between them was strong. There were no explanations for it either. It was just there. She could feel it now, swirling between them, drawing them closer. He stepped back into her, his hand going to her waist, fingers gathering the fabric of her dress and hiking it up just the slightest bit.
“Tell me to fuck off. You probably should, after what I’m about to ask you,” he said, his voice so deep, so low she almost couldn’t hear him. “But…I want you to come back to my room with me.”
Words completely failed her now. She should definitely tell him no. No, no, no. She wasn’t that kind of girl. What, did he think she had the word slut etched across her forehead? She didn’t go to a man’s hotel room, a man she just met, because that meant she was easy.