“No, she did not. But I found it much more comfortable at the B&B.” He crossed to where she stood and suddenly swept her up in his strong arms. “I like it here too.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck as he carried her over to the sofa in front of the tall fireplace and sat down with her in his lap.
“I like you here as well,” she told him. “Thanks for dinner. It was fantastic.”
“Thanks for the wine.” He eyed her a moment, then added, “And for the nightgown.”
“This old thing,” she scoffed playfully.
Tugging on one end of the bow below her breasts, he said, “Let’s have a look-see.”
The robe fell open and she felt his entire body go rigid.
Ginger’s teeth clamped down on her lower lip, but for a second. She couldn’t hold back the smile his lusty look brought to her face.
“Hey,” he whispered, his voice tight. “Stop gloating. It’s unbecoming.”
“I should be allowed this one time. I told you, I’ve never worn this for anyone else.”
“In that case, you’re forgiven.”
The backs of his fingers grazed her throat and then moved higher, over her jaw and to her temple where he pushed a few curls from her face.
“You are absolutely breathtaking,” he told her.
His free arm draped over her shoulders as his fingers continued to caress her skin at her temple.
Ginger cozied up to him and said, “Kiss me.”
He swallowed hard. “That’s exactly what I want to do. But so you know, I won’t do anything you don’t want me to do.”
“You’re quite the knight in shining armor.”
“My parents taught me good manners.”
Ginger sighed. “I’m sorry about them.”
“Yours as well.”
She nodded. Then she leaned in close to him and brushed her lips over his, the way he’d done earlier. The touch was simple, yet electrifying. His fingers threaded through her long curls as he returned her kiss, more skillfully, more demanding. She snaked an arm around him and pressed her hand to his shoulder blade as her other palm flattened against his chest at the opening of his shirt. His skin was warm and smooth and it felt so wonderful beneath her fingers, Ginger had the overwhelming urge to undo the long line of buttons.
With Ryan’s slow, hot, deep kiss, she gave into temptation and slipped the first disk through its hole. The second one easily followed and she slid her hand inside the flap to splay her palm over his well-defined pecs. The muscles flexed beneath her touch and his arm around her shoulder tightened their semi-embrace.
His fingers tangled in her hair released the strands and moved to her upper thigh. He caressed her outer leg through the satin material covering it as he continued to kiss her. When he finally dragged his mouth from hers, it trailed over her jaw and down her throat. His hand on her leg eased upward, over her hip and around the front of her to cup her breast.
Ginger started and sucked in a breath of air as the thrilling sensation of his palm covering her breast jolted her.
Ryan lifted his head from her neck. “You okay?”
Rolling her eyes at her dismal lack of experience with a man’s hands on her body, she said, “Sorry. No one’s ever touched me like that.”
“You’re a virgin?”
She nodded. “Of course. Hard not to be if you’re unwed in this town.” Ryan let out a low grunt, prompting her to ask, “Is that a problem?”
A sexy-as-sin smile spread over his lips. “You really think I’d have a problem with the fact no other man has touched you or made love to you?”
Warmth pooled low in her belly. But she said, “The flip side is, I really have no idea what I’m doing.”