Jumping into bed with her on the first date might be incredibly satisfying on a physical level, but the move wouldn’t do much toward proving there was more to him than low morals and high testosterone. Tonight’s date doubled his resolve to show them both he had something to offer besides five-star sex.
He kissed her waiting lips one last time, then eased away and said, “I’ve got to go.”
Chapter Seven
“What?” Ellie opened her eyes and stared at Tyler as if he’d lost his mind. “You can’t leave now. We haven’t tackled chapter 3.”
“No worries. We’ll get to it next time.”
“No, no, no.” She pulled away and shot to her feet. “I’ve scheduled chapter 6 for next time. If we don’t do chapter 3 tonight, we’ll be a week behind.”
He waited her out while she paced and sputtered. Finally, he walked over until they stood toe to toe, cupped the back of her head, and sent his other hand on a slow slide down her back to rest just above the sweet curve of her ass. “Gives us more to look forward to, right?”
“Tyler, this isn’t about building anticipation. Please focus on the schedule.”
“What’s the big hurry, Doc? You need to extend that schedule of yours to include a little more of this.” He hauled her against him and crushed his lips down on hers, doing his level best to scramble her schedule-obsessed brain. She held on and moaned while the kiss became a fast, hot duel of lips and tongues.
When he nibbled his way along her jaw, he had the satisfaction of hearing her breath catch in her throat. His lips brushed her earlobe. She shivered. “I really do have to go,” he murmured. “I’ve got a thing in Ashland at the crack of dawn.” Technically true, although the commitment had zero to do with why he was leaving tonight, when every cell in his body begged to stay and finish the job.
“Fine,” she sighed and wiggled out of his arms. “Don’t let me interfere with your duck hunt, or deer hunt, or whatever the heck guys wake up early and drive to some backwoods place like Ashland to do.” She plopped down onto her bed and grabbed the book off the nightstand. “I’ll rework the schedule. I may want to combine a couple of lessons next time to get us back on track, but tonight doesn’t count as one of our five.”
“That’s some gratitude.” He sat beside her, nipped her earlobe, and looked over her shoulder as she leafed through the manual.
“Which of these would make a good double-header? How about we tackle chapters 3 and 13 next Friday?”
How ’bout we knock all five chapters out right now, the part of his brain most directly connected to his dick suggested. It wasn’t easy, bu
t he ignored the errant thought. “I vetoed chapter 13, remember?”
“You said, ‘We’ll see.’”
“‘We’ll see,’ doesn’t mean ‘next Friday.’ Pick something else.”
She sent him a perturbed look and, because he’d been pushed beyond his limits over the last few hours, he fantasized about chapter 6-ing the look right off her face.
“Hmm. What about chapter 4? It only gets three stars, but I feel like I ought to master phone sex, sexting, and all the related technologies. Plus, we could work the lessons in at our convenience. No face-to-face required.”
No good. He wanted the face-to-face. Think fast. “I don’t spend much of my day holed up in an office. Half the time I’m taking calls and checking texts, I’m surrounded by a crew of guys. They might be prone to comment if I text you a picture of my junk.”
“A privacy issue? Seriously?” Suspicion laced her voice. “Can’t you step into a restroom or something?”
“Have you ever been to a construction site? I hate to break this to you, but I’m not feeling real sexy when I’m standing in a port-a-potty.”
“Okay, okay.” She blew out a breath and flipped the page. “No chapter 4. What about chapter 7? I originally ruled it out because of the slip-and-fall risk, but shower sex gets four stars.”
His mind instantly filled with images of Ellie in his shower, all sleek and wet and wrapped around him, her cries of ecstasy echoing in his ears while water pounded down on them and he pounded into her. Shit. He needed to get the hell out of here, right now, before his cock voted for him.
Swallowing to combat the desert in his throat, he answered, “Chapter 7 has potential. I’ll think about it.” He would. Constantly. Until he went batshit crazy.
She nodded, still absorbed in the text. “I could put some of those no-slip strips in the bottom of my shower. I’m sure they sell them at the hardware store.”
Not sure whether to laugh or pound his head against the nearest wall, he eased off the bed. “Honey, I’ve got to go.”
She put the book aside and started to stand, but he put his hands on her shoulders to stop her. “No, no, don’t get up.” If she hugged him, hell, if she pressed herself against him in any way, shape, or form, he was a goner.
Thankfully, she sank back down to the bed. “All right.” Polite as a schoolgirl remembering her manners, she added, “Thank you for dinner.”
He laughed and, giving in to impulse, bent down and kissed her—quick and hard—then released her before he got any closer to chucking his plan. “Sweet dreams, Sparky. I’ll see myself out.”