But what I said was, “I can look after myself.”
“You invited Lance to get back at me,” Hunter said, “didn’t you?”
“Why would I do that?” I asked innocently.
“Because of last night. Because I invited Katie.”
I tossed the stack of paper plates onto the hood of Dad’s Mustang. “What made you invite her, anyway?” I demanded, my voice rising like an angry tide.
“I thought she and I could give it another try,” he said.
“Is that why you called her last night?” I shot back. “Right after we almost kissed?”
He opened his mouth to deny it, then closed it. His jaw tightened.
“What do you want from me?” he asked.
“I want you to admit it.”
“Admit what?”
“That you have feelings for me,” I replied.
“You’re my best friend’s sister. If Brad…”
“Stop using that as an excuse! Either you have feelings for me, or you don’t. Which is it?”
“Of course I do!”
The passion in his voice was like a whip, cutting me off.
“Of course I have feelings for you,” he growled, taking a step closer. “Is that what you want to hear? How I haven’t been able to stop looking at you since I moved in. The way I fantasize in bed late at night, dreaming of burying my face between your legs andtastingyou. How it’s taken every ounce of willpower in my body not to throw open your bedroom door and rip your clothes off, because Iachefor you. Is that what you wanted to hear, Erica?”
By the time he was done, he had backed me up against the wall next to the fridge. He loomed over me, bare chest heaving and dark eyes boring into me. His body was so hot I could feel it, a man-shaped space heater just inches from my body, full of wrath and lust.
I shivered, not because I was cold or scared, but because the words were everything I had wanted to hear. He did have feelings for me. It wasn’t just my imagination.
I bit my lip and nodded. “Yes. That’s what I wanted to hear.”
“Good,” he said, voice barely more than a whisper. “Because now it’s time for somethingI’vewanted.”
His hand slid along my cheek, caressing my skin and raising goosebumps, and then Hunter lowered his lips to mine. The kiss was everything I had ever expected a kiss to be: warm and tingly, our bodies pressed tight while our mouths churned together. I felt my body surge upward into his kiss, demanding that it never end.
Is this a dream?I wondered while we savored one-another.
When itdidend, Hunter stared deep into my eyes. “I meant what I said last night,” he breathed.
“What’s that?” I asked, body buzzing with attraction.
“You deserved a do-over on your first kiss. You deserved to have arealkiss, one that’s more special.”
I sucked in a shuddering breath. “I don’t want it to be a do-over kiss.”
Hunter’s dark eyes blinked. “Why not?”
“Because I want this kiss to be something all its own.”
This time I raised my lips to his. Hunter kissed me back and responded with his entire body, wrapping me in his arms and squeezing me tightly. He took over, hands exploring my bare skin while twisting me sideways, lifting me up onto the hood of the Mustang. I wrapped my legs around him so he could press himself into me, a wonderful pressure against the wet heat through my bikini bottoms.