Her arm went around his shoulders, comforting and sweet. “You didn’t know she would react that way, Noah. And she shouldn’t have. I mean, I remember how overwhelming that first heartbreak can be, but most of us know it’s not worth dying over. She clearly had issues that went deeper than having a scumbag cheater boyfriend.”
“So what about you?” he said, not ready to be absolved of his guilt just yet. Sometimes guilt was a good thing. It kept you from making the same dumb mistakes twice. “What’s your deep dark secret?”
She narrowed her eyes. “I mean it, Noah. That wasn’t your fault. You shouldn’t carry the weight of that on your soul. It happened so long ago, and your heart was in a good place.” She rubbed a hand in soothing circles on his back. “Even your deep dark secrets are very knight in faded blue jeans.”
“You’re sweet.” He brushed the hair from her temple with two fingers. “Do people tell you that a lot?”
Her lips twisted. “No. They don’t. I usually do a good job of hiding the sweet beneath my feisty outer shell.”
“I guess I just see through you.” He held her gaze, feeling the air between them grow thick with possibilities.
“Maybe you do,” she said softly. “But if that’s true, then you know that I haven’t given up on getting what I want from you. That’s probably my deepest, darkest secret right now, Noah. I like you, and I want to be your friend, maybe even more than your friend, but I also want my baby.Mybaby, with no baby daddy strings attached.”
He smiled. “Is that your way of telling me you aren’t interested in getting into the hammock with me and seeing what happens?”
“The hammock?” she asked, lips curving wickedly. “An acrobatic choice, Mr. O’Sullivan. Sounds dangerous if you ask me.”
“We could stay on the quilt, but I think you enjoy a little danger, Miss North.”
A light sparked in her eyes. “You’re not serious.”
He shrugged, the casual gesture at odds with the pounding of his heart. “Probably not. I shouldn’t be; I know that. Just like I shouldn’t tell you that from the moment I met you something in my gut has been shouting that I can’t let you walk away. Not until I find out where this could go between us.”
She shook her head even as her face drifted closer to his. “That’s crazy, Noah. We barely know each other. And you live in San Francisco and I live here, and—”
“And this conversation should wait,” he said, reaching up to capture her chin lightly in his fingers. “Until I tell you one more deep, dark secret.”
“What’s that?” she whispered.
“That I lay awake all night last night dreaming about doing this.” He bent his head, capturing her warm, firm lips with his own. The moment his skin brushed hers, sending electricity streaking across his nerve endings, setting his already pounding heart to racing, he knew this wasn’t a mistake.
Nothing that felt this good, thisright, could be wrong.
He deepened the kiss, his tongue slipping between her lips, tasting barbecue and beer and a light, mysterious taste that was this fascinating woman. She tasted like clear mountain spring water and secrets hidden beneath the snow, waiting for the thaw, and when she threaded her fingers through his hair and began to return the kiss in earnest, he knew he would do whatever it took to discover every part of her. Every secret, every wish. He wanted to memorize the landscape of her soul and then make all her dreams come true.
The kiss soon grew deeper, hotter, their tongues dancing as their breath came faster. Her fingernails dug into his shoulders through his tee shirt, and his fingers pressed into her full hips through her dress and his cock swelled until it threatened to rip a hole through his jeans. And when they rolled onto the quilt, his body covering hers, he knew he’d never been anywhere as perfect as the valley between her thighs.
“Damn, O’Sullivan,” she whispered into his mouth, breath catching as he rocked gently against her through their clothes. “It isn’t fair.”
“What isn’t fair?” He smoothed a hand from her waist to her ribs, stopping short of her breast, not wanting to rush a moment of this.
“That you’re gorgeous, a genius, a nice guy, and can kiss like this.”
He smiled against her lips. “You’re not too shabby yourself, beautiful.”
“Not too shabby? I’m an amazing kisser,” she said, rolling her hips, nudging his cock through his jeans, swiftly making his head feel too light for his body. “Admit it. You can’t remember the last time you had a first kiss this good.”
“I’ve never had a first kiss like this,” he said, the words out before he could think about playing it cool.
But then, he’d never been cool. He was a nerd from way back and proud of it, which was why he had to put a stop to this before things went any further. No matter how much he was tempted to make love to her on this quilt and think about the ramifications later, he was a thinker. It was in his DNA.
“But as much as I would like to stay here and kiss you, we should probably start back,” he said, catching her wrists in his hands and pinning them to the quilt above her head. “It will be dark before too long.”
“Not for another hour at least,” she said, tongue slipping out to wet her irresistible lips. “We could get into a lot more trouble before then.”
“I know we could,” he said. “But I think we have a few things to sort out before we get into any more trouble. Don’t you? Just to make sure no one gets hurt?”
“I suppose so.” She sighed, and her thighs relaxed their grip around his waist. “Should I be offended that you can think straight while lying on top of me with a spectacular hard-on?”