“I see what this is,” she said, nodding as her eyes narrowed. “You’re trying to psych me out. Well, it won’t work, O’Sullivan. I’m already two steps ahead of you.”
“Oh yeah? How do you figure that?”
“If you win, why don’t we skip the house hunting and just plan on you moving in with me?” she said, sending his brows shooting toward his hairline. “Yeah, that’s right. I said it. That happened! So think on that while you run. Ready, set, go!”
And then she was off like a bat out of hell, sprinting toward the edge of the hill and dropping onto her bottom to slide down into the mud bog. By the time Noah recovered from his shock enough to get moving, she was already climbing the ladder to the monkey bars and starting across. Noah splashed down into the water and slogged his way across the ground toward her, admiring how strong she was. She looked like a kid up there, legs churning as her toned arms carried her across the muddy water below.
He climbed the ladder and started after her, quickly closing the distance between them, but halfway across his hand slipped on a slick rung and he went down with a splash, cold water rising to his thighs and soaking the last few dry places on his shorts.
Yasmin, who had just reached the ladder on the other side, turned to point a finger his way, “Now you have to go back to the beginning of the bars and start over! Those are the rules, O’Sullivan!”
“Big talk from a cheater, North!” he shouted, even as he turned, running back toward the start of the monkey bars. The second time, he crossed swiftly and without mishap, but by the time he hit the first of the trenches on the other side, Yasmin was already crawling onto the grass at the finish line, thrusting a clenched fist into the air before she collapsed onto the ground on her back.
“I want a rematch,” he said, breathing hard as he climbed up beside her a few moments later.
She shook her head, eyes closed as she grinned up at the blue sky. “Nope. No rematches. I won fair and square.”
“Fair and square?” He grunted, rolling on his back. “Is that what you call it?”
“Fair and square enough,” she said, giggling. “Better start making calls to change that plane flight. I intend to keep you on the dance floor until after midnight.”
“You’re assuming I can dance,” he said, studying her face, amazed that anyone could look so beautiful covered in mud.
“Oh, you can dance.” She turned her head, eyes opening. “I can tell.”
“How can you tell?” He held her gaze, chest tightening as that electric, peaceful, exhilarating feeling he’d only felt when in the presence of this woman swelled inside him.
“Because of this.” She rolled over, propping her arms on his chest and bringing her lips to his. The moment their mouths touched, heat ignited low in his body and a joyful “hell yes,” vibrated through his bones. A low groan of approval rumbled at the back of his throat as he gripped her muddy ponytail in his hand and pulled her closer, fusing their lips together. Her tongue stroked against his, and her legs shifted until she was lying on top of him, strong thighs straddling his waist.
She rocked against where he was hard and only getting harder, and he couldn’t resist the urge to grip her ass in his hands and encourage her to keep moving, keep taking what she needed, keep riding him through his clothes until they were both too worked up to resist the urge to take this further. To take it all the way, until her soft skin was bared to his mouth and his hands and he discovered what it felt like to be joined with this woman who fascinated him without even trying.
But that’s probably the way it was supposed to be, he guessed. When you met the one who was meant for you, neither of you had to try too hard. Falling was easy. It was trying to hold back, to think straight, to remember that the world and human lives are complicated even if love isn’t that was difficult.
“We should stop,” Yasmin said in between kisses. “Someone could see us.”
“They could,” he said, cupping her breast through her shirt and rubbing his thumb across her pebbled nipple, loving the way her breath rushed across his lips in response. “I promised myself I wouldn’t touch you like this until dating was a sure thing, but I can’t control myself.”
“You feel so good.” She circled her hips, making him ache to be free of his shorts. “I want you to touch me everywhere. Everywhere all at once.”
“I want to touch you everywhere.” He cupped both of her breasts in his hands, rolling her nipples between his fingers. “I want to feel you without any clothes or mud. Nothing but you and me.”
“Come back to my place,” she said, breath coming faster.
“Did you mean what you said?” he asked, the mention of her place jogging his lust-addled thoughts. “About me moving in?”
“I guess you’ll never know,” she teased, her warm hand slipping beneath his shirt, sending more heat racing across his skin. “Since you didn’t win the race.”
He gripped her ponytail again as he pulled away, putting enough distance between them that he could look up into her amber eyes. “Tell me. I need to know if you’re as into this as I am.”
“I thought we were going to wait until Saturday to decide.” Her lips parted as her gaze scanned his face.
“Looks like I won’t be leaving on Sunday,” he said, pushing on before he could second guess his instincts. “I was thinking…maybe I shouldn’t leave at all. I can run my business from anywhere, and I’ve got a personal assistant in San Francisco who can pack up my condo and find someone to sublet my place.”
She pressed her lips together and the hand that had come to rest on his stomach eased away. “If I say go for it, does that mean the sample is off the table?”
His brow furrowed, but it was too hard to form a coherent thought. “I don’t know,” he said, “I find it hard to think straight when you’re on top of me.”
Yasmin smiled. “Good to know.”