“Those chicks?” Bridget laughed.
“Yeah, the Gelmoe chicks.” He shrugged.
“Gilmore. You don’t know Rory and Lorelai?” Who could possibly live on planet Earth and not at least have heard of theGilmore Girls?
Ryan paused and glanced around, the frown on his face only making him more gorgeous. “Uh, do they work here?”
Bridget shook her head, chuckling. “You’re cute.”
“Then I’ll take the win.” Ryan smiled. The hand resting on her waist moved to the small of her back, just above her ass, and with slight pressure, he pulled her closer. He cupped the back of her neck with his other hand.
She shivered.
“Baby, we’ve known each other for years, and I don’t beat around the bush.” He was exactly like his sister in that regard.
“I’m familiar with the concept.”
The corner of his mouth pulled up again as she grinned. He glanced around the room before he focused on her and leaned closer, those blue eyes darkening with intensity and one hand gripping the back of her neck. His breath danced over her face, sending a thrumming through her system before settling deep in her core.
“I want you. I have for what feels like forever.” He released her nape and trailed a callused finger along her cheek, then pushed back one of her many tight curls, all the while staring into her eyes. The warmth of his touch floated across the shell of her ear and down her jaw.
Her heart pounded. A simple touch had never elicited a response like this from her.
“If you want to stand here talking about the Gelman Girls and flirting before I put you in an Uber with a kiss that will scorch into your soul so hard you’ll dream of it every night, I can make that happen.”
Her breath caught.
“If that’s what this is, then I’m there for that.” His lips pulled up in a small smile as his eyes danced with happiness, like he’d really be satisfied with ending the night like that. But every cell inherbody wanted something more.
“Or if you want to go back to your place and chill with no expectation, I’m all in. I’m happy to just enjoy being in your presence.” He swept that warm thumb down her cheek and tilted her chin so his lips were a breath from hers.
A desperate need to close the distance and feel his hot mouth on hers beat inside her.
But he simply teased her with a barely there brush of his lips before he pulled back, his eyes flaring with unabashed lust.
“But if you want to sit on my face and let me enjoy that hot pussy I’ve been dreaming of, then I’ll make you come harder than any man ever has or ever will.”
Her heart raced, and her body throbbed with desire for him. She’d promised herself she would make her happiness a priority this year, but something had still been missing. Until this moment. This was exactly what she needed.
Ryan Daily.
“The last one.”
“Good girl.” His eyes flashed as he slid a hand to her ass and squeezed.
4
“Let’s go,”Ryan said, both elated by and shocked at Bridget’s answer. He’d expected her to play coy, like most women he’d dealt with did. Maybe in the past, this type of eagerness would have put him off—he’d have written the encounter off because he was always up for a challenge—but he wanted Bridget eager, willing, and as desperate as he was.
Just as they made the turn to head down the stairs, Shawn caught Ryan’s eye and pointed at the wall of bills.
“Fuck off,” he mouthed at his former teammate, who laughed before Ryan followed Bridget downstairs. Although the top floor had been mellow, almost quiet, the second they stepped through the door to the main bar, they were met with loud music and the buzz of a sizable crowd.
He resettled his palm on the small of her back, not only to keep them together, but toclaimher. To show any asshole who might look her way that Bridget was his. It was an unsettling feeling, but the moment the words “Corey and I aren’t a thing” came out of her mouth, he had the unrelenting urge to mark her as his.
He rubbed along the satin skin of her back that was on full display in the dress. The stretchy material was easy enough to slip his fingers in, and the pleasure that warmed him when she shivered gave him more satisfaction than the third strike of a full count ever had.
She nodded at a few people who called her name or waved, but she didn’t slow her steps until she was outside the glass doors and down the stairs of the porch that lined the entire side of the bar.