Flirting with Love Page 13

  She dropped her eyes to the blanket across her legs.

  His chest tightened as he waited for her to answer.

  “I thought you saw that,” she said softly.

  “Sorry. You don’t have to tell me.” He couldn’t tell if he’d struck a fresh or distant nerve.

  “It’s okay. No, moving had nothing to do with him. His name is Robbie, and we broke up more than a year ago.” She drew in a deep breath and laid her hand on his thigh.

  Her fingers moved lightly over his muscles, sending streams of heat straight to his groin. He wanted her hand to move north, to stroke his body, to dig her nails into him while he was buried deep inside her. When she spoke again, he nearly groaned aloud as he tore his eyes from her hand and forced himself to try to focus.

  “He’s a really nice guy, and we dated for a long time. We were just in different places in our lives.” She shrugged and licked her lips.

  Jesus, was she trying to drive him insane?

  “I thought he was the one, and he ended our relationship to focus on getting his PhD.”

  The one. That pulled him from his fantasy. He processed the information, feeling a little jealous that she’d been in love with someone else.

  “I’m sorry.” She looked so solemn that he did feel sorry for her, but if she and Robbie hadn’t broken up, he might never have met her.

  “It’s a good thing he ended it. I realized afterward that what we had was this really comfortable relationship. Comfortable, like great friends, but I always dreamed that love was much bigger than that, you know?”

  He nodded, knowing exactly what she meant but unable to form a response.

  “Well, you’re a guy, so maybe you don’t know, but like with you…You take my breath away when we’re close. He never did.”

  His pulse ratcheted up a notch. “I take your breath away?” He leaned closer, holding her gaze.

  “Uh-huh.”

  He kissed her, wanting desperately to touch her, taste every inch of her, feel her hard nipples in his mouth, her body beneath him. He deepened the kiss, then forced himself to draw back.

  Eyes still closed, she whispered, “See? Breathless.” When she finally opened her eyes, her lids were heavy. She smiled with a lust-laden, faraway look in her beautiful eyes.

  “You said you believed in fate, marriage, and all things warm and fuzzy. You’re on the cusp of so many changes. I thought you might want a little magic to help you make the more important decisions.” He reached behind him and retrieved the gift he’d brought for her.

  “Ross. You didn’t have to bring me anything. Thank you.”

  She pressed her lips to his, and he wrapped an arm around her and deepened the kiss, wanting it to go on forever. He’d been with women other men would die for, but not one of them made him feel the way Elisabeth did when they were together.

  “Go ahead. Open it.”

  She opened the box with an excited grin and smiled as she lifted the Magic 8 Ball out of the box. “I haven’t seen one of these in years.”

  “Go ahead. Ask it a question. There are ten positive answers, five negative, and five neutral.” He loved the way her eyes lit up.

  “Okay.” She drew in a deep breath. “Will I ever really fit in in Trusty?” She shook the black plastic ball in both hands and then held it against her chest with her eyes clenched shut. “I can’t look.”

  “Want me to look?”

  With her eyes still shut, she held the ball out to him. Ross wrapped his hands around hers. Please say yes. Please say yes.

  “Lis, let’s look together.”

  She opened her eyes and nodded. “Okay. I’m nervous.”

  “That’s what makes you so incredible. Don’t be nervous. If it gives the wrong answer, I’ll heave it over the mountain and smash it to bits.”

  “No, you will not.” She pulled it back toward her chest, but he held on tight. “You gave me this. You can’t toss it away.”

  “Then it sure as hell better give you the right answer, or there’ll be hell to pay.”

  She thrust it out toward him again. “You look first. I can’t. I want to, but I can’t.”

  “Okay, here goes.” He made a scene of shielding the flat edge of the ball while he read it. It is decidedly so. Why on earth a plastic ball made him breathe easier was beyond him, but it did.

  “It’s safe. You can look.” He turned the ball toward her and watched as her eyes widened and she drew in an excited breath.

  “Yeah!” She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him again. “Thank you! This is the best gift ever.”

  “You wouldn’t be saying that if the answer was Don’t count on it.”

  “Nope, but it wasn’t, and fate and all things sparkly were shining down on me.” She looked down at the ball. “Do you believe in fate?”

  “I do.” He always had, though his brothers would scoff if they heard him admit it.

  “Do you believe in all things warm and fuzzy?”

  Ross moved closer, so their bodies touched from chest to knee. “I do.”

  “Ask it a question,” she said just above a whisper.

  Ross looked out over the town that had never done him wrong. The town that had accepted and saved his family after his father had left them. The town where he felt he belonged and where he hoped to one day raise his own children. The town that he hoped would one day give Elisabeth all that it had given him.

  He laced their fingers together, and in the other hand he held the plastic ball.

  “Will my wish come true?” He shook the ball and handed it to Elisabeth. “Okay, Lis. Are we tossing it over the ledge or keeping it?”

  She peeked at the ball. “As I see it, yes.”

  “Yes, we toss it?”

  “No. That’s the answer to your question, but what was your wish?”

  “That all your dreams would come true.”

  When their eyes met, Ross couldn’t hold back any longer. He folded her into his arms and gazed into her wanting eyes. “I’m going to kiss you, and if you want me to stop, you need to tell me, because if you don’t, I make no promises.”

  NOTHING COULD COMPARE to being in Ross’s arms, their hearts beating against each other faster than a hummingbird’s wings, their tongues dancing together in perfect rhythm. She’d dreamed her whole life of feeling like this, feeling safe and cherished, her heart and mind being in sync. Wanting a man with her entire being. The air was cool, but her body was hot. When Ross rolled her onto her back and lay beside her, one strong leg pulled up over her thighs, his chest against hers, his hand cradling her head, their lips sealed together, she thought she’d died and gone to heaven. He was crazy if he thought she’d tell him to stop, because she could barely think past the hope that their kiss would never end.

  Ross drew back, kissed the edges of her lips, then made his way across the center and ran his tongue along her upper lip.

  More. Kiss me more.

  Her eyes were closed, and she focused on his breathing, the feel of his hand as it slid down her hip to the hem of her dress, then beneath, and he gripped the outside of her thigh. Her breathing came faster at the feel of his strong hand on her bare skin.

  He kissed her jaw, the tender spot beneath her earlobe, and then he pressed his scruffy cheek to hers and whispered, “Lissa, you make my mouth water for more of you.”

  She shivered with anticipation.

  “Do you want me to stop?”

  Even with her eyes closed, she felt the heat of his stare, heard the desire in his voice. “God no.” She reached up and drew his mouth to hers again.

  Their mouths came together in a heady mix of want and need. The kiss was hard and rough, spurring sexy noises of desire from them both. Ross’s hand slid up her thigh and gripped her hip. He pressed his hard length against her side as he deepened the kiss, and everything intensified. The air grew hotter, her breathing came faster, and her hips had a mind of their own, arching upward, aching for him. His lips slid down her chin, kissing a path t
o her collarbone. He licked the dip in the center, and she drew in a breath. He dragged his tongue up her neck and settled his teeth on the skin just below her ear, sucking hard enough to make her entire body go white-hot. She was damp with desire. His hand slid from her hip higher, creeping up her ribs, then stopping just below her breasts. She clawed at his back, pulled up the back of his shirt in search of skin.

  Oh yes, hard muscles, hot skin. Heaven.

  His hand moved higher. Finally, his thumb brushed over her breast, sending a shock of need through her.

  “Ross, touch me.”

  He brushed his thumb over her taut nipple, and oh God, she wanted more. So much more. She didn’t try to understand the unfamiliar rush of desire and emotions driving her forward, forming words she’d only dreamed of using in this context. She let her mind go blank and opened herself to the moment.

  “Please.” A heated plea.

  He moved down her body, kissing the skin between her breasts. Yes. Oh, yes. His hand slid south again, and she held her breath as he hooked his finger into the edge of her lace panties and gazed up into her eyes. She was panting with need as he slid his finger along the seam and swept over her damp center. The pit of her stomach tightened.

  “Lissa,” he whispered, then lowered his forehead to her belly and stilled. When he lifted his eyes, they were filled with conflict—lust and hesitation.

  His finger was barely touching her wetness, and her insides clenched with desire.

  “I want this, Ross. I want you.” She rocked her hips, urging him to touch her, even though it was fast. Even though they were outside. Even though she’d never been so aggressive before. She wanted this, she wanted him, and she was powerless to do anything but give in to the heat that consumed them.

  Thank the Lord he took her hint, and in the next breath his lips met her bare stomach in openmouthed kisses as his fingers explored her slick center. He licked and nipped her belly, moving lower, dragging his teeth over her hips to the area just above her damp curls. She fisted her hand in his hair and urged him lower. He stroked and teased and brought her right up to the edge, then used his mouth and sent her spiraling out of control. One strong hand gripped her hip while the other worked its magic, and his tongue, his glorious tongue, took her up, up, up, again, and she called out his name into the darkness as the orgasm ripped through her again. Nothing had ever felt so good. Or so right.

  The sounds of the night came back slowly, crickets, their breathing, and she realized that the moans and mews she heard were coming from her own lungs. Ross moved up her body and she reached for the button of his jeans. His lips met hers, and he tasted of her, salty and sweet. He kissed her harder, thrusting his tongue as he pushed his fingers inside her, until all she tasted was him.

  “Lis, are you sure? We can stop.”

  “Oh my God, no, don’t stop.” She didn’t care that this was new, or that this was their first real date. She wanted to be as close to Ross as she physically could, and she wanted him now. Fate. She believed in it, lived by it, and she wasn’t about to stop now.

  He kissed her again, and when he drew back, she took his cheeks in her hands and honesty tumbled out. “In twenty-seven years I’ve never wanted anyone like I want you.”

  “There’s one thing I have to know.” Ross searched her eyes.

  “I’ve only been with two guys, I’m on the pill, and I’m clean.”

  He smiled and kissed her. “I’m clean, too, always used condoms. But that wasn’t the thing.”

  “Oh.” Embarrassment heated her cheeks.

  “You’re so damn cute it’s painful.”

  “Is that the thing?” Hurry. Hurry!

  “No.” He kissed her cheek, then her nose, her forehead, and her other cheek. “Will you see only me? Be my girlfriend?”

  “Goodness, Ross. I thought…Yes. Of course.” She leaned up and kissed him. Relieved that he hadn’t tried to put a caveat of some other kind on their intimacy—and she’d probably have agreed to whatever it was because she was out of her mind with need. She couldn’t believe now that she’d even thought such a thing. He’d shown her throughout the date that he was willing to risk becoming part of the town gossip for her, and she knew how huge of a deal that was for him.

  Heat flashed in his eyes as he shimmied out of his jeans and stripped her of her clothes. She’d never seen such an exquisite creature. His body was lean and defined, muscle after rippling muscle of tanned skin and sinew. He positioned himself over her, and she felt the tip of his arousal against her. Her body ached for more. Ross gazed deeply into her eyes and kissed her softly, pushing the tip of his heat into her, spreading her legs wider with his powerful thighs.

  “Lissa, I have a feeling I’ve been waiting for you my whole life.”

  He sealed his lips over hers and pushed inside her, until he was buried deep. She sucked in a breath at the magnificent pressure of his girth. He breathed air into her lungs as they began to move as one, slowly at first, then more urgently, each clawing for more. She felt the tease of release. Her insides swelled with anticipation as he thrust harder. His arms slid up her back, and he gripped her shoulders, driving deeper over and over. His heart thundered against her chest, and their eyes met just before hers slammed shut and an explosion of heat and tingling vibrated through her body.

  “Oh…God…Ross.”

  “Lis…”

  He buried his face in her neck as he followed her over the edge, grunting and panting until the last shudder rippled through their bodies. Under the cover of night, and beneath the blessing of the moon, Ross laced his fingers with hers and brought them to his lips. Her heart swelled. She closed her eyes and breathed in the cool night air, sending a silent message up to the heavens.

  Thank you, Aunt Cora. This is exactly where I’m supposed to be.

  Chapter Eleven

  THE SUN WAS just beginning to peek over the mountains Saturday morning when Elisabeth came out of the barn with Kennedy in her arms. She’d woken up at four o’clock hot and bothered from a dream about Ross, and by five, she was doing yoga on the back porch. She felt more settled now, after an ice-cold shower and taking care of her morning chores. Her shorts were dirty from feeding the animals, and she probably smelled like hay and mud, but she didn’t care. Everything seemed brighter today, more fulfilling, and she knew it was because she and Ross had come together. Something inside her shifted last night when she was in his arms. No, it had happened earlier than that, in the days before, a little more with every look, every touch, and every flirtation. Last night when they’d walked into the Brewery and he’d tightened his grip on her arm. It was a little thing, but she’d seen something much bigger, deeper, in his eyes, and it had filled her in ways nothing ever had.

  She sat on a log and watched the sun rise as she fed Kennedy his goat milk. He was eating well and making the cutest little grunting noises as he took the bottle. Her mind drifted back to the evening before, lying beneath the stars, with Ross gazing down at her before they’d made love. Her body shuddered with the memory. She knew he’d felt the earth move, too, and the moment their bodies came together, she was his, and somehow she felt like he was hers, too.

  After feeding Kennedy, she went to work putting up the small metal pen she’d found in her aunt’s shed. She was nervous and excited about her first day of grooming, and every time she thought of last night, she got dizzy with emotions. She was struggling to clip the metal pieces together on the last two panels when Ross pulled into the driveway.

  Her heart raced at the sight of him as he climbed from his truck. Knight, Ranger, and Sarge barreled toward her. Storm remained by his side.

  “Free dog.” Ross’s command sent Storm bounding toward the others.

  She dropped to her knees and loved up the dogs. Knight licked her, chin to forehead. Ross walked at a fast clip, reached a hand in the middle of the puppy mayhem, and helped her to her feet. He folded her into his arms and kissed her until she felt the world spin.

  “Sorry, but
the boys couldn’t wait a minute longer to see you.” He wore a pair of jeans and a cotton shirt like a second skin, and he looked delicious.

  “The boys, huh?” She petted Knight as they walked toward the metal pen she was putting together.

  “I’m just a big ol’ boy.” Ross draped an arm over her shoulder and pulled her against him. “I came by to see if you needed help with anything before I head out to check on Gracie.”

  “Gracie? Is she okay?” She watched him connect the metal latches with ease.

  He drew his brows together and turned away with a shake of his head. He tested the gate on the pen and changed the subject. “You put this together by yourself?”

  She could tell he didn’t want to talk about Gracie, and her heart squeezed for him. “Yes. It wasn’t hard, and since I don’t know Wren’s dogs, I figured it was safest to keep them in the pen instead of running loose.”

  “See why I like you? You worry about animals as much as I do.” He reached for her hand and surveyed the grooming station she’d set up in the front yard. “Do you have an awning? It’s going to be warm today; you might want shade.”

  “I didn’t see one in Aunt Cora’s shed, and I forgot to buy one, but I’ll pick one up before next weekend.” They stood hand in hand. Ross looked around before finally setting serious eyes on her and leading her toward the porch. “Do you have time to sit for a minute?”

  “Always.” Her stomach did a nosedive straight into a pool of worry. Maybe she’d misjudged his feelings, even after all he’d said. Maybe he was having second thoughts. They sat on the front porch. Knight plunked his big body down beside her and breathed loudly through his nose as he pressed his head to her thigh.

  “Attention hog,” Ross teased.

  She petted Knight’s head, feeling even more nervous. Ross tightened his grip on her hand.

  “Lis, about last night.”

  Don’t say it. Please don’t say it. She held her breath and trained her eyes on Storm and Sarge playing in the yard.

  “I’m sorry for taking it so far. I hope you don’t regret it, and I hope you didn’t feel like I forced myself on you.”