Because she feels good this close to me. I get a dose of not just her strength, but her softness.
I pegged her as an athlete the second I laid eyes on her. It’s the way her thighs fill out her jeans and the taut muscles in her torso tensing beneath my touch, and the way she carries herself. But she’s also feminine in all the right ways too.
This girl just keeps getting more interesting.
The music picks up again and we dance and move, never getting too far apart from each other. A Willie Nelson cover gets us both singing, then laughing. Several songs later, Bear catches my eye and smirks, but I return my attention to Linnea and the way we’re swaying. When the song ends, I lean closer to her ear. “Looks like our friends have hit it off.”
An expression I can’t read flickers in her eyes. “And I haven’t even learned your secrets yet.”
“Good thing the night’s not over.” I spin her again, making her laugh.
“That sounds dangerously close to an invitation,” she says with a look of playful scrutiny that’s cute as fuck. Her nose wrinkles, and her lips twist.
I fake a casual shrug because that sounded an awful lot like shewantedan invitation. “We’ve got a couple of rooms at The Shore Lodge.”
Linnea leans back to size me up. “You’re too rugged to be rich.”
I grip her waist as I laugh. “I can’t be good lookingandloaded?”
She tries to hold in her grin. “I didn’t say good looking. I saidrugged.”
True, but I think it’s working for her. “Hate to break it to you but I’m not loaded.” If Bear’s mom didn’t have spare travel points to help offset the cost, we’d be bunking on the floor of his current house flip project.
“Money doesn’t mean shit to me.” As if to underline this, her tone has gone frosty.
“Tell me how you really feel?” Maybe we’re finally getting to this existential crisis.
She gives me an exaggerated wince that flashes her pretty, white teeth. “Sorry. Forget I said that.”
I will…for now.
The band breaks into another tune, so I lean in close. “Tell me whatdoesmatter to you.”
“Honesty,” she says, not missing a beat. “Your turn.”
I laugh to cover my panic. Not telling her about my job isn’t exactly lying, but damn it.Quit fucking this up.“Kindness.”
She smiles. “I like humble.”
I cock an eyebrow. “I like confidence.”
She spins around again to rub that sensational ass against me. “A guy who’s competent.”
Competent, huh? I can think of several ways to demonstrate just how competent I can be. I cradle her waist. “A girl who’s adventurous.”
Glancing at me over her shoulder with a sultry shine in her eyes, she says, “Good with his hands.”
Did someone just turn up the heat in here? I move in so my lips brush the back of her ear. “Good with her mouth.”
We’re not exactly dry humping but there is alotof rubbing going on as we move.
“A good kisser.”
“A good cuddler.”
A surprise laugh bursts from her lips, and she folds forward a little, taking me with her. I’m not sure if it’s an accident or if I just can’t help myself, but my lips land on the exposed patch of skin behind her ear.
She sucks in a breath, and my world tilts on its axis.