“Tell me about your favorite places.” She locked her attention on me, looking excited and eager instead of bitter. Then again, this was Anna. I shouldn’t even have had the fleeting thought that she’d be bitter that I’d gotten to travel when she hadn’t. “Where have you visited?”
“You really want to know?” I watched her closely, and when she nodded, I saw the genuine interest in her eyes. “I don’t want to sound like I’m bragging.”
“I asked. It won’t be bragging when you’re just answering my question.” She picked up her water and sucked in a sip through a biodegradable straw. “So yes, I really want to know. Where have you been and what’s your favorite place?” I wet my lips with my tongue, and Anna rolled her eyes when she saw it. “Don’t pretend to be modest now. We both know you’re not.”
“Fine, but you’re not allowed to throw anything else at my head if you get jealous,” I teased.
She laughed and motioned to her empty plate. “I’m all out of ammunition until the waiter comes back and I can ask for some more napkins.”
“Fair enough.” I let my head drop back, running my hands through my hair as I thought about where to start. “I think my favorites have to be some of the old Western European cities. I loved Rome and Paris, and I’m pretty sure I lost a part of my soul to Edinburgh and Dublin. They’ve all got their own unique magic that I can’t get enough of.”
She sighed dreamily, a soft smile on her lips. “I’ve love to experience it for myself someday. Everything I’ve read about all those places has made me fall in love with them even though I’ve never been.”
“What’s stopping you from going?” It couldn’t only be money. I knew she lived frugally, but I also knew Jessie had invited her on a few trips before. All of her expenses would’ve been paid, and I remembered my sister saying she’d invited Anna as a birthday present at least once.
The smile she shot me was wistful, her gaze dropping away from mine as she twirled her glass between her fingers. “Don’t you remember that I’ve never been very good at stepping out of my comfort zone?”
“I do remember actually. Maybe it’s time we change that.” I laughed when she reached for the balled-up napkin that’d bounced off me, presumably to launch it at my head again. “Wait. Before you fire another shot, I have a proposition for you.”
Shit, if I thought she’d let me, I’d have booked the tickets right then and taken her to Paris in the morning. I just knew she wouldn’t get on the damn plane. She’d probably insist I raffle the tickets off for charity or something if I went ahead and bought them.
“What do you have in mind?” she asked, cautiously curious. “Let’s keep it realistic, shall we?”
“Well, I was going to say Paris, but let’s start smaller then. How about we go on a road trip together? We can stay within a couple of hours of Mackinac. How about Traverse City?”
“I like that idea,” she said after a brief pause. “I’m glad you didn’t suggest Paris. There’s no way I would’ve agreed to that.”
“I had a feeling you might not go for it.” I grinned. “I’ll make stepping out of your comfort zone worth your while. You’ll see. Traverse City first, but next you’ll be begging for Paris.”
As the green-gold pools of her irises warmed on mine, I imagined showing her around my favorite cities. There was a voice at the back of my mind whispering be careful, Will, but there was suddenly nothing I wanted more than to show Anna the world.
And why shouldn’t I? Friends traveled together all the time. She deserved everything I could offer her, and this one was easy. Nothing really.
So yeah. Traverse City first. If that goes well, who knows where we’ll go next?
Chapter 24
ANNA
“Thanks for walking me home again,” I said once I’d unlocked my door. Turning to face him after swinging it open, I smiled and tried to ignore the fact that we’d kissed the last time we’d been standing right here together. “I really appreciate it. Especially after those last customers of the day. I wasn’t looking forward to coming back alone. Just in case they’d decided to hang around.”
“Want me to check under your bed for monsters?” he joked, but his gaze focused on something behind my shoulder and I saw his Adam’s apple rise and fall on a deep swallow. “Never mind. I’m sure there’s nothing there.”
My eyes were already narrowing when they popped wide open again. Oh. My bed. Right. That’s what he was looking at.
“Would you like to come in for a cup of tea?” I asked instead of trying to decipher his reaction to having seen where I sleep.
He chuckled, but the sound was raspy and dark instead of humorous. “Do I look like the kind of guy who drinks tea?”
“Everyone drinks tea. Come on. It’s the least I can do after you saved me, bought me dinner, and then walked me all the way back.”
His eyes burned with green fire that reminded me of pictures I’d seen of the auroras lighting up the night skies in Norway. Rocking back on his heels, he ran his tongue over his lower lip and then nodded. “Sure. Okay. It’s just tea, right?”
“Right.” I frowned before pushing my door open farther and stepping inside. As I flicked on the lights, I glanced at him over my shoulder. “Why do you seem nervous about having tea with me?”
“It’s not the tea I’m nervous about,” he murmured so softly that it was almost under his breath.
I wasn’t sure if I’d heard him correctly, so I didn’t reply and started fixing our drinks. Will stayed in the middle of my apartment, his back ramrod straight and his posture stiff.
“I’m sorry it’s so small,” I said. “You’re probably used to much nicer places. I should’ve thought about that before inviting you in.”
Spinning around toward me, he rolled his shoulders out before marching to the kitchen. When we were face to face, he still seemed on edge but there was a teasing light in his eyes now at least.
“I think it’s charming. You have nothing to apologize for, Anna.” His hand came up like he was about to touch my face, but he stopped it at the last second and rested it on the counter instead.
“Why are you so uncomfortable all of a sudden then?” I asked, my tone playful as I waved a hand at my couch. “Have a seat. Make yourself at home. I promise it’s comfortable, even if it doesn’t look like much.”
“It’s not that.” His hand on the counter twitched and he brought the other to the nape of his neck. His gaze drifted away from mine, landing on the bed again.
My cheeks burned as the kettle started boiling on the stove behind me. William’s eyes came back to mine, and he was looking at me like he wanted something else—something infinitely more personal than tea.
The problem? So did I.
“What is it then?” I asked, my voice not much more than a whisper.
He sighed, closing his eyes for a moment. “I shouldn’t want what I do right now.”
“Why not?” I reached up to touch my fingertips to his collarbones beneath his shirt, my palms resting lightly on the fabric.
“Anna.” He sounded strained. When he looked at me again, there was a strange turmoil in his expression.
“Will,” I replied, tipping my head for my eyes to meet his. “Stop looking at me like you have the power to snap me in half between your fingers. I’m a big girl. I can take care of myself.”
“I know, but I—” He shook his head. “My head is a mess right now.”
“So keep your head out of it,” I whispered, surprising even myself with how bold I was being. “We both want this, right?”
“I don’t want to hurt you,” he said, taking one step closer but still not touching me. “I can’t make you any promises, Anna.”
“I haven’t asked for any.” Closing the last bit of distance between our chests, I flexed my fingers on his shirt before patting it and letting my hands drop back to my sides. “But if you don’t want to—”
The rest of my sentence was cut off by his mouth crashing into mine. I melted
into him without any hesitation, winding my arms around his neck and kissing him back with every ounce of passion he was showing me.
His arms snaked around my waist, hauling me as close as he could get and holding me there in an iron grip. This kiss was different to the one we’d shared last week, more urgent and less careful.
My body tingled everywhere we were pressed together, my nipples turning into hard little points straining at my bra. I hadn’t exactly had much experience since him, but that hardly seemed to matter.
Will’s touch was confident enough for the both of us. All I had to do was follow.
His hands lowered to my butt and kneaded the flesh there before he gripped my thighs and lifted me up against him. My legs hooked around his waist without our kiss even breaking. I imagined what we must look like, with him all tall and dark and my blonde hair shining in the low light of the kitchen.
The kettle whistled, but neither of us paid much attention to it. Will’s hand left me for a fraction of a second, and I heard a telltale click that let me know he’d switched the burner off.
The tea was forgotten after that.
He held me against him as he devoured my mouth, walking us over to my bed without looking where he was going. I supposed there were some positives to having such a small place. We didn’t have to go very far and didn’t have much to crash into on the way.
I felt his leg when he lifted it up to place his knee on the mattress, but that was the only warning I got before he lowered me down. My back hit the bed gently, Will’s hard body encasing my front as he followed and spread out above me.
Although he was holding himself up on his knees and his elbows, the weight of him pressing into me was divine. His hands were in my hair, tugging at my elastic to pull my ponytail free before dragging his fingertips through the strands.
Desperate need was building in my core, making my hips rock while my hands traced the lines of his body. It felt the same as it always had, but so different at the same time.
I bunched the edge of his shirt up, but he took over and pulled it off over the top of his head before his mouth came back to mine. In the brief moment when he was shirtless above me, I caught a glimpse of the bump in his collarbone. It was still crooked from a bad break when he was seventeen.
The sight of it made me smile under his lips, and he broke off the kiss to latch his gaze onto mine. “Think this is funny, do you?”
“Nope,” I said, but I was still smiling. “It’s just that you’re still… you.”
He sat back on his knees, and my eyes broke away from his to drink him in. While his chest was broader and there was a smattering of hair on it now, the protrusion of his hip bones, the strong lines of his shoulders, and the sharp edge of his jawline were still the same.
The tattoos were new, though, as were the defined lines on his abdomen and the lean muscles everywhere else. His stomach dipped when he sucked in a breath, and when I looked up again to see what had caused it, I realized his eyes were doing some roaming of their own.
My dress had ridden up to my panties, my hair was spread out over the pillows, and I could see the top of my bra sticking out above my neckline. I might not have been naked, but it was still the most exposed, vulnerable position I’d been in with a man for years and years.
A smile that looked much like the one I’d just given him spread on his lips when his gaze snagged on the scar on the inside of my knee. “Yeah, you’re still you too. Just somehow so much fucking sexier. Fuck, Anna.”
He bent down and scooted back a bit, pressing his lips to the scar I’d gotten when we’d tried to jump a fence once. A soft groan came out of him, echoing in the stillness of the room where the only other sound was our heavy breathing.
As if that one kiss had made him suddenly ravenous, he explored my body with his mouth and hands as if he’d never get another chance. I helped where I could, sitting up so he could remove my dress and bra then lifting my hips for him to slide my panties off, but something told me to let him take his time otherwise.
The way he touched me was almost reverent, like he couldn’t believe he was getting the chance to do it again. To my inexperienced teenage self, he’d always been a god in bed but that was different now too.
He was no longer a fumbling boy, but a man who clearly knew how to touch a woman and where. I refused to let my mind dwell on how he’d learned all of this or to let myself compare my body to those he must be used to now.
I knew I was softer, but the noises he was making and the burning need in his touch assured me that being softer wasn’t a bad thing. In fact, I got the feeling it might even be a really good thing.
William, on the other hand, was much harder than I remembered him being. Everywhere.
While I was letting him do what he wanted, my hands did some exploration of their own. His skin was hot but smooth, his muscles rippling but firm beneath my fingertips.
The harsh denim of his waistband came all too soon as my fingers danced down his sides and across the broad planes on his back. I tried pushing the jeans down before I realized I’d have to take care of his belt first.
Will’s hands slipped between us, his hips lifting as I felt him undoing his belt. While there was space, I slid my fingers between us and managed to get his button undone before we were both kicking and clawing at his pants to get them off.
They hit the floor with the soft clinking of keys that must’ve been in his pocket, and then we were both naked. He was still lying between my legs, but his eyes and his mouth suddenly came back to mine.
As he repositioned himself, he rested his elbows next to my head, his hands burrowing into my hair as his parted lips lingered right above my own. A wicked grin lifted the corners of his mouth before he started peppering my jaw with kisses, soft-spoken words uttered between each press of his lips to my skin.
“If this is your idea of coming in for a cup of tea, I might just have found my favorite new drink.”
If only he knew the truth, but I wasn’t about to shatter the moment by telling him. He was already afraid of hurting me. If I told him now that there hadn’t been anyone for me to have tea with since him, I was afraid he’d stop.
Being with him might ruin me, but having him stop now? That simply wasn’t an option. It wasn’t like I was under the impression we were getting back together because of this. We’d just never had a chance to say goodbye properly.
Maybe this was it, the closure I’d been after for so long, because it sure as hell didn’t feel like the beginning of anything. Deep down inside, I knew it wasn’t. I just didn’t quite realize at the time how close to the end we really were.
Chapter 25
WILLIAM
Anna giggled, moving her head so her lips brushed against my ear when she replied. “I told you everyone likes tea.”
“Tea with you, definitely,” I joked, but my heart twisted when I even thought about who else she might’ve had tea with recently.
Just because Jessie had said there hadn’t been a guy since me didn’t mean she’d been fucking celibate all these years. Choosing to ignore the cloying need to know, I shoved all those unwelcome thoughts and feelings right back down and slammed a lid on them.
I was harder than I’d probably ever been, and Anna’s cheeks were flushed and her breaths were coming out hard and fast. I doubted either of us wanted to stop for a chat right now. Plus, it didn’t matter anyway. Nothing that had happened outside of us after the last time we’d done this mattered.
It felt like the time we’d spent apart had been nothing but a bad dream, and I desperately needed to reassure myself that what was happening now was real. I’d kissed almost every inch of her skin, getting reacquainted with the places that made her gasp and moan. I’d felt every part of her that I’d missed having under my hands. Except that I still hadn’t touched that one spot where I knew she wanted me most.
I hadn’t wanted to rush it, but now I couldn’t wait any longer. I felt the wet heat of her against me and it was en
ough to drive me to the brink of insanity.
As I lowered my mouth to hers to take it in another deep, long kiss, I kept my weight on one elbow and moved my other hand down to drag it along the soft skin on her thighs. She moaned into my mouth, spreading her legs wider apart as her hips rolled underneath me.
“I’ve got you, Anna,” I whispered between kisses, not stopping this time when I reached the top of her legs.
She was so fucking wet that I groaned when I slid my fingers between her folds. Then I let out a sound that sounded suspiciously like a whimper when I felt how tight she was. If she squeezed just one finger like this… I swallowed hard.
No way am I lasting long.
Anna was still as deliciously responsive as I remembered, moaning my name and starting to shake at the first pass of my thumb over her clit. I was in complete fucking awe of her when she fell apart around my fingers just a minute or two later, her face contorting in beautiful bliss before she slumped back on the bed.
An inferno of need consumed me, urging me on even when I realized I should probably have given her a minute. The second I felt her spasms around my fingers stop, I withdrew my hand and kissed a hot path down her body.
She hadn’t stopped panting yet when I sealed my mouth over her, licking her clean before building her up all over again. Her thighs squeezed my head and I was pretty sure her nails were going to leave scratch marks on my back, but I didn’t give a fuck. I couldn’t care about anything except making her come again and again. As many times as I could before I lost it myself.
Anna didn’t try to stop me, but when she managed to shift into a position where she could wrap her fingers around my throbbing cock, I knew it was game over.
“Give me a second,” I whispered against her before sitting up and reaching for my wallet. Yanking a foil packet out, I tore it open with my teeth and blindly rolled the condom on before going back to her.
She watched me with heavily lidded eyes, opening her legs for me when I crawled over her. Fingers tunneling into my hair, she held my gaze when the tip of my dick nudged at her entrance. “Be gentle with me, okay?”
The Billionaire’s Second Chance: A Small Town Romance Page 15