Sarah nodded, her focus back where she loved it most. On work. She’d done some extra work for Sean the week before. Challenging work. Exciting work. And if he was looking for more of the same, she was all in. “You bet.”
* * *
Max made it until 6:42 Monday night before he broke down and gave in to the need that had been eating at him since Sarah closed her door on Saturday night. Pulling his phone from the beat-up jeans he’d thrown on after work, he took the stairs two at a time to the second floor and brought up Sarah’s contact info. The front room had a bay window with a built-in bench he liked for kicking back. Sitting down, he hit Send and waited three rings for what he’d been thinking way too much about.
“Max,” she answered, her voice stirring a hundred images of the smile behind that single word.
“How was your day, Sarah?” he asked, knowing she’d had a full one, complete with a visit from his little sister and a morning stalk by Sean.
“Entertaining would probably cover it.” He liked that she didn’t sound put off. “How do you manage to date at all with these people in your life?”
He let out a gruff laugh. “Honestly, I don’t do a lot of dating. Which is the only explanation I can offer for the feeding frenzy with my friends and family. You’re a bit of an anomaly in terms of my romantic life.”
“Hmm.” She drew out the sound like a sigh. “Lucky me.”
“Pretty sure I’m the lucky one.” For a lot of reasons. The first being that this woman was giving him the time of day. The second that she wanted something from him that would hopefully compensate for his overenthusiastic friends’ obnoxious behavior.
“Do you ever not have a smooth line?” she asked with a melodic laugh.
It wasn’t a line. Not that she’d believe him if he told her, so instead he asked, “For real though, how bad was it?”
The canopy of leaves rustled in the wind outside his window, and as he waited for her answer, he wondered if she’d like this view as much as he did.
“Sean was in rare form. He seems to think you’re the key to keeping me in Chicago. I tried to set him straight when he met me at the elevator this morning, but he was back in the afternoon trying to pimp you out again.”
Max coughed. “Shit, and here I thought Molly was the one I’d be apologizing for.”
“Oh, she is. Definitely.” Sarah laughed. “She wanted to know if I was hiding Shangri-la between my legs.”
“What?”
“Because apparently only a fabled wonder like that would be enough to keep her brother on the hook.”
Jesus. He got that Molly didn’t have a whole lot of experience dealing with the women he dated. But come on. Some things were just obvious.
“I’ll talk to her. Ask her to back off a little.” A lot. Like keep at least fifty yards between them.
“I took care of it,” Sarah announced easily, a singsong quality to her voice that sounded like gloating.
He was almost afraid to ask. “Umm, how?”
“I told her I was so excited to have a girlfriend to share all my intimate details with.” He was pretty sure that was a delicate snort he heard coming through the line. “Then I explained that I hadn’t been with a lot of guys, but from an anatomy standpoint—”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold on there a second, Sarah.”
“And that’s exactly where she stopped me too. But just to make sure she backed off, I told her I had an appointment to get waxed, and, well, suddenly, she had an emergency shift to cover at Belfast.”
Max choked on his laughter, unable to reconcile the relentless sweetheart he knew and liked a hell of a lot with the demon who’d gotten the upper hand with his little sister. He might even like her more.
Rubbing the center of his chest, he leaned back into the wall. “Who are you?”
“Me? Why I’m the same girl you used to walk home from the library. Just all grown up, with a handful of years learning how to make the business world bend to my whims. Why, don’t you like it?”
Max grinned. “I think I like it a hell of a lot.” Then, because he couldn’t help but ask, “So you’re getting a wax?”
* * *
“It’s hump day,” Piper stated from where she was lying on her stomach on Sarah’s bed, knees bent, her feet scissoring above her. “But I’m guessing it’s too much to hope that’ll be what happens with your date.”
Sarah adjusted her orange bandana-style halter top and then leaned into the mirror to check her light makeup. Her hair was pinned up in a sexy, loose bun with a few tendrils hanging around her face, and plain gold studs adorned her ears. Max had said he was taking her on the perfect summer date, so she’d opted for a white eyelet skirt that flowed around her knees and a pair of canvas wedge sandals.
“This says summer date, right?” she asked, doing a little turn for Piper, who readily agreed.
“It says summer date that doesn’t involve you getting any.” She might still be a little sore about Sarah’s flat-out refusal to let her test-drive Max’s mouth, but she’d get over it.
“So can you clarify this setup for me again? He’s sort of wooing you. Building the romance and anticipation, so it will be all off the charts when you finally get down and dirty. But it’s just a favor. And you think it’s going to be over once you get your V-card punched.”
Sarah blotted her lips and then turned to lean back against the dresser. “That’s what we agreed to.”
“But if it’s a vacation fling,” Piper pouted, “why couldn’t it at least go the distance of the vacation?”
Part of Sarah found some appeal in that. Especially after the way she and Max had been talking the last couple of nights, sharing long conversations that never felt old. He made her laugh. He made her feel good. And she liked it. But anything more, she didn’t know. It was probably smart to keep things limited to their original arrangement, not that Max had given her the first clue he’d been thinking about extending it. But even if he had, sticking to the two weeks felt smart. Then they’d have the rest of the summer to hang out as friends if they wanted, and by the time she left for New York, there wouldn’t be any sting left at all.
Max arrived on time, looking incredibly hot in a pair of cargo shorts and a polo T-shirt, and Sarah was practically salivating at the sight of him when Piper casually commented she’d heard Max was quite the kisser.
“Piper!” Sarah coughed, immediately trying to usher Max out of the apartment.
To his credit, Max wasn’t the least bit fazed and, stopping with a hand against the doorframe, winked back. “I try.”
It was too much. Sarah made it as far as the stairwell before doubling over with laughter.
“What?” Max demanded, his grin spreading wide as he watched her.
“I try,” she mimicked, lowering her voice to where it cracked, and she burst out laughing again. “And here I thought you were just a natural.”
Catching her by the wrist, Max reeled her back in to him and looked down into her eyes, a sexy smile playing on his lips. “I might be. But that doesn’t mean I’m not giving you my best effort.”
Her laughter died.
He had the most beautiful eyes.
“You with the lines.” She sounded a little weak even to her own ears, and Max certainly didn’t miss it. The corner of his lips curved higher as he lowered his mouth to hers and gave her a slow, sweet, lingering kiss. A confident kiss. An effortless kiss.
A toe-curling, set-her-body-on-fire kiss that ended with her back against the stairwell wall and her fingers balled in the front of his shirt—way too soon.
When she looked up at him again, she was breathless. “Now you’re just showing off.”
Casting her a mischievous look, he set a hand on her lower back as they started down the stairs. “Not yet, I’m not.”
The warning or promise landed low in the pit o
f her stomach, the weight of it doing things to her body even that kiss hadn’t done. All she could think was just wow.
Being the typical guy that he was, Max couldn’t let the kissing thing go. On the ride over to the Diversey Driving Range, Sarah noticed him staring at her while they were stopped at a light. When she asked what he was thinking, he replied, “Just contemplating my tongue-to-lips ratio.” She’d swatted his arm, fighting a giggle with everything she had as he turned back to the road and deadpanned, “What? It matters.”
At the range, it got even worse. Or maybe it got better, since Sarah couldn’t deny the fun she was having.
They picked up a bucket of balls and claimed the tees closest to Lake Shore Drive. There were a handful of other golfers filling a few spots farther down the row, but for the most part, their backs were to her and Max as they lined up to swing. Which meant it was almost like they were isolated. Good thing, as Max was intent on “helping her with her form,” regardless of her drives soaring long and straight down the center of the range, while he was shanking one after another. Still he came up behind her, wrapping that big body of his around her so they were pressed together in the most intimate way.
He felt so good.
“So you were talking about my kissing, hmm?” he asked again, fishing for details.
“I might have said it was okay after our last date.” Someone needed to take this guy down a peg or two. Though based on the gruff laugh, warm and genuine, it clearly wasn’t going to be her. Not that she minded.
Truth, Max’s cocksure attitude had always appealed to her a little more than it should have.
“You’re asking for it, Sarah.”
She was. Definitely. Whatever it was. Before she could ask him to clarify, he was leaning even closer.
“Here, baby, let’s try a few like this,” he offered, his arms bracketing hers from behind, the heat of his muscled chest and thighs soaking into her from her shoulders to her knees. They held the club together, drawing back for the backswing and then rotating through on the first of several practice swings.
Max turned his chin into her neck, nuzzling closer. His breath washed over her cheek and jaw, sending chills gliding down her arms. Making her edge ever so slightly deeper into his hold.
“That’s good,” he rumbled against her ear. The sound of his voice so close was intoxicating.
She tried to focus. “That swing wouldn’t have even made contact with the ball.”
Max’s smile spread against her skin. “I couldn’t care less about golf, Sarah. If I did, I’d have you give me lessons—which maybe I’ll be able to convince you to do once I stop looking for excuses to get my hands all over you every minute we’re together.”
The lines from this guy! As if she wasn’t a sure thing. As if she wasn’t the one who’d all but begged him for sex. But damn, if those lines didn’t work.
Max moved his hands from where she gripped her driver and settled them over her hips like he was showing her more about that swing. Only she was pretty sure traditional lessons didn’t include the instructor’s hands roving down and forward, flexing against the student’s thighs. Just like the quiet moans she was trying to stifle when Max nuzzled closer and sucked against the skin beneath her ear probably wouldn’t be deemed appropriate in an actual instructional setting either. Good thing they were just having fun.
“Max,” she whispered, needing more than what they could have there at the far end of the range.
Her plea fell on deaf ears, because suddenly Max was straightening behind her and taking a step back. The rush of wind off the lake touched all the places that had been warm only seconds ago, and she ached—actually ached—for more of the teasing touch he’d just given her.
He was right. She’d be out of her mind with need by the time she finally convinced Max she was ready.
* * *
Max was seriously about to bust a nut. Right there. At the Diversey Driving Range.
Like he was fifteen fucking years old.
But damn, Sarah got to him. She thought he was throwing her line after line, but she had no idea. All that over-the-top mush gurgling out of his mouth every time he opened it was exactly what he’d been thinking, feeling. Sure, he tried to play it cool and return to the controlled guy he liked to be, but he kept finding himself slipping. Saying too many of the things he thought out loud.
What was really crazy? He liked it. A lot.
“Want another bucket, or should we get out of here?” Max asked when they’d gone through all the balls.
Handing over her club, Sarah pushed to her toes and whispered in his ear. “I’m ready for anything.”
Max laughed, leaning in to her as he returned the clubs. “You’re really good. You play a lot for work?”
“Some. But I grew up on the back side of a golf course, so I learned pretty early. But you’ve got potential,” she offered, flashing him one of those smiles that went straight to his groin. “With practice, who knows? A year from now, maybe I’ll blow back through town and you’ll spank me with your long game.”
Was she trying to talk dirty, or was it just him?
When a guy was trying to keep a lid on his libido, there were certain things he really shouldn’t hear. References to spanking in any capacity were among them. Because then he started to think about Sarah peering back over her smooth bare shoulder at him, her hair spilling around her arms, teeth dug into her bottom lip as he—
“Or maybe I’ll practice too,” she said with an impish glint in her eyes, “and bring you to your knees again.”
And now he was thinking about going down on his knees in front of her, pushing that pretty white skirt out of the way and licking his way up the silky length of her thigh. Pressing his mouth to where her panties were—
Sarah cleared her throat, jerking Max out of the mouthwatering fantasy that was going to have to wait for a later date.
“Sorry, what’s that?” he asked, feeling like he’d just gotten busted with wood in science class, but determined to play it cool anyway.
“I was just asking what you wanted to do next. This was so much fun, but it’s still early. So maybe we could go…” She waved a helpless hand as that pretty pink he’d never get used to pushed into her cheeks. Damn, he wanted to take her someplace. Piper would be at her apartment, and his house wasn’t fit for Sarah. So maybe a hotel. Yeah, another big bed like the one he’d had her on that first night. Not the mattress on the floor in the corner of his living room.
But this was only date number two.
“I’ve got a place,” he said finally, taking her hand and leading her back toward the car. It wasn’t the kind of place she was thinking of, but as far as sticking to the plan went, it suited his needs to a T.
* * *
“Oh, Max, this is amazing,” Sarah breathed against his ear. Considering where his hand was, he hoped she wasn’t talking about the view of the skyline from the spot he’d claimed for them on the strip of park in front of the Planetarium. “Max!”
Damn, he liked the broken, needy sound of that.
He’d brought a couple of woven blankets from the car and laid one out on the grass to sit on, while wrapping the other around them. When they first arrived, Sarah sat in the vee of his legs, leaning back into his chest as they talked about nothing and everything, the words between them easier than they ever were with the women he hooked up with.
It was strange, but as bad as he wanted to get his mouth on her again, he didn’t want to give up the talk. He didn’t want to sacrifice the sound of her laughter or the way she teased him. So he’d appeased himself by touching her as the conversation continued. Stroking the length of her arm, running his lips against her shoulder. Testing the softness of her skirt between his fingers before finding the smooth skin of her thigh beneath and testing the softness there as well.
It was like nothing he’d felt be
fore.
And then she’d gone and done it, followed his lead by letting her fingertips brush over the backs of his hands as he touched her. Tracing the lightest patterns over his forearms. Letting her words trail off as she shifted just enough so they could do more than talk.
“Jesus, your mouth is making me insane, Sarah,” he swore, rubbing his lips back and forth over hers as his hand smoothed over her belly, his thumb brushing her ribs just beneath her breasts. “You’re so damned soft.”
They were wrapped in the blanket, and while no one would doubt they were kissing, there wasn’t any outward evidence of what else was happening beneath.
“Max,” she half moaned as his hand pushed higher to cup the swell of her breast. It was perfect, just filling his palm with nothing to waste, her nipple peaked hard like a tight bead beneath that sexy-as-fuck halter thing she had on.
He kneaded her gently as he sucked at her lips and played with her tongue. Drowned in the wetness of her mouth.
Finding his thigh as she braced herself with an arm behind her, she squeezed, her fingers digging into his muscle as he thumbed that taut bead again and again. He drank in her whimpers and quiet cries, forcing himself to hold back when all he wanted to do was grab her hip and pull her around so she was straddling him. So he could rock into her heat and—
Christ, the fantasy just degenerated from there, with visions of panties and bandana fabric flying in all directions, pretty white skirts ripped up the front, and his cock there where he wanted it most.
How the hell was he going to make it through another date without taking her?
Chapter 13
“You seem a little off. Everything okay, Sarah?”
The question came from Sean as they rode the elevator up from the parking level.
She grimaced, hating that her DEFCON 1–level frustration was apparent to her boss. But maybe she could learn from this. “What gave me away?”
The Wedding Date Bargain Page 14