Misters of Love: A Small Town Romance Boxset

by Piper Sullivan

  “Bullshit,” he spat the word angrily and cupped my face. “I already told you I wasn’t interested in Clara,” he said, turning me to face him no matter how much I squirmed to avoid looking directly into that green gaze. “Something is going on, with you and between us, and we both know it. I can get it out of you now, if you like.” Scott leaned forward until his lips were on the delicate skin of my neck, up to my chin and then my mouth for a hot but too-short kiss. “Or I can take my time and get it out of you later.”

  “Later’s good.” Later allowed me at least a few hours to get my head screwed on right, so I could enjoy another night in bed with Scott. Later gave me plenty of time to take these mixed-up emotions and ball them up and shove them deep down into a box that would be taped, locked, and sealed with a fingerprint scan, never to be opened again.

  Then I would be free to just enjoy the simple pleasure of being with Scott for as long as it lasted.

  “Then later it is,” he whispered in my ear, letting out a deep chuckle when his words produced a shiver.

  “Good.” I stood and straightened my super casual office attire of jeans and a T-shirt. “Great. Perfect.”

  “Excellent,” he added, amusement coloring his tone.

  “Superb,” I shot back and pushed away from him and the table, standing so I could get some fresh air before the next round of people and animals arrived.

  “Stevie?”

  I stopped inside the doorway and turned to Scott’s handsome face and full-watt smile. “Yeah?”

  He stood and bridged the gap between us, looking me right in the eyes with a gravely serious expression. “I really can’t wait until later.”

  My lips curled into a reluctant smile as I revealed my own truth. “Me either, Scott.” Me either, damn you.

  Scott

  “When you said later, I thought there would be more nudity involved.” Stevie’s grumbled words did nothing to ruin my good mood. She’d shown up and she’d made an effort, so the frustrated way she stabbed at the pile of buttery mashed potatoes on her plate and shoved them in her mouth with an erotic groan only made my smile widen. “Great food. Seriously lacking on the nudity, though.”

  Her complaint teased a laugh out of me and I shook my head, wondering if I’d ever had so much fun with a woman before taking her to bed. “I’ll make it up to you, I promise.”

  It was a promise I couldn’t wait to fulfill—hell, I’d spent the better part of the afternoon daydreaming, fantasizing about all the ways I would make her scream. Moan. Cry. And, most of all, to make her forget whatever she thought she had seen in my office earlier today. Though it had been nice to see that flash of jealousy and to think it was genuine, and about me. “But first, we have more planned before we go home.”

  Home. That word felt more like Stevie than the four walls of my house, the property that surrounded it, and even the town it was located in. Between her and Hershey, my house hadn’t been so full and so noisy in… ever.

  “More food?” Her violet eyes practically bugged out of her head and her hand immediately went to her stomach. “Any more food and the only thing we’ll be doing tonight is falling asleep on the sofa like a couple of old folks.”

  I laughed again and shook my head, ignoring the warmth that spread through me at her words. It should have been more concerning to me that curling up on the sofa with this woman didn’t sound so bad—in fact, it sounded pretty damn incredible. But Stevie wasn’t ready to hear that yet. “I might be willing to risk it just to watch you eat some more.”

  Stevie arched a brow playfully. “Licking barbecue sauce off my fingers like an animal does it for you? Good to know.” To make her point, she leaned in and slipped the tip of her thumb into her mouth, giving a pronounced suck before she pulled it back with a satisfied grin. A teasing grin. “Interesting.”

  “It does do it for me, Stevie. In a big damn way. In fact, I’m thinking of picking up a bottle before we leave. For later.” I didn’t miss the flare of heat in her gaze or the way her pink tongue reached out to wet her lips.

  Stevie shook the moment of connection, of sexual tension, off with a smile. “I’m glad you didn’t choose some fancy place. This food is really good, and there’s more than enough of it.”

  A proud smile spread across my face at her words. All day, I’d gone back and forth between Reese’s BBQ and one of the nice places on the edge of town, but Stevie was a simple girl who appreciated simple yet complex flavors. Like me, I think. “Then eat up, we’ve got plenty of time to work off some calories before we head home.”

  There was answering heat in her eyes, but more importantly there was a flush every time I said home, and I had a sneaky suspicion that meant even more to her. “Work off calories, you say?” Her attempt at innocence pulled another laugh from me and when Stevie excused herself to the bathroom, I took care of the bill and bought a bottle of Reese’s branded sauce, just to get a rise out of Stevie.

  When she returned to the table, I stood and wondered how in the hell we’d gotten here. How had this petite woman with so much attitude come to mean so much to me? What was it about Stevie that had captured my attention, when no one had in ages? “Are we gonna use that here, or are we heading out?”

  Stevie stood beside the table with a sweater wrapped around her shoulders, blocking her tattoos from sight, and I blinked. “I’m not opposed to using it here, but Reese might have something to say about it.”

  Her lips twitched and she shook her head, amused and blushing as she headed towards the exit. “So, where to next, captain?”

  “Captain?”

  She nodded. “You’re in charge here. For now,” she added on a rushed breath. “For now.”

  ‘For now’ was all I needed to get to the next step. Now that I was absolutely certain about what I wanted, there was no reason to delay or hesitate. Stevie was right here, primed, and all I had to do was play my cards right. “I can handle for now, Stevie,” I told her as I helped her into the car and buckled her seatbelt. “There. All safe.”

  “Th-th-thanks,” she stuttered and I pressed a soft, slow kiss right on those perfect lips before stepping back and closing the door. By the time I got settled behind the wheel, I had my body mostly under control. “So, where are we headed?”

  “Someplace guaranteed to get your heart rate pumping and put a smile on your face.”

  She looked across the car at me with a sultry grin. “Promises, promises.”

  Was it too late to turn back around and head straight to my place? It wasn’t, and the heat in her eyes told me she wouldn’t be opposed, but that was for later. I had a plan and next, after food, was fun. Get Stevie good and relaxed before I took my moment.

  “You surprise me, Scotty.” Stevie looked up at me after three grueling games of air hockey. “This doesn’t seem like your kind of place, and you’ve been a good sport so far.”

  I huffed out a laugh and wrapped an arm around her. “You’re only saying that because you wiped the floor with me.” Another thing I’d learned about Stevie was that she had a wicked competitive streak. “I think we ought to play darts next, or something that plays to my strengths.”

  “Because you’re tall?” When I nodded, she let out a loud laugh that drew the attention of several other couples. “Let’s see about that, then!”

  For the next few hours we bounced from game to game, competing like there was some big prize to be won aside from bundles of tickets and oversized, overstuffed animals. “I think it’s safe to say that darts is my game.”

  One look at my smug smile and Stevie shook her head. “I’ll give it to you, but only because you were a good sport about losing skee-ball. And pool. And Pac-Man. What shall I beat you in next?” With an over-the-top stroking of her shin, Stevie looked around the vast entertainment complex and sighed. “Basketball?”

  I didn’t know if she was taking pity on me or what, but I appreciated the softness in her eyes and the way her hand grabbed onto my bicep. And I really appreciated the way her
breasts pressed against my arm and she leaned against me as we made our way to the row of basketball hoops. “I guess we’re gonna shoot some hoops. Unless you’re a ringer?”

  The laugh she sent my way was enough to send any red-blooded man to the emergency room—and I was a professional, I knew all the signs. Shortness of breath. Elevated pulse. Dizziness. Numb and tingling fingers. A complete and total lack of control. I had it bad. “Not a ringer, no. But I do all right. Scared?”

  “Terrified,” I admitted.

  “Don’t worry, Scotty.” She gave my chest a sympathetic pat and I laid my hand over hers, letting her feel the rapid pace of my heart under her fingertips. “I’ll go easy on you.”

  I would have loved nothing more than to say I bested Stevie at basketball, but the woman was formidable and she didn’t like to lose. And worse, she didn’t give up. “Was that taking it easy on me?”

  Stevie looked at me, then at her scoreboard and then mine, and back to me. “Apparently it was, since you beat me by two hundred points.” She sounded upset, but the glowing smile on her face suggested otherwise. “Good job.”

  “Thanks.”

  “I should thank you, this was an excellent date. Probably one of the best I ever had. So, thanks.” Stevie seemed uncharacteristically shy in that moment as she pushed up on her tiptoes and pressed her soft lips to mine. The kiss was sweet, almost gentle and shy as her lips touched mine in caresses that grew in intensity with every pass of her tongue. The kiss quickly heated up and her soon her fingers sifted through my hair as my hands gripped her hips. The kiss threatened to explode right there in front of the row of basketball hoops and digital displays.

  I pulled back with wide eyes and a thumping heart, surprised again by my reaction to this woman. “Well.”

  “Right?” She let out a nervous laugh and went in for another kiss that sent my senses reeling, and my knees damn near buckled in the middle of the gaming complex. “Yeah, wow is right.”

  Damn this woman and her incredible words. “Thanks,” I told her with an amused laugh and clasped our hands together as I led her out to the car so we could go home where I could really show her just how much she meant to me.

  Stevie

  “Is this the part where you kiss me good night and send me on my way?” It felt like my heart had been replaced by an entire marching band, beating loud, fast, and erratically as I stood in the middle of Scott’s bedroom. Naked. Teasing him.

  I couldn’t deny that the way he looked at me in that moment, like I was the best damn thing he’d ever seen, was… intoxicating. It was thrilling. Just the look of desire in his eyes made me feel like the sexiest woman alive.

  “Do I look like an idiot to you?” His lips kicked up to one side in a teasing grin, one brow arched in question.

  “Well, with your mouth hanging open like that,” I began and let the rest of that thought linger between us. Unspoken.

  Scott’s laugh came out rich and full-throated, the kind that startled you a bit before it became so contagious you couldn’t fight it if you wanted to. And I definitely didn’t want to. “You’re standing in front of me wearing nothing but a scrap of purple that’s being passed off as panties and a pair of high heels—how else should I be looking at you?”

  Exactly like that. “For starters, I think you should be looking at me from a lot closer than this.” Less than ten feet separated us, but it was still too far. My body pulsed with need for this particular man and now, with him just out of reach, it damn near vibrated. “Closer than that.”

  His grin spread and I felt it all throughout my body, warming down to the deepest parts of me as he stepped closer, his green eyes growing darker and darker the closer he came. One hand went to the curve of my waist, sliding up and down that crescent until I shivered, while the other speared through my hair and pulled me close. “Is this close enough?”

  “It’s a good start.”

  His mouth crashed down on mine, sweet and hot at the same time and I clung to his big shoulders as the kiss went on and on, deepening and changing several times before I had to come up for air. Unfortunately.

  “A damn good start,” I amended. He was so big and so wide, I tried to climb his big body.

  “Glad you approve.” His tone was amused and I smiled, happy to see the playful Scott show up tonight. Not just now, in the bedroom, but earlier for our date, too. I didn’t expect he would be able to buck expectations and have a low-key date at a barbecue joint and a big ass arcade, but he’d jumped in with both feet and we’d both had a great time.

  “I do,” I told him with a sassy smile before he tossed me on the bed and crawled up after me. “But it was so long ago I’ve almost forgot—” His kiss cut off the rest of the words and it was just fine by me because he tasted like Dr. Pepper and chocolate and sugar, because he’d been unable to resist the funnel cake sundae. He devoured my mouth as quickly as he’d devoured the sundae, both times leaving me vibrating with need. And squirming in wet panties.

  He pulled back and smiled down at me, green eyes dark and smiling, promising plenty of pleasure to come, and I felt my gut clench hard and my chest suddenly felt tight. Too tight. “Don’t fight it.” Scott whispered the words in my ear and then took his time making sure he pleasured every inch of my skin with his tongue. And I didn’t fight it. In fact, I didn’t just not fight it, I reveled in it. I closed my eyes and arched into him, licked my suddenly dry lips and tangled one hand in his hair until he was too far away to touch.

  “Scott.” As if I could forget who made me feel this way. This man who was smart and kind and funny even when he was being bossy and judgmental. This man who seemed amused when I brought out my bitch card and gave as good as he got, forgiving easily. Quickly. As if I could ever possibly forget this man who, I was pretty damn sure, I was in love with.

  “I can’t hear you.” His words were muffled and when I looked down at him, those smiling green eyes were staring right back at me. Daring me. Teasing me.

  He slipped two thick fingers inside of me at the same time his lips closed around my clit and I was lost for I don’t know how long as the orgasm worked its way to the surface in long, languid waves. Scott didn’t let up, though, and continued to lavish that talented tongue on me until I couldn’t tell if it was one orgasm or two. “Scott!”

  His killer grin was my ultimate undoing. When he sat up and flashed a smile slick with my juices and there was something in his eyes that looked like more than lust, I lost it in a violent wave of erotic convulsions. “Fucking beautiful,” I thought I heard him mutter but I was too lost to ecstasy to be sure.

  I was trapped in my own thoughts and feelings, wondering if it was smart to keep going down this path. The intelligent thing would probably be to push him away and run off like a scared little maiden, embarrassed but with my heart intact. But Scott’s lips worked their way up my body and I wasn’t all that concerned with the smart thing.

  Only the thing that felt good.

  And Scott felt damn good. So good that I ached for him even as he slowly entered me, his gaze laser focused on mine so I couldn’t look away. I could only stare at the play of colors in his eyes as his pleasure turned wild, the way his handsome features morphed into something dark and appealing when he was buried deep. “Stevie.”

  That was it, just my name. I smiled and wrapped my legs around his waist and decided that, for tonight, I would embrace this feeling. I wouldn’t be terrified of it and I wouldn’t run from it and try to put any distance between me and Scott, not while our bodies were tangled up like they were now. I embraced it, languished in pretending that this was more than the erotic event of my life as his hips worked in slow circles to drive me to the brink of insanity. I let myself believe it was love I saw shining in his eyes as he gripped my hips tight enough to bruise and pounded into me, harder and faster than I’d ever felt before. “Yes,” I whispered, because my throat was too choked up with emotions to shout.

  Scott changed his pace, keeping me guessing until my
body simply took over, knowing instinctively what to do while my mind scrambled with unwanted emotions. “Fuck, Stevie!” His words came out on a harsh whisper as his tongue licked from my belly button all the way up to lips, his hips in constant motion as another orgasm welled up inside of me. “Yes!”

  I didn’t know if that was pride or satisfaction and I didn’t care, at least I didn’t think I cared. My body was nothing more than a mass of nerves, a bundle of feelings and they were firing on overdrive. As pleasure swamped my body, so did love and confusion and even a little bit of hate directed at yours truly. It was too much, but as every ounce of pleasure poured out of my body, I couldn’t look away from the way Scott looked at me. It was real. It was genuine. It was… love.

  It couldn’t be, I knew that, but the hormones pumping through my body as orgasm number three or maybe number four overwhelmed me, it really felt like it. So, I did the only thing I could and slammed my eyes shut, allowing my body to absorb the memories of this night together.

  Scott rolled us over so I was on top and I grinned. This would be the perfect way to remember this night, with me in control of his pleasure. I sat up straight and let out a long, low groan as my entire body pulsed with pleasure. “Oh, Scott!”

  “Perfect,” he growled and gripped my hips, his gaze focused exactly where it should be—on my boobs. Not my face. This way, I could watch him with his face twisted in raw desire as he chased down the pleasure I kept just out of reach. “Stevie,” he growled, and it sent another shiver through me.

  “Yes?” My hands went to Scott’s massive chest and his green eyes were unavoidable as I began to slide up and down, faster and faster until his head fell back and his eyes closed a moment before his grip tightened.

  “Oh, Stevie, oh fuck! Yes!” I went on and on, feeling another orgasm welling up inside me of me as Scott pumped his pleasure into my body. I felt like I was soaring, like actual euphoria was coursing through me, and I rode out the wave, risking another glance at Scott who smiled up at me as the last jerking convulsion tore through him.