He flipped her onto her back, gathering her wrists in his hand and pinning them to the pillow over her head. He searched her face, relieved that the lust in her eyes told him she was still onboard. He covered one of her legs with his own and placed his hand on her abdomen, sliding over her mound and between her folds again, stroking slowly. She lifted up to his hand, releasing a low moan. His mouth skimmed her breast, teasing her nipple with his tongue until she writhed under his touch.
His knee nudged her legs apart and she wrapped her leg around his back, keeping her gaze on him. Her mouth parted as she watched him with anticipation.
He wanted her now.
Releasing her hands, he lifted her ass up to meet him, then slid into her with one stroke, her tight walls squeezing around him as she took him in. He paused, waiting for his control to return.
But Holly had other ideas. She lifted up, letting him slide deeper, then grabbed his hips and pulled him even closer, squeezing around him again.
He leaned his head back and groaned. “Oh, God, Holly. You feel so good.”
She rolled her pelvis against him, and looked up at him with hooded eyes, her skin flushed.
“You’re going to kill me,” he forced out through gritted teeth. Bracing his hands on either side of her head, he lowered his mouth to her nipple.
She pulled his head up, her eyes desperate. “Don’t die yet.”
He pulled back and filled her again, and she grabbed his shoulders, her fingers digging in.
“No. Don’t stop.”
He dropped his head next to hers and let go of his control, pulling back and pushing into her over and over. He lifted up onto his forearms and watched as she came undone, her nails digging into his back as she cried out. He came seconds later, completely losing himself in the moment, losing himself in her.
Kevin collapsed on top of her and it took him too long to figure out he was crushing her. Rolling to the side, he looped his arm around her side, surprised at his need to still be close to her.
Her eyes were closed, her chest heaving as she fought to catch her breath. The sun had set, turning the glow in the room to a soft golden red. Her eyes opened slowly and she cast a cautious look toward him.
He leaned over and kissed her, still feeling the urge to be close. He stared into her emerald green eyes and he knew without a doubt this was the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.
And that was when he knew he had officially lost his mind.
Chapter Fourteen
What the hell was wrong with her? Holly had just slept with a man who was practically a stranger, yet she had no regrets. Not one. It had been the most amazing experience in her life.
But that didn’t mean she didn’t feel slightly awkward with this man she hardly knew collapsed on top of her.
And then he rolled to his side and kissed her. He could have just gotten up and left, but he gave her a kiss full of gentleness and the promise of more. More sex. More him. Possibly a relationship.
Possibly a relationship?
She was in unfamiliar territory. Was she supposed to entertain him? They’d just had a workout. Should she offer him water? Or a snack?
She decided to be honest. “Um…I’ve never done this before.”
His eyebrows lifted. “Had sex?”
“What?” She sat upright. “Oh, my God! You think I was a virgin?”
He sat up and wrapped an arm around her back. “Holly, I was teasing. I know you weren’t a virgin.”
She gasped, her face heating. “Oh, my God. Because I acted like a slut.”
“Holly! No!” He lifted his hand to her cheek, searching her eyes. “Relax. In no way, shape, or form do I think you are a slut. Yes, you were forward—”
She scrunched her eyes closed. Oh, God. She wanted to hide under the bed.
“Holly.” His voice was so insistent she cautiously opened her eyes. “You have no idea how sexy you are, do you?”
Her breath caught in her chest. Was he messing with her?
His thumb stroked her cheek. “I don’t want this to be a one-time thing.”
“You don’t?” Oh, Lord. That sounded needy.
“God, no. This was amazing. And I want to do this again.” He kissed her, his mouth more demanding than before. “Maybe soon.”
“So you’re in this just for the sex?”
His eyes widened in horror.
She laughed. “I’m the one teasing now.”
He pulled her close and kissed her again, his hand tangling in her hair, and she was surprised that she was ready to do this again right now. But she heard a noise from outside the room, so she put her hand between them, cocking her ear toward the door.
“What’s that?”
He grinned and shifted against her. “If you don’t know what that is, then maybe you were a virgin.”
She rolled her eyes. “Not that. The noise. There have been several car break-ins in the neighborhood, and I’m sure I left the front door unlocked.”
His body tensed, his smile instantly gone. “Could it be your cousin?”
She shook her head, growing more worried. “No. Killer’s barking and it’s his stranger bark. He knows the sound of her car.”
He was out of bed in an instant, reaching for his jeans. “Stay in here and leave the door shut.” His voice was low and tight.
Her pulse increased. “You think someone is really in my house?” she whispered.
He pulled up his jeans and fastened the button. “That’s what I’m going to find out.”
“Kevin, that’s crazy. I’ll just call the police.”
“They won’t get here fast enough, and there might not even be anyone down there. I’ll be right back. Stay here.”
She jumped out of bed, but he had already shut the door behind him. Her heartbeat throbbed in her temple as she padded to her dresser and pulled out an oversized T-shirt and pulled it over her head, straining to hear anything downstairs.
The door opened and she jumped, but Kevin stood in the opening, cradling the kitten, which looked tiny in his large hand. “I found your intruder.”
She pushed out a breath of relief. “I forgot about the kitten.”
“I think I owe you for a lamp he knocked over.”
She took the cat from him and cuddled it against her chest. “I’m sure we can come up with some kind of barter for it.”
“I was gone for five seconds and you covered up all the good parts.” He moved closer and cupped her bare butt cheek with his hand. A grin spread across his face. “Well, maybe not everything.”
“Are you hungry?
His eyebrows rose playfully.
“For food.”
“If it’s half as good as the lasagna, then that’s a yes.”
“How about pasta salad and turkey-avocado pita sandwiches?”
His eyes lit up. “I hardly had anything at my dinner from hell, so yes, please.”
The mention of his dinner reminded her that a woman had brought him home, yet he claimed he didn’t have a girlfriend. She wanted to ask him more, but decided that, at least for tonight, she didn’t want to know. “Then come downstairs.”
She squatted and picked up her underwear, setting the kitten on the floor, but when she stood, he took her panties and tossed them onto the bed.
“Uh-uh. I like you this way.” He grinned. “Easy access.”
She considered protesting—Melanie really could show up at any time—but the jolt of excitement that skated along her nerves decided for her. Tonight was about living dangerously and taking chances.
He snagged his shirt off the floor and followed her. When they reached the bottom, she spun around and grabbed his hand as he started to fasten the buttons. “Nope. If you get easy access, then so do I. You can wear the shirt, but no buttoning it.” To prove her point, she placed her free hand on his stomach, her fingertips tracing along his abdomen. She couldn’t believe she was touching him so freely, so wantonly. She’d always held back in her previous relation
ships. She barely knew Kevin, yet he made her feel safe and confident to explore him.
He grabbed her hand and held it still against his chest. “If we’re eating, then you better stop touching me or I’ll give you your fantasy on the counter.”
Her breath stuck in her chest as her core throbbed at the image in her head, but he’d said he hadn’t eaten much earlier. Better to feed him so he wouldn’t be distracted later.
She’d had no idea she had this wanton side, but she liked it. She didn’t want to question it. He was still holding her hand, so she tugged him toward the kitchen.
“You go sit down,” she said as she pulled a plate from the fridge.
“Are you eating, too?”
“Yeah, I didn’t have dinner yet.” She grabbed two forks from the drawer and handed him one. “Bon appetit.”
He picked up one of the pita sandwiches and took a bite. “I’m not sure this is possible, but I think it’s better than the lasagna.”
“I keep telling Mel she’s wasting her time bartending. She needs to open a restaurant.”
“Or become a private chef.”
She laughed. “She’s into taking chances lately—she might actually try it if you suggested it to her.”
“So if she takes chances, I’m guessing you like to play it safe.”
She stopped, fork midway to her mouth. She considered protesting, but what was the point? “We’re both scarred from the same incident, yet we’ve handled it very differently.” When his eyebrows rose in question, she continued. “I already told you that we’re cousins. Our fathers were brothers, and our parents were together when their car was hit by a semi on the highway. Grandma Barb took us both in and raised us.”
Sympathy filled his eyes. “Holly, I’m sorry.”
“I was five. Mel was six. I barely remember them.”
“I’m sorry for that, too.”
She shook her head. “I don’t feel sorry for myself.”
He watched her. “I would have guessed that about you.”
Laughing, she shook her head. “There’s no way you could have guessed that.”
“You’d be surprised.”
She wasn’t sure what he saw, but she felt the need to set him straight. “This”—she waved her hand between them—“is very unlike me.”
He grinned. “I guessed that, too.”
He didn’t say the same, not that she expected him to. But it made her feel relieved that she’d gone into this with eyes wide open.
She lifted her sandwich off the plate. “So what made you buy the Miller house?”
“My sister bought it for me.”
She paused, midbite. “Wait. You never saw the house?”
“Nope. I told her to buy me a house that would make me a profit when I sold it in a year or two, and this is what I got.”
“You didn’t know it was a money pit?”
“No. But knowing my little sister, she’s up to something. I just haven’t figured what it is yet.”
“So she’s conniving?”
“Not as conniving as my mother, and she usually chooses to use her power for good instead of evil.” He grinned. “But enough about my family and my money pit. I want to know more about you.”
She hesitated. If she told him she was a wedding planner, he might turn around and run. She’d been on a few dates since starting her job, and commitment-phobe men tended to think that she must be desperate to plan her own wedding. She suspected Kevin wouldn’t be like that, but she really liked him. She didn’t want to screw this up before it even began. “After our parents died, Melanie and I moved in with Grandma Barb, who had only been widowed a year.”
“Was it hard for her to take in two little girls?”
“No.” She gave him a soft smile. “She was so devastated about losing her two sons that I think having the two of us helped with her grief. And we needed her. She was a very loving and affectionate grandmother.”
“Was?”
Her eyes burned. “She’s been in Happy Dale Retirement Community for the last year with dementia. She’s herself a lot, but sometimes she doesn’t even know who I am.”
“What about other grandparents? Cousins?”
“She and Melanie are all that I have left.” She realized how pathetic she sounded. Time to change the subject. “But I have a job I love even if I have the boss from hell. I’m happy.” Mostly.
“How did your boss earn her title?”
“Boss from hell?” she asked with a grin. “I can’t do anything right in her eyes—at least not for the last few months—yet she loves to try to take credit when I do something well. I was sure she was going to fire me yesterday. She had a big client coming in, but she showed up fifteen minutes late. I had to keep them occupied until she got there and they started asking questions.” She sighed. “The next thing I knew, they wanted me to do the job. As expected, she was furious, even though, as the owner, she’s still making a lot of money.”
“It’s not your fault she couldn’t show up on time. She should be grateful you salvaged it.”
“She doesn’t see it that way. But I’m there to gain experience, then I’m quitting and starting my own business. If all goes well with this big job, it might happen sooner rather than later.” Curiosity filled his eyes, and she knew he was about to ask what she did. Time to change the subject. “How much work have you gotten done on your house?”
He shook his head. “Not much.”
“Do you have a plan?”
He laughed. “Other than gut the kitchen and bathroom, put in an air conditioner and a furnace, and repaint everything, no.”
She grinned. “Would you like me to take a look?”
“Sure.”
She started to walk past him, but he looped his arm around her waist and pulled her next to him. “Whoa. Where are you going?”
“To get dressed so I can look at your house.”
He slowly shook his head, a sexy smile lighting up his face. “My house isn’t going anywhere. We can look at it tomorrow. I have better plans for now.” His arm wrapped tight around her back and pulled her to his bare chest. She fell into him, and his mouth captured hers, kissing her senseless.
He leaned back and looked into her eyes. “Holly.”
She lifted her gaze, still dazed by his kiss.
“I really like you. I want to see what happens between us.”
“Me, too.”
He brushed a strand of hair from her cheek, staring into her eyes. As she watched him, something tightened in her chest.
“Are you still hungry?” she asked
A grin spread across his face. “You have no idea.”
“I can make you something else.”
“Everything I want is right in front of me.”
Holly was thinking the exact same thing. And that scared her more than she liked to admit.
Chapter Fifteen
Kevin woke to find Holly still asleep, lying on her side facing him. The kitten was batting at his head, and he picked it up and put it down at his feet, but it decided it was playtime. The clock read close to seven thirty, which meant the cat had been good longer than could be expected. If nothing else, the thing needed its litter box.
After three rounds of sex, he knew Holly was exhausted. She’d gotten worried when her cousin hadn’t come home, but she’d finally gotten a text that her cousin was spending the night with her boyfriend. Which made him regret not insisting on taking her on the counter.
He slid out of bed and stepped into his jeans, then hurriedly shoved his arms into his shirtsleeves. The kitten had discovered Holly’s hair and was about to pounce on it when he scooped it up and carried it downstairs.
A dark-headed woman sat at the kitchen counter, nursing a cup of coffee. She turned her head to look at him, a slow smile spreading across her face.
“Please tell me you live next door.”
He cocked his head. “Um…yes?”
“So was it the pasta salad or the pita sandwich that w
on you over?”
“Excuse me?”
“Last night’s dinner. I made it for Holly to take to you.”
He smiled. “She won me over before I even saw the dinner.”
“She’s a good person and she’s been through a lot. She deserves a great guy, if you get what I’m saying.”
“I’m not sure if I’m a great guy, but I do want to get to know her better and I have no intention of hurting her.”
“I suppose that’s all you can promise, isn’t it?” There was a sharp edge in her voice, which he suspected had nothing to do with him and Holly. She stood and walked to the sink with her coffee cup, wobbling slightly. “There’s definitely no promises in life.”
“Are you okay?”
“No. But thanks for asking.” She enunciated her words like a drunk person trying to appear sober. “I’m going to bed.”
She walked past him, over to the dining room table, glancing down at the papers spread across the top. “The wedding’s going to be gorgeous.”
“Excuse me?”
“Her wedding. It looks a lot like the ones she used to plan when we were little.”
She was planning her wedding? He walked over to the table and, sure enough, there were pictures of cakes and flowers and dresses scattered around. If she wasn’t planning a wedding, she was definitely obsessed with one.
Holly’s cousin started for the stairs, but then Kevin remembered her earlier remark and called after her, “You said you made dinner for Holly to bring to me?”
“Yeah. I pushed her to take you the lasagna, but last night’s dinner was all her. She called me and told me she wanted to use it to win you over.”
His eyes sank closed and disappointment washed over him. He’d thought she was normal. He could have sworn she was normal. Yet she’d begun planning her wedding—their wedding—before they’d even slept together.
He’d broken his six-month ban to sleep with a crazy woman. This was a disaster.
The kitten squirmed on his arm. “I have to take the cat to do its business and get to work.”
“On a Saturday?” she asked at the bottom of the steps, sounding skeptical.
“Yeah. New job and all.”
“Yeah…right…”
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