He wasn’t sure where he wanted this to go. To his bed would be nice, but he felt that he knew Zoe well enough to gage that she wasn’t ready for that step. He wasn’t sure if he was truly either. But he was willing to see just what his limits with her were. Needing to really feel her skin on his, Colton ran his hands down her back and slowly hitched up the back of her button-down top. She pressed herself against him and sighed as his fingers moved over her skin; his fingertips sliding slowly over the small of her back. His mouth found the side of her neck and he kissed her there, gently nipping her skin with his teeth as he kissed his way up to her ear. Zoe smelled wonderful, a mixture of dirt from a hard days work, the subtle scent of her spicy shampoo, and the medicated ointment he had put on her scraped face. The ointment was minty smelling and had cooled his fingertips as he put it on her. Breathing it in now, the aroma cooled his nostrils and the back of his throat.
He gently pulled her earlobe between his lips and grinned when she squirmed against him.
“That feels….” Her voice trailed off and ended with another little sigh.
She’d never know how those sighs and squeaks she unconsciously made fueled him to touch her more. Urged him to touch her in any way he could to bring pleasure. Colton ran his hand down the curve of her backside and laughed as her body shuddered and her breath trembled.
“Colton,” her voice was mousy and breathless. He bent his head down lower and kissed her again. As his tongue tasted hers she slipped her other hand beneath his shirt.
Suddenly their gentle kisses weren’t so gentle anymore. He didn’t hold back as he had in the past, he kissed her fully, exploring her mouth as his hands discovered untouched areas of her body. He felt her hips and her backside, and each time he touched her she squirmed against him, creating a friction that was uncomfortably hot. As he kissed down her chin and over her throat, his hands moved to her waist.
He lifted her onto his worktable with ease.
Zoe gasped the moment he lifted her off the ground. He opened his eyes slowly and stared at her dazed expression and red cheeks. He enjoyed that bewildered look on her face; he liked that he had put it there. He saw pleasure in her eyes and excitement—not for what might come, but at being lifted even a foot into the air.
“You’re so beautiful,” he whispered as he lightly cupped her pink cheeks. “Even covered with dirt and grime, you’re beautiful to me.”
“You picked me up,” she responded her voice light with excitement. Colton put his hands on her hips and drew her forward on the table. He needed to show her how much she affected him—how much he needed her—because he wasn’t sure she really understood just how she tormented him. He pulled her flush against the stiff zipper of his jeans and felt her body respond to his. She tensed for only a moment and then wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him.
“Do you see what you do to me?” he whispered breathlessly. “I walk around like this all the time, Zoe.”
He pulled her closer and smiled as her cheeks flared with blood. She ducked her face to his shoulder and held him tightly; after a moment he felt her lips moving against his skin.
Soon they were kissing again and despite his best efforts not to take things too far, Colton was curious about Zoe’s body. He distracted her with long, passionate kisses and let his trembling fingers work the buttons of her shirt. They came undone slowly and bit-by-bit he revealed her soft creamy skin and the satiny cup of her bra. The sight of her flushed skin only enticed him more, and even though he knew he was in for a whole lot of hurt, he didn’t look away from her body. He touched her neck and ran his fingers down to the first open button of her shirt. He lifted his eyes to her face; her eyes were closed and her lips were parted in a way that begged him to kiss her. As he moved his mouth over hers, he slipped his hand into her shirt. The moment his fingers closed around her, she gasped in shock. Her eyes flew open and she jerked back from him, yanking her top together.
Breathing hard she stared at him with shocked and uncertain eyes. Colton watched her suddenly pale cheeks flush pink and then red as she stared laughing. He grinned as she turned her head with embarrassment and apologized.
“I… wasn’t expecting… I just…” she stammered. “Gosh, I’m… wow!” She was gripping her shirt so tightly her knuckles were white. She laughed harder as he kissed her uninjured cheek. “I just…”
He felt her tremble in his arms. He reached up and covered her clenched hands with his.
He wanted desperately to pull her hands free of her shirt and to continue to explore her a bit more, but he didn’t push. He caressed her knuckles as he kissed along her jaw to her mouth. Her tongue met his eagerly, but she didn’t let up on the front of her shirt. It took him five minutes to pry her hands free of her shirt, but his efforts were destroyed when the bells from the front shop chimed. The heated, needy look in her eyes disappeared and she sat up straight.
“Jamie!” Zoe hissed. “She could come back here.”
“She won’t,” Colton laughed. “It’s okay—we’re not doing anything naughty yet.”
“I’m half undressed,” she retorted.
“Not really,” Colton’s eyes moved back to her shirt, he took advantage of her sudden shock and slipped his palm against her breast. Before she could protest, he kissed her. He felt as if he’d won some small war, and although her hands were still clutching her shirt, she didn’t push him away again. However, she never really relaxed, not until he pulled his hand back and she could tug the fabric together to cover herself.
“I’m not used to that,” she explained.
“To being touched?” Colton inquired.
Zoe turned her head away. Colton was shocked to see tears filling her eyes. He cupped her cheek with one hand and wrapped his other arm around her waist. He kissed her exposed ear and gently nibbled on her neck until she relaxed in his arms, her hands falling away from her shirt. He kissed her once and then drew back to start buttoning her shirt.
“I like that, Zoe,” he said after two buttons. “I like that no one’s touched you but me—it’s a turn on.”
She laughed bitterly, “If you say so.”
“I do say so,” Colton murmured against the corner of her mouth. “I think you can tell how turned on I am, right?” He smiled, proud to bring the blush back to her cheeks.
“You’re cute when you blush, did you know that?”
“Stop,” she whispered before trying to hide her face against his shoulder. He stopped buttoning her top and cupped her cheeks in his hands. Zoe’s pupils were so big he could see his reflection in them. She leaned forward and kissed him; as she did, she wrapped her legs around his waist. He groaned despite himself and held her close. After a minute they were kissed again, so desperately that Colton felt his control slipping. Lost in the feel of her, in all of the sensations of her body wrapped around his, Colton unbuttoned her shirt and touched her as he pleased. He wanted to make her skin crawl with the desire to be with him. He wanted her to feel so desperate that she ignored that little voice in her head that had made her embarrassed to have his hands on her. He wanted her brazen and warm and his.
“Colton,” she said against his mouth.
He couldn’t respond with anything intelligent, so he locked his mouth to hers and bent her over his workbench, pushing tools, the first aid kid, and empty clay pots out of the way so he could lay her down. He watched her fingers as they shakily undid the rest of her shirt buttons. He pushed her shirt open and devoured her with his eyes. When he looked back to her face, her saw her eyes staring off in the distance; her chin trembled with worry. Grasping her shirt in his hands he pulled her up into a sitting position.
“Look at me,” he whispered.
She turned her eyes on him, “I’m not… perfect.”
“You are to me,” he whispered. “I’m going to convince you of that Zoe.” Again the bells chimed overhead, but Colton ignored them and Zoe’s worried glance up at the intercom. He saw rationality returning to her eyes and wanted to
bring her back to the point where she hadn’t cared. The point where she’d willingly unbuttoned her top for him. He swept his hands up her bare back and smiled as she leaned forward, cupped his cheeks, and kissed him. It was risky behaving like this while other people were in the shop, but Colton was passed the point of thinking about consequences or and didn’t care about being discovered. He was lost in the moment and feel of Zoe slowly opening herself to him; allowing him access that no other man had had before. He was deeply turned on by that—by being her first in most things. Knowing that he was the first to touch her breasts, the first to hold her so intimately against his body, and that his arousal was the first she’d ever felt was such an aphrodisiac. He wanted her more than she’d ever know.
“I want to take you home,” he said breathlessly. “I want to make love to you.”
“I…” Zoe didn’t finish. She kissed him instead.
Knowing that if he touched her anymore it would be the end of him, he drew back from her seeking lips and began to hastily button her shirt. After two buttons she distracted him enough to undo what little he’d redone. His hands moved back along her spine and stopped at the clasp of her bra. Zoe wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled herself close to him. She kissed his ear softly and whispered words he couldn’t hear, but swore he thought she said something about love. He eased her away from him and searched her eyes; she smiled and touched his face lightly.
“What did you say?” he asked.
“Hmm?” Zoe let her fingers move down his neck and over his chest. After a moment he couldn’t concentrate as her fingers slipped under his shirt and touched his stomach.
“Shit, don’t do that,” he pulled her hands away and laughed. “I’m on the edge as it is, Zoe. Tell me what you said.”
She just smiled and kissed him. After a minute he ducked away from her seeking mouth and stared at her. Somehow her hair had fallen loose and was framing her face in a sexy tousled way. Her eyes seemed lighter than normal and sparkled under the deep black line of her thick eyelashes. Her lips, full and pink from his kisses, stretched into a little smile.
“I said,” she drew out slowly, “that I….”
Before she could finish a dog barked. Confused, Colton turned his head just as the door from the front shop opened. A barrel of black fur and clicking toenails raced toward him with a droopy smile, a lolling tongue, and bright energetic eyes. Colton blinked as Pepper’s warm tongue left a slobbery streak of wetness along his jaw. The dog continued to leap up, her excited tongue lapping every inch of skin it could reach. Pepper barked happily and scampered around the workshop sniffling things before she jumped back up Colton and barked. Confused, Colton looked past Pepper to the door.
The site of Cara standing just a few feet from him made his stomach burn with an unfamiliar emotion. Pepper ran back to Cara, jumped once, returned to Colton and barked happily. It was as if the dog was telling them to get together, hug, and make up. Pepper did this dance twice more before she decided to explore the workroom again. Her happy barks echoed off the silent walls; her tail swooshed air noisily around.
“I… I didn’t… I…” Cara stammered.
Colton pushed Pepper down and snapped his fingers. The obedient dog immediately sat, but her whole bottom half wiggled about as her tail ticked.
“Colton,” Zoe whispered. He turned his attention away from Cara and looked as Zoe. She was clutching her shirt together, her face more red than it had ever been, and was pushing against his hip to get him to step back. He moved and she scooted her leg around him and turned to hide her body. He watched as her fingers shook as they refastened the top’s buttons.
“Colt, I’m sorry,” Cara stammered. “Jamie didn’t tell me you were with anyone—Pepper, come!” The dog hurried toward Cara, circled her slender legs and sat down at her feet.
“I… we didn’t mean to interrupt, I just….”
As Cara stammered over the right words, Zoe slipped off the worktable and immediately fell to the ground with a loud, sickening splat of skin slapping cement. Pepper lurched forward to investigate and barked while sniffing Zoe’s hair. Zoe pushed the dogs face away and tried to get to her feet. Colton reached down and helped her up; she seemed shaken and unsteady. She tried to right herself, wobbled, and nearly fell again. Pepper danced around them licking Colton’s hands as he steadied Zoe on her feet.
“I’ll go,” Zoe whispered her face pale, her eyes uncertain and on the verge of tears.
“No, don’t go anywhere,” Colton said insistently.
He turned back to Cara and saw that she’d taken a few steps forward. He could smell her perfume, the same one he’d bought her so long ago. One that had tormented him time and time again—a soft apple, floral scent that was addicting to his senses. He was amazed at how a simple smell could yank him back to the past, making his heart race with excitement. Eleven months it had been since he last seen her—she looked the same. The same long, perfectly sculpted, tan legs; the same soft, swollen hips and breasts; the same soft, blond, wavy hair. She had perfect make up, perfect clothes, and a perfect shocked expression on her beautiful face. It was a look that held just the right amount of remorse; her brilliant aqua blue eyes filled with tears.
“Colton, I’m sorry.”
This time she wasn’t apologizing for her interruption, she was apologizing for the past.
Her hands few to her mouth as a sob escaped. He noticed her little polished fingernails; he noticed that she was still wearing her engagement ring. Cara stepped toward him again, her hand outstretched. He stared at her palm and as her hand came against his shoulder he heard a little click of a door closing. He turned around and saw Pepper staring at the closed back door.
Zoe was gone.
Colton moved away from Cara and headed toward the door.
“Wait,” Cara hurried around him, blocking him from the exit Zoe had taken. “Wait, please talk to me….”
Colton stared at her for a moment and then set her aside and ran toward the back door. He told Pepper to sit and pulled open the door. The temperature outside seemed to have dropped considerably since they’d unloaded his truck. Or maybe it just felt colder against his hot skin. He jogged uncomfortably to his truck where Zoe was reaching in for her tote bag. He caught her arm and drew her around. The tears in her eyes made him curse.
“I… I’m gonna go,” she said bravely.
“No,” Colton shook his head. “I’ll take you home, or you can come home with me…”
“Colton, please!” Zoe exclaimed. Tears streamed down her cheeks, but only for a moment; she swiped them away angrily and shook her head. “I can’t go home with you—
not now.”
“Why not now?” he demanded. He felt like he was losing it, losing her. He gently squeezed her arm and drew her toward him. He felt her resistance and ached to make it go away. He bent his head and kissed her hair. Closing his burning eyes, he pressed his cheek to the top of her head. “Nothing’s changed, Zoe.”
“Everything’s changed,” she pulled her arm free and put the strap of her bag on her shoulder. “I’ve gotta go and you have to talk to Cara.”
“I… don’t,” Colton said.
“Yes you do,” Zoe whispered as she cupped his cheeks. “Colton… no matter what you think you want—physically—now is your chance to really get the closure you wanted with Cara. Now’s the time to see if maybe you can fix things with her and start over.”
“W-what?” he stammered. Where was this coming from? Why was she pushing him away? “What about us?”
Zoe smiled sadly. “We’re just friends, Colton,” she flinched when he cursed and turned away.
“Enough with this friends nonsense Zoe!” he cried. “What happened inside is not what friends do. I care about you. And you care about me… we would probably be having sex right now if….” Her face had suddenly turned red; she gave him an appalled look.
“I am not a whore or something, Colton,” she stammered her fingers flying to the butto
ns of her top, which weren’t done up correctly. Her knuckles went white as she gripped the material. “I wasn’t going to sleep with you—I barely know you!”
“Okay, whatever,” he said flatly. “We weren’t just making out, Zoe, it was more—and you know that. We both know where it was heading.”
“So what?” She asked. “It doesn’t matter now, Colton, because you have to go in there and talk with Cara. You have to either get closure, or mend whatever is broken. I’m not going to stand in the way of that. I want you to be happy, Colton. I want you to know what you really want.”
“I do!” he grabbed her shoulders.
“No, you’re talking with your pants,” Zoe drew back. “You have been for the past few days—I’m not stupid, Colton.” They stood there silently not looking at one another. “I just want you to be certain, Colton.”
“Okay,” he nodded. In truth he knew that he’d have to deal with what he felt for Cara before he could really give himself to Zoe. “Let me take you home, okay?”
“I can get a cab,” she stammered.
“I want to take you home,” Colton repeated. “Just get inside,” he waited for her to climb into his truck. She finally did and he closed her in. “I’ll be right back.” Zoe nodded and rubbed her face with both hands.
Colton wasn’t sure what he’d say to Cara when he got back inside. He was still shocked to find her in his shop, walking back in as if nothing had happened between them, as if she still owned half of the place. He almost hoped that she’d be gone when he opened the door, but she was still there and so was Pepper who barked happily and danced around him. Colton squatted down to give the dog the attention she needed. After a minute of scratching, rubbing, and patting, Colton rose slowly to his feet and looked at Cara who was standing only a few feet from him.
It was different not having to look down at someone. Cara was only an inch shorter than him, which saved him the neck strain.
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