Love, Laughter, and Happily Ever Afters Collection (Eight Fun, Romantic Novels by Eight Bestselling Authors)

by Violet Duke

  Which didn’t faze him at the moment. Because she was moaning and pressing closer. He slipped the strap of her dress off her shoulder and cupped her breast. The hot skin and firm tip against his palm pulled him back from his fog of want and he glanced down. No bra. Bare breast. And nice bright sunlight.

  He lifted his eyes to hers as he ran his thumb over her hard nipple and she gasped, watching his face.

  It wasn’t like breasts were brand new. It wasn’t like pleasuring a woman was brand new. But that look was new. That look Adrianne was now giving him—that was new.

  He was a scientist. He liked to see how things worked, how things responded to stimuli. He felt the slow grin he gave her just before he tugged on her nipple.

  “Holy…Mason.” Her eyes slid shut and she arched her breast closer.

  “Like that? Or this?” He rolled the tip between his thumb and finger.

  She gripped his forearm. “I, um…” She hadn’t opened her eyes and she licked her lips. “Yes.”

  God, he loved cause and effect.

  He ran his thumb over the nipple again, letting his gaze slide over her. She was gorgeous. Generous breasts, full, soft, except for the tip. He bent and licked her nipple, causing her to make a funny high-pitched sound at the back of her throat.

  The dark parking lot last night hadn’t given him enough of a look. But her scent and sound were permanently imprinted on his well-above-average memory. The sight of her along with the taste, sound, scent…everything, combined into a hot swirl of lust that filled his groin and his head.

  “Mason,” she groaned as he sucked harder.

  The next thought in his head was absolutely the last thing he would have expected.

  Hydrogen.

  He needed to adjust the hydrogen levels.

  That was the answer.

  Right in the middle of making out with the sexiest anomaly he’d ever experienced, he had the answer to the problem with the soil he’d been working on for two weeks.

  Which went to show that this whole situation was crazy.

  He needed a piece of paper and a pen.

  Adrianne’s scent drifted to up him and he knew he couldn’t stop and make notes now. She’d cover up, she’d pull away, he would lose the moment with her. But now he had the solution. He stared at Adrianne, her eyes shut, her breast in his hand, her lips parted, breathing hard—for him. It was like the emotions she caused in him had freed his imagination, inspiring the answer. She was like a muse.

  “Adrianne, I need your pen,” he murmured near her ear.

  He had to keep touching her, but he had to get this down. There was only one option.

  “My…pen?”

  She started to open her eyes, but he rolled her nipple again and kissed her long and deep.

  She relaxed with a sigh and he bent and picked up the pen where it lay next to her abandoned clipboard. He took her hand from his shoulder, straightened her arm and turned her palm up. Perfect.

  “This might tickle.” He put the pen against the sensitive skin of her inner forearm and formed the first few letters and numbers that would work as shorthand notes for him when he was able to write it out fully later.

  “What are you doing?” She didn’t try to pull away, tipping her head to try to read his scribbles.

  “Taking notes.”

  “On how to make me moan?” she asked with a sexy little smile that almost made him forget there even was such a thing as hydrogen.

  But the hydrogen levels were a huge key. Something he should have thought of before, but he’d thought they had all the levels…

  The breeze stirred her hair, flipping a strand against her lips again and he stared at them. He wanted to feel them against his, and then his neck, his chest, his—

  “Mason?”

  He shook his head.

  Jesus. This was impossible. He couldn’t concentrate on work because of her, but he couldn’t concentrate on her because equations and ideas kept popping up.

  “Can I…” She was going to think he was insane.

  “What?”

  “I have to make these notes or I’ll lose them,” he said honestly. “But I don’t want to let go of you.”

  “So write them down,” she said simply.

  “I don’t have any…”

  “It’ll wash off.” She flipped her hair over her shoulder and pulled the other strap of her dress down to reveal a lot more skin. A lot more writing area.

  “Really?”

  “I don’t want you to lose anything,” she said with a smile.

  His hand shook a little—unbelievably—as he put the pen back against her arm. But as soon as he made the first notation, it flowed. A lot of it. Ideas kept coming, one on top of the next. The words covered her inner forearm and he had to go past her elbow to the sweet skin of her upper arm. He continued until he’d reached the top curve of her shoulder.

  Then the soft curves below made his pen pause. He glanced to her face and froze. She was watching him with—well, he wasn’t absolutely sure but it seemed to be…fascination.

  “You okay?” he asked.

  “Overwhelmed,” she said quietly.

  “Overwhelmed that I’m writing on you?”

  Her lips curved into a smile and she shook her head. “Overwhelmed by you. All of this…” she looked down at her arm, then back to him, “…is so—”

  “Weird,” he supplied. It wasn’t like she’d be the first woman to notice he wasn’t like most men. He’d never stopped and written notes during a date and certainly not on his date, but he did occasionally slip with a strange term or topic. This by far topped that in the weird department.

  But Adrianne shook her head again. “These are equations right?”

  He nodded. “Things I’ve been working on in the lab. Things that weren’t coming together before and now, inexplicably, they are.”

  “Your mind is…amazing. You’re standing here in front of me, looking like a regular guy, but inside your head things are happening that are going to turn into products and techniques and…stuff I don’t even know how to describe…that are going to help the world. You are writing things on my arm that are going to turn into actual things that people are going to use and…” She trailed off, sincerely looking lost as to how put it into words.

  Mason couldn’t come up with anything adequate either. He stared at her, wondering if it made sense that he wanted her even more now. She thought he was amazing and he was being not-quite-but-almost as weird as he got.

  Yeah, it made sense that he didn’t think he would ever get enough of her.

  She knew what he did for a living—thanks to the profiles she’d done—so she knew a little of what she was talking about. If she could be amazed by him writing on her, then a lot of what he did wouldn’t bother her.

  He studied the notes about the things he needed to retest and a new soil combination that would surely fix the pH problems. He couldn’t believe how incredibly erotic Adrianne looked with scientific notations on her skin. That was definitely weird. But these notations were what would propel his latest project forward and, as she’d said, help the world. It was the first step toward a lot of other bigger steps that would take some time and negotiations, but yes, eventually these notations would turn into something that meant crops for people in places where there were no crops now. It was his passion, and seeing it represented on the skin of the woman he felt this other crazy, out-of-control passion for really was…amazing.

  Work and non-work had always been stringently divided for him. Now they were not only combined but they were combined in a sensual way that made him almost certain that if it weren’t for his desire for Adrianne, he mig
ht not have ever found the right equation.

  “Ever had sex on a farm?” he asked, tossing the pen aside and reaching for her.

  Never ever would he have thought of having sex on the ground at Milt’s farm. Now it seemed like the best idea ever. He was a farmer. Down deep in his soul, at the heart of what he knew and loved, was farming. It made sense to have the most erotic encounter of his life in the place that felt the most like home.

  She chuckled even though she was breathing hard. “Sounds like a fetish.”

  “It’s simply dirt and grass, sunshine and fresh air,” he said, drawing her dress up in one hand. “It’ll be good for you.”

  “I do like dirty sex.”

  Her hands went to the bottom of his shirt and started tugging as her cell phone rang.

  “Do. Not. Answer. That.” He had her skirt to her waist. Her panties matched the blue dress.

  He really liked the color blue.

  She sighed. “I have to. It’s Phoebe.”

  “How do you know?” He was on his way to his knees. Her dress bunched at her hips, pulled down from the top, gathered up from the bottom. He needed to know if she tasted as sweet everywhere.

  “It’s her ringtone.”

  He didn’t recognize the tune, but that didn’t surprise him. He followed almost no pop culture and current music was only one thing he had very little clue about.

  “Ignore her.” He still hadn’t dropped her skirt, appreciating the not-all-that-long but silky smooth expanse of leg.

  “Can’t.” She took a deep breath and let go of him. She pulled her dress straps back up.

  He looked up at her. She stared down at him. He ran his open palm down the back of her bare leg from the curve of her butt to her ankle. “You sure?”

  She swallowed hard. “Can you…um…hold that thought?”

  He stayed on one knee, running his hand up and down the leg that he wanted wrapped around his waist. “I’m not likely to forget about this any time soon.”

  She swallowed again and bent to dig in the purse she’d dropped next to her at some point. “Phoebe, this isn’t really a good… Okay, what?” She paused to listen. “Shit. Okay.”

  That didn’t sound so good.

  Still, he really wanted to hook a finger under the edge of her panties, pull them down and make her forget about whatever was going on.

  She hung up the phone. “We have to stop.” She stepped back out of his reach. “Seriously.”

  “We’re two single consenting adults and we’re not bothering anyone.”

  She stepped back as he reached out and he ended up tipping forward onto both knees.

  “Oh, we’re about to be bothering someone.” She sighed. “Quite a bit, I’d guess. Hailey’s on her way out here.”

  Reality returned just like that.

  Hailey Conner.

  It worked like a bucket of ice water dumped over his head.

  He was in Sapphire Falls. On his knees in front of a woman. How appropriate.

  He stretched to his feet. “I’ll hold the thought a little longer than I’d planned.”

  She smiled but definitely looked disappointed. “Sorry.”

  “It’s fine.” It was good, in fact. This woman had him doing, saying, thinking things that made no sense. He didn’t like that. Things had to make sense. Things had to be predictable. So far, Adrianne Scott had been anything but.

  So this was good.

  Ironic even.

  Hailey Conner was saving him from making an ass of himself over a woman.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  “I, UM…” ADRIANNE ran a hand through her hair and smoothed the skirt of her dress. Then she sighed. “This sucks.”

  He chuckled. It did. In lots of ways. “We’re waiting here for Hailey then?”

  “It’s Sapphire Falls. It’s not like it’s going to take her long to get here.”

  “We could leave and…” He hoped she was filling in the blanks the same way he was.

  She shrugged. “Very tempting. But Hailey is…persistent.”

  “Self-absorption and wanting to get her way isn’t the same thing as being persistent.”

  The right corner of her mouth curled up. “That’s not nice.” But she didn’t deny that Hailey was self-absorbed. “Being persistent means you care about something.”

  He studied her face. “What do you get persistent about, Adrianne?” What mattered to her? What did she care about?

  “Oh, persistence used to be my middle name,” she said. “Seemed like I was persistent about everything for a long time.”

  “And now?” He was fascinated by her and he wanted to get deeper and deeper—in lots of ways.

  She gave him a smile, then tipped her head back, spread her arms and took a deep breath. “Now I found a place where I can get exactly what I want.”

  The smooth length of her pale throat made his mouth dry. “What do you want?” His voice was gruff.

  She met his eyes again. “Peace, quiet, fresh air and a good night’s sleep.”

  “That’s pretty basic stuff.”

  She nodded. “Strange how hard they can be to find.”

  He thought about his life and had to admit she had a point. But in her expression, he saw something that he realized he rarely saw in people—contentment.

  It looked good on her.

  So did his pen marks.

  “What is Hailey going to think of that?” he asked, gesturing at the ink on her skin.

  Adrianne looked down at it, as if she’d forgotten it was there. “Oh, um, right.” She looked back up at him. “That might be hard to explain.”

  “I need those notes. I’ll have to copy them.”

  She looked at him for a few seconds and then said, “Do you want to go back to my house? Then I can shower when you’re done.”

  Her house. A shower… Mason’s mind ran with the invitation. Then sobered.

  Right. She was going to have to wash all of that off. “I’m sorry, Adrianne. That was dumb. It might…”

  She stepped close. “It’s okay, Mason. We were caught up in a moment. Crazy things happen in moments like that. Don’t worry about it.”

  She was right. Nothing was hurt. It had been an inexplicable mix of passion and emotion. His brain synapses had been firing so quickly it was no wonder something had been shaken loose.

  “I can come over. Sure, that would work.”

  They’d take it from there. But at least inside a house was less crazy than the middle of the field where they hoped to build Sapphire Hills.

  A horn honking signaled they were no longer alone.

  “Like I said, it doesn’t take long to get from anywhere to anywhere else around here,” Adrianne said with a small smile.

  “Hailey?”

  “Likely.”

  They started toward the front of the big house together. Hailey stepped out of her Lexus a moment later. “Hi!”

  Her attention immediately went to Adrianne’s appearance, but her first words were not what Mason expected.

  “You’re wearing a dress?”

  Adrianne looked down at herself. “Looks like it.”

  “You don’t wear dresses.” Hailey seemed very confused.

  “I don’t wear dresses much,” Adrianne corrected, but her cheeks grew red.

  “Are you going to church?” Hailey asked.

  “No.”

  Mason felt a smile spread on his face. Adrianne had dressed up for him. Thanks to Lauren, he knew that mattered. Then he focused on Hailey.

  Holy cow, som
e things never changed.

  Hailey Conner was a gorgeous, sexy woman. The night before, he’d been stunned by how little she’d changed in appearance over the years. Today, she was decked out in a blood-red suit, three-inch red heels and makeup that would make a runway model jealous. Her long blond hair hung loose and sexy.

  She turned heads, there was no doubt about it, and regardless of how much time had passed or how much he had changed, or how he still hadn’t forgiven her for being a complete and total bitch to him, Mason had to admit that she was beautiful.

  She carried herself with a confident air that clearly said that she knew how great she looked and was pleased to have everyone else notice too.

  But he knew she hadn’t dressed up to see him.

  “And what’s all over your arm?” Hailey asked, grabbing Adrianne’s hand.

  “Mason needed—”

  “I was showing Adrianne some of the soil formulas and chemical balances we need to perfect in order for our seeds to withstand—”

  “Why?” Hailey asked without letting Mason finish.

  “I was interested in what he does.” Adrianne was looking at him as she spoke. “It’s not every day you get to hang out with a genius who’s making the world a better place. I should have asked more questions,” she added.

  Mason had the distinct impression that she was saying that for him.

  “We can—”

  “You better get it all washed off. We have the softball game this afternoon.” Hailey turned to Mason. “You’re on my team, okay?”

  Mason considered himself quite good at any number of things. A few sports were even on the list—golf, racquetball, running. Softball was not one of them, however. “I’ll come watch, but I don’t think I’ll play,” he said.

  “You have to play or our teams won’t be even,” Hailey told him. She put a hand on a hip that was tight and trim.

  He glanced at Adrianne with her soft curves and hips—

  “Don’t worry, I’ll hold your hand if you need me to,” Hailey said.

  At one time, that offer would have made his palms sweat. Now he was trying to think of how to get out of it.