But what did she expect of him? Hell, he wasn’t a saint. The woman wanted him. And it wasn’t like she was just any woman who wanted him, either.
This was Beth he was talking about here. Feisty blond neighbor extraordinaire with a talent for baking (that was beginning to become one of his favorite things) and a mouth that drove him wild (which, at the moment, was his favorite thing).
So really, it was only right that he was driving her wild right back.
Fair was fair.
* * *
So Tripp was going to taunt Beth…and look entirely too pleased with himself while he did it.
She took back her earlier assessment of him. He was a cocky, arrogant jerk. It was taking a lot for her to bite her tongue and not inform him of this fact. She forced herself to be quiet as he finished up with her forehead, putting some ointment on the cut before covering it with a bandage.
Another reason she was refraining from saying anything was because she was paying close attention to how he worked. The man had a very gentle touch and she had to stop herself from physically reacting every damn time his fingers brushed across her skin.
This was much easier said than done.
She somehow managed to gain some semblance of control by the time he’d moved on to her hands.
There were minor scrapes on them, and he found a few splinters in her left palm. After she washed her hands he went about pulling them out. She lasted another full minute before she spoke.
“It’s mutual,” she told him as he started working out the last splinter.
“What’s mutual?” he asked, not looking up at her.
“You like me too.”
“And what makes you think that?” Even though he was focused on her hands she still caught the grin that turned up his mouth.
“Know. Not think.”
“All right. What makes you know that?”
“You paid my bill at the diner today.”
“I ate some of the pie,” he countered.
“You ate less than half the pie, but you paid the entire bill.”
He pulled out the last splinter before he looked up at her. “Maybe I was just being generous.”
“Nope, it was because you like me and wanted to impress me.”
“Is that so?” he asked as he moved to the sink and started cleaning up.
“Yes,” she nodded.
Tripp didn’t say anything as he sterilized the tweezers and put them back in the case. After he threw everything away and washed his hands he leaned back against the counter and looked at Beth. “I think I’m going to need more proof than that.”
She took a few steps closer, stopping when she was less than a foot away. “How about because when I fell you were the farthest from me, but the first to get there?”
“Well, I was looking at you when you fell.”
“Which was because why, exactly?”
His answer was to reach forward, his hands landing on her hips, and pull her to him. Her breasts were now pressed up against his chest, her thighs aligned with his.
Okay, so she’d be lying to herself if she said that she wasn’t a really big fan of this new touching phase in their neighbor-ness.
A really big fan.
“There’s also the way you kiss me,” she whispered as she gently braced her hands on his chest and leaned up, bringing her mouth to his ear.
“Which is how, exactly?”
What was she doing? This…this was so entirely out of character for her. Being this…forward, and consequences be damned. Yet she couldn’t help herself when he was around. Some flirting switch had been flipped.
It was very true that she’d had a little more to drink that night than she usually did. It was also true that she was still just a little bit tipsy, but not tipsy enough to change the very real fact that she wanted him. And no amount of alcohol was going to change that fact. And judging by the man’s very prominent erection pressing into her belly, he wanted her just as much.
“Tripp, you kiss me like you don’t have control.” Her teeth grazed his earlobe before she placed an open-mouthed kiss on his neck, a kiss that made him groan. The rumble vibrated through her.
But a moment later she was pulling back, stepping out of his embrace. She didn’t even attempt to hide her self-satisfied expression at his now incredulous look.
So they were no longer battling over neighborly problems, but battling wills. That was fine, perfectly fine. He’d started this whole back and forth show of who was in more control anyway.
She could fight fire with fire. Game on, Tripp. Game, freaking, on.
Though she did wonder what the winner of this little game was going to get…or how they’d figure that out.
“Thank you for getting me cleaned up.” She held her hands in the air, showing the fresh Band-Aids he’d placed across her palms before she indicated the bandage on her head. “I appreciate it.”
His eyes narrowed, a twitch playing at the corner of his mouth. “You ‘appreciate it’?”
“Yes. You’ll have to let me know which dessert you’d like as a thank you for it. Patch-me-up Pineapple Upside-Down cake…or something.”
A grin overtook his face and he shook his head. “Or something. You get this round, Beth,” he said as he pushed off the counter, rounding the island at the center of the kitchen before he headed down the hall. “But the next round is mine,” he called out right before the front door shut.
It was then that she realized she wasn’t fighting fire with fire.
No, she was playing with fire.
Chapter Ten
A Dinosaur Called Flounder
It had been years since Beth had been to a Spring Fling, even longer since she’d participated in one. The thing had almost doubled in size since she was a kid. The fair—complete with a massive Ferris wheel, fun house, merry-go-round, and more booths of games than Beth had the patience to count—was a newer addition to the event.
The real draw was the animals. There was the petting zoo (complete with pony rides), the pig racing pen (where people were crowded around cheering on the hog they wanted to win…and placing bets), and the cow show (which was actually where people dressed up any animal that wasn’t a cow into a cow).
Last, but certainly not least, were the vendors. About fifty booths and tents were set up around her, half local and the other half out of towners. There were those trying to sell their handmade goods and crafts, restaurants selling food, a pet adoption booth, and so on, and so on.
The bake sale, where Beth was currently stationed, was set up under a tent that sported the white and royal blue school colors. The school mascot, Paulie the Pirate, was printed on the overhanging border that ran around the whole tent. There were four massive tables set up on each side of the tent, two for the goods, one for the milk and coffee station, and the last was a sign-up station for the 10K color run the following month.
Mel had become the master of fundraisers, always having the next one in the works so that the community was in the know as to exactly what was going on.
Beth got to work with Mel, Dale, and Hamilton on her shift. The boys were on sign-up duty for the 10K…and flirting with every teenage girl who walked up to them. There were currently a group of five gathered around them, twirling their hair and giggling.
“You know every single one of those girls is going to sign up now, don’t you?” Beth asked, looking over at Mel. “They don’t stand a chance.”
“Why do you think I put Dale and Hamilton at the sign-up in the first place?”
“Because you’re an evil genius.”
“And don’t you forget it,” Mel grinned before she moved off to check the status of the coffee makers.
Beth turned to look at the crowd of people moving around. It was after one in the afternoon so a lot of them were lining up around the food vendors trying to snag some lunch. As she’d eaten a late breakfast before coming here she wasn’t all that hungry…though she could do with some more caffeine.
She hadn’t exactly slept well the night before. It had taken her well over an hour to finally fall asleep. And once she had? Well, the rest of the night had been fitful.
Tripp was to blame.
Obviously.
She’d lain in bed, unable to get the events of the day out of her head. A lot had happened, starting with that damn piece of pie at the diner…and her realizing she had a thing for him.
But what was the thing? That was the question, wasn’t it? And she had no clue what the answer was. Their flirting had morphed into something else in absolutely no time at all. In fact, the time from pie to kiss had only been about five hours. Five freaking hours. Oh dear Lord, that was fast.
Too fast.
Too freaking fast.
But whenever she started overthinking things—as she was prone to do—she remembered what his lips felt like on hers. Good Lord, kissing him had been…good.
Too good.
Too freaking good.
She was going to need to figure out what she wanted. Stat.
* * *
Tripp made his way through the mass of people that swarmed around him. He hadn’t planned on going to the Mirabelle Spring Fling; but had every intention of spending the day working on Koko. He’d just gotten a new alternator he needed to install.
But his plans changed when he saw Beth loading up her SUV that morning.
She’d been wearing a bright blue Pirates T-shirt and jeans shorts. The woman might be on the shorter side but that fact in no way detracted from her legs. She had fantastic legs.
Tripp found himself thanking the good Lord for the unseasonably warm weather, as it made it possible for her to show off those legs. He’d had a pretty intense fantasy of having those legs wrapped around his waist the night before.
One fantasy among many. All involving Beth.
When he’d left her house he’d walked in his own door and immediately headed for the coldest shower he’d even taken in his life.
It hadn’t helped. Didn’t even make a dent.
It had been a long time since he’d wanted a woman so much, and if he was being entirely honest with himself, he had never wanted a woman at the level he wanted Beth.
Which was why he was currently navigating the crowd in search of her. And when he finally found her he came up short at the sight. She was talking to some guy that Tripp had never seen before. She was beaming up at him, that smile getting bigger and bigger right up until she tipped her head back and laughed.
It was then that the schmuck reached forward, putting his hand on her arm before he pulled her into a hug. Tripp wasn’t quite ready for the seething jealousy he felt at seeing Beth in another man’s arms.
Yeah, that was…unexpected.
To top the whole thing off, when the idiot finally let go of her, he held up multiple bags of chocolate chip cookies. That had Tripp moving again.
Those were his fucking cookies.
Before Tripp could get to her, the asshole had moved off, but not before giving Beth a wistful look over his shoulder.
“Just keep moving it along there, buddy,” Tripp grumbled under his breath.
He was still a good ten feet away from her when she turned to go back behind the table, but as she moved, her eyes came up and landed on him. Her smile was replaced with an expression of surprise, her eyes going wide as she came to a halt and her entire body snapped to attention, like she’d just been shocked.
But within a second that all changed.
She loosened her shoulders, her stance going nonchalant as her body relaxed. She gave him a friendly smile, a smile that clearly said oh, you’re here. No big deal. Tripp continued to approach until he was standing right in front of her. Close enough to smell the vanilla on her skin…or was it in her hair? He had no idea. What he did know was that the scent was incredible.
She stared up into his face, still trying to look entirely unaffected by his sudden appearance.
She failed.
She might be trying to hide her reaction to him, but her blue eyes gave her away. They were bright with pleasure. Yeah, she couldn’t hide that.
And she wasn’t the only one who sucked at hiding how she really felt. He was about ten times worse.
“There a reason you’re scowling at me right now?” Beth asked, taking a step closer to him.
Yes, because some other guy had just touched her. That was why he was scowling. But rather than answer her, he did something even he couldn’t have predicted until the moment he decided to do it.
He kissed her.
Well, he didn’t just kiss her. No, he needed to prove a point—the point being that no other man was allowed to have his hands on her arms…or anything else, for that matter.
Oh hell, who was he kidding? It had been an eventuality: he was going to do it the second he’d seen her. He’d known he was going to grab her and haul her up against his body. Known he was going to claim her at the first opportunity he got.
Which was what he did.
Not only did she fist her hands in his T-shirt to give herself leverage as she stretched up, but her lips opened immediately to his. There was no resistance, just like the day before. He swept his tongue inside her mouth, tasting her sweetness.
And God, was she sweet.
She was also kissing him back. Her hands tightened in the fabric of his T-shirt as she somehow pulled herself even closer to him. He had absolutely no complaints.
Not a one.
When he finally pulled his mouth back from Beth’s—both of them good and truly breathless—he looked down into her beautiful face.
Mine.
That one word took hold in his mind and before he knew it, planted itself firmly and sprouted roots.
Well, that was definitely new. And not something he was going to analyze at the moment, not that he exactly had the brain capacity to analyze anything besides Beth being in his arms.
“How’s your head?” He reached up and brushed her hair back and behind her ear so he could get a better look at her forehead.
“It’s fine.”
“Good.” His fingers traced her hairline, moving down the side of her face to her jaw. “Who was that guy?”
“What guy?” Her eyes squinted in confusion.
“The guy who was just being overly friendly with you.”
“You mean you? Do you normally just walk up to women in the middle of a crowd, grab them and kiss them?”
“Women in general? No. You? Apparently. Now answer my question: Who was the guy?”
“He means Jameson.”
Tripp turned to see Mel a few feet away, standing behind the bake sale table. Her arms were folded across her chest and she was wearing the biggest damn smirk he’d ever seen in his life.
Before Tripp knew it, he was looking back at Beth, but not because he’d turned back. Nope. She’d grabbed his chin and forced his gaze back to hers.
“Did you seriously just kiss me because you’re jealous?”
“I’m not jealous of that guy.” Anymore, he amended in his head. He was the one who currently had Beth in his arms, and had tasted her mouth just moments ago.
“Oh, really now?” Her eyebrows rose high. “Well, to answer your question, Jameson is an old boyfriend. My first boyfriend, to be exact.”
“Wasn’t he your first kiss, too?” Mel asked.
It wasn’t lost on him at all that Mel was trying to be an instigator. She was succeeding in her mission, too.
“Sure was.” Beth nodded. “And as far as kisses go, it was—”
But exactly what it was, Tripp would never find out. His mouth covered hers, effectively stopping her from saying another word. As he kissed her, he was determined to make her forget about anything or anyone else. But it was Beth who was making him forget.
It had taken him absolutely no time at all to become completely and totally lost in her…and to completely and totally forget that they were in public…and currently surrounded by a hundred or so people. But who the fuck cared abou
t that when she was running her hands up and down his chest…and grazing her teeth along his bottom lip?
What brought Tripp back to the moment was a piercing wolf whistle that echoed in his ears a moment later. He didn’t need to look over to know who’d done it. Enough time playing baseball and going horseback riding with Finn had permanently engrained that noise in Tripp’s brain.
And as much as he really, really wanted to keep kissing the beautiful woman in his arms, he needed to get a grip on himself.
When his mouth left hers—more than reluctantly—she looked up at him and grinned. “Not jealous, huh?”
“Jealous?” Finn asked, now at Tripp’s side. “Of who?”
“Jameson Mitchell,” Mel answered before anyone else could.
“Why?”
“Because, he was flirting with Beth,” Tripp told his friend.
“He was not.” Beth shook her head. “Next time, you should get all the facts,” she said as she pointed over Tripp’s shoulder, a gesture that had him turning.
Jameson was a couple of booths down, holding hands with a beautiful and very pregnant redhead. There were two little girls—both sporting strawberry blond hair—at their sides, one pulling on her father’s pant leg while she pointed to the very end of the row.
Tripp turned back to Beth to find her looking as smug as a person could look. “He’s happily married. Has been for about ten years now. I went to their wedding, actually. Got them a bacon press in the shape of a pig and a griddle that makes their pancakes look like a cow.”
He’d been wrong; her expression could get even more smug. A second later she stretched up and brought that smug mouth of hers to his ear, speaking low enough so only he could hear what she said next.
“Looks like I get this round, too, Tripp.” She dragged her hands down his chest again, flexing her fingers when she got to his abs. Her nails just pressed through the material of his shirt and into his skin.
He’d lost, all right. He was also quickly learning that when it came to Beth, control was a thing of the past.
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