Lost in Her

by Sandra Owens

Finally, she gave a little shrug. “Why not?”

  “You’re such a romantic, Charlie,” he said, grinning when she narrowed her eyes. “Stand still.” He slipped the chain around her neck. He’d bought a long one so that she could keep the ring tucked inside her clothes if she preferred.

  She picked it up and studied it. “This really is your class ring, isn’t it?”

  “Yep.”

  Blue-gray eyes lifted and met his. “Does this mean you won’t be dating anyone but me?”

  “Yes, that’s what it means, and no one but me for you, right?”

  “Right,” she said, and surprised him by tugging him back to his chair, then straddling him.

  “If I’d known I’d get this reaction, I would’ve given that to you as soon as you walked in the door.”

  “I guess we’ll just have to make up for lost time.” She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him.

  Ryan clamped down on his need to take over, letting her explore his mouth. Her tongue scraped over his, and he loved the taste of her. Suddenly, she sucked his bottom lip into her mouth. Total turn-on.

  Sitting on a hard kitchen chair wasn’t where he wanted to be though. He stood with her still wrapped around him, and on his way out of the room, he reached over to the coffeepot and flipped it on. Ryan wasn’t even sure she had noticed that they were on the move as she had her face buried in his neck and was licking his skin as if he were a lollypop.

  “Coffee?” she murmured.

  Okay, she was somewhat aware of her surroundings. “Yeah. Gonna make you a coffee and Baileys.”

  “With whipped cream?”

  “Uh-huh.” He fell onto the sofa with Charlie still glued to him.

  “I love whipped cream.”

  All kinds of visions popped into his head, all of them X-rated. “Then next time, I’ll buy the store out.”

  Her pelvis rested on his erection, and if she didn’t stop moving, he was going to flip them both over and claim her as his. “Charlene, I’m one breath away from losing control here. I don’t think either of us is ready for that.” Had those words really come from his mouth?

  She stilled, her eyebrows furrowing as she studied him. “I thought . . . I guess I thought this was what you wanted.”

  Ryan didn’t know what he wanted. Not true. He did know. Her. Right then. Right there on his couch. “Believe me, it is.”

  “But?”

  “What you just said is the but.” He hadn’t realized it until she’d said it, but it was the reason for the big stop sign flashing in his head. “You guess this is what I want, and I won’t even attempt to deny it. But you have to want it, too, just as bad.”

  Troubled eyes stared back at him. “I do. It’s just that . . .”

  He waited, not willing to let her off the hook. He wanted to know her, to know her secrets and her dreams. Their relationship—whatever it was exactly—had started strangely from the beginning. They’d almost had a one-night affair, and he thought she had been more than willing for her own reasons, yet, he believed she had never done anything like that before. Why had she been willing to sleep with him when she hadn’t known him, but hesitant after agreeing to be his girlfriend?

  Her gaze lowered to his chest, and she sat back onto his knees. “I don’t know how to explain this.”

  “Just say what you’re thinking, Charlie.”

  “Can we have that coffee now?”

  Ryan sputtered a laugh. “That’s what you were thinking? Maybe I’m not as good at kissing as I thought I was.”

  Wide eyes lifted to his. “Are you kidding me? I’ve kissed tons of guys and trust me, not one of them was as good at it as you.”

  “Tons?” Just how many men had she kissed to think in terms of tons?

  Her cheeks turned pink. “Sheesh. I didn’t mean to tell you that.”

  She tried to push away, and he wrapped his hands around her waist, holding her still. “Well, you did, and now that that cat’s out of the bag, you’ve got my curiosity in high gear. How many is tons?”

  It didn’t really matter to him if she’d kissed a thousand guys as long as she didn’t kiss any man but him while they were together. The sense, though, that she needed to get something off her chest drove him to probe deeper.

  “I knew I was going to screw this up,” she said. “I mean, you can have any woman you want.” She waved a hand in the air as if there were women surrounding them for him to choose from. “Why would you want me?”

  What minefield had he stepped onto? The safest thing to do when that happened was to backtrack on the exact footsteps that got you in that fix, but just maybe Charlie was worth the danger of going forward. No way to know until he made it out the other side or something went boom. But he was a man who thrived on danger, so he pressed onward.

  “Tell you what. You get your thoughts together while I make us that coffee. Then we’re going to have a nice long talk. Before we’re done, I’m going to tell you exactly why I like you. Okay?”

  The nod she gave him was halfhearted, telling him she would probably rather be anywhere else about then. He lifted her onto the sofa next to him, then brushed his lips over hers. “Be right back.”

  Coffee made with a little extra Baileys to hopefully relax them both for what he suspected was a heavy conversation about to happen, Ryan paused before picking up the cups from the counter. His living room and kitchen were one big room, with a half wall separating the spaces, allowing him to see Charlie. Curled up in the corner of the sofa, she studiously examined her fingernails.

  Why would she think she wasn’t desirable? Although she was petite, she had a perfect body for her size. The short, blonde hair that curled around her head fascinated him, and he wanted to play with it, wanted to know if the curls would bounce back into place if he tugged on them. Between the hair and her blue-gray eyes, she really did remind him of a cherub.

  That she was a stunt plane pilot performing death-defying tricks about blew his mind. Meeting her on the street, if asked what she did, that would be the last thing he would have guessed. He honestly couldn’t wait to introduce her to his teammates, then watch their reactions when he told them she flew a stunt plane in air shows.

  The woman was damn hot, but apparently had no clue. Why was that? He picked up the cups and returned to the living room. “Here you go,” he said, handing her one.

  “Thanks.” She grinned. “Wow, that’s a lot of whipped cream piled up on there.”

  He sat beside her. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but you did say you loved the stuff.”

  “I do.”

  She stuck out her pink tongue and licked up the top of the cream. Ryan stifled a groan. “You’re killing me, cherub.”

  The woman who had no clue of her effect on him peered up at him. “Is that good?”

  “Jesus, Charlie, who screwed with your mind?” Some asshole had to have done a number on her if she had to ask. That had to be the answer to what puzzled him about her insecurities. If the man was still bothering her, he wouldn’t be for long.

  Instead of answering, she wrapped her fingers around the spoon he had put in the cup and stirred the whipped cream into the coffee. “This is so good.”

  He tapped his cup against hers. “To secrets revealed. Tell me yours, Charlie.”

  Like a sailor in a bar after four months at sea, she tipped up the cup and practically chugged the contents. When she finished, a whipped-cream mustache lined her upper lip. He swiped his thumb over her mouth, tidying her up.

  “Tell me about the tons of men you kissed.”

  Wary eyes searched his. “Why do you want to know?”

  “Because you brought it up, so I think it’s something you want to tell me. Remember, I said I’d tell you why I like you?” She nodded. “If you want to know, start talking.”

  “You drive a hard bargain, Hot Guy.” With a drawn-out sigh, she set her cup on the table, then laid her head back on the sofa and closed her eyes. “In high school, I let any guy kiss me who wanted to.
I was what the boys called a tease. I’d make out with them, but I’d never put out.”

  “Why was that?” He resisted putting his hand over the thumbs she furiously twirled around each other.

  Yeah, why was that? Charlie thought back to her high school days and analyzed her behavior from an older, wiser perspective. She had been an insecure, overweight, stupid teen, trying to figure out how to be as cool as Ashley. When her stepsister had first entered her life, Charlie had been in awe. Ashley was everything Charlie wasn’t. Beautiful, popular, and the boys liked her.

  Charlie had wanted the boys to like her, too, but she hadn’t known how to go about getting that from them other than to let them kiss her. The stupid girl she had been had thought she would find a boyfriend that way. A boy who would look at her like a dozen or so boys looked at Ashley. All she had actually accomplished was the claim to kissing more than her fair share of boys who wouldn’t even acknowledge her the next time they saw her. Remembering those days now, she was embarrassed for the girl she had been, but she refused to make excuses.

  Wondering how Ryan had gotten her to talk about a time in her life she’d rather forget, Charlie opened her eyes and saw only interest in Ryan’s green ones. When she had admitted to Aaron that she had kissed several boys during her high school years, he hadn’t been as forgiving.

  “Which? The tons of kisses or never putting out?” She thought she would rather eat three green peppers in a row—the food she hated most—than have a conversation about her teenage years. How had Ryan even picked up on the careless comment she had tossed out? The man was entirely too perceptive, something she would have to remember.

  He curled his fingers over the thumbs she hadn’t realized she was twirling around each other. “Just because you kissed boys didn’t mean you had to put out. If they thought otherwise, that was their bad, not yours. Do you want to tell me about that time in your life?”

  If she wasn’t careful, she could fall in love with her Hot Guy. “Yeah, I do.” Which was a surprise because it was a time she’d tried hard to forget. “Long story short, I was a fat, geeky kid with a beautiful, popular stepsister. All the boys liked her, but she was a snob and only hung out with the”—she made air quotes—“‘in crowd.’ I dunno, I guess in my warped, insecure mind, I thought letting boys kiss me proved they liked me. That maybe I was popular like Ashley.”

  “Did they? Like you, I mean?” he asked, and by the softness in his eyes, she understood that he already knew the answer.

  “No. A boy I might’ve made out with the night before under the bleachers would walk right by me the next day and not even see me.”

  He pressed his palm against hers, and held up their joined hands. “Look how small yours is compared to mine.”

  Hers was half the size of his, and as warmth seeped into her skin from his heat, a sudden longing to have the right to hold his hand anytime made her feel like crying. He might claim she was his girlfriend, but it was only a game to him, and games always ended with someone losing. From prior experience, that would be her.

  She put her free hand over her face and groaned. “This is so embarrassing.”

  “Come here, Charlene.”

  Peeking through her fingers, she asked, “Why?”

  A grin that seemed totally wicked curved his lips. “Because I want to make out with my new girlfriend.”

  “You gonna pretend you don’t know me tomorrow?”

  “Silly girl. I’ll be proud to know you tomorrow and the day after that.”

  Oh, okay then. “No more talking?”

  “Not unless you still want to know why I like you, then I’ll have to talk, won’t I?” He patted his legs.

  Relieved he wasn’t going to persist with his questions, she climbed onto his lap, facing him. “So?” she asked. His oddly colored eyes flicked over her, the heat in them making every nerve in her body tingle. The man had a killer smile, one that made her feel it was meant just for her. Dangerous thinking, there, Charlie. He might speak the truth when he claimed he wasn’t a player, but she had no doubt he could sneak his way into her heart with little effort. She had best keep her guard up.

  He tugged on a strand of her hair and then let it go. “It does bounce back. I’ve been dying of curiosity about that. So, why do I like you?” The corners of his eyes crinkled, and she would swear the little streaks of orange in his irises brightened in pure deviltry. “It’s your ears. I’m wicked hot for them.”

  Laughter spilled out of her. Before she could catch her breath, she was flipped onto her back on the sofa, and Ryan was braced on his elbows over her.

  “You think that’s funny, cherub?”

  Well, she had, but with his hard male body pressed against hers, and his mouth just inches away, her breath hitched as desire swept through her. His grin faded, and his eyes darkened to the green of leaves wet from rain. The scent of him washed over her, and she inhaled his smell deep into her lungs. She didn’t think he wore cologne, but the spice of his aftershave and the clean smell of what she thought might be bay-scented soap made her want to press her face against his neck and lick him.

  Caught in his intense gaze, Charlie slid her hands up his arms. Firm muscles flexed under her palms, and certain there was much to admire under the cotton material, she wished she had the nerve to ask him to take off his shirt.

  He nudged her legs apart and settled between her thighs. She kicked off her sandals and rubbed her feet over the backs of his calves. She wished he would take off his jeans, too. With a grunt of what sounded like approval, his mouth claimed hers.

  His kiss was playful, nipping at her lips—quick tongue licks at the corners, then brushes as soft as the feathery wings of a butterfly. She had never been kissed like that before. In her experience, men were quick to go right for the tongue. Ryan toyed with her mouth as if she were a delicious dessert that he wanted to savor.

  Deciding she wanted to play, too, she sucked his bottom lip into her mouth and held on to it with her teeth. A chuckle rumbled through him, and when she let go, he kissed a trail over her cheek to the side of her neck.

  “Such a pretty pink shell of an ear you have, Charlene. No wonder I’m hot for it,” he said right before his tongue swirled, damp and hot, around it.

  Shivers rippled through her, and her body shook from the sensation. Heat pooled deep inside her, and she heard herself moan. In response, and even through the thick denim of his jeans, she felt his erection pulse against her stomach where he lay over her.

  His mouth found hers again, and this time, his tongue swept inside. He tasted delicious, like coffee and Baileys Irish Cream. God, she wanted him. The man was melt-her-bones hot, and past caring if she was too forward, she unbuttoned his shirt, tugging on it.

  “Off,” she said.

  Breaking their kiss long enough to yank off his shirt, his mouth came down on hers again as soon as he tossed it away. There were any number of stunts she performed in her plane that gave her a thrill, but this man topped them all. She wasn’t even sure of her name anymore.

  The naked hard chest hovering over her was even more than her imagination had conjured. She began at his shoulders and worked her way down to his nipples. Each place she touched on his skin seemed to grow hot under her fingertips. When she lightly scraped her nails over his broad back, then trailed her hands down to the curve of his spine, he grunted. He rocked his hips against her, the hardness of his erection rubbing her in places that made her feel hot and bothered.

  With his tongue still making love to hers, she slid her hands down his sides, over his rib bones, and then ended her quest at the round metal button of his jeans.

  “No, cherub.”

  His hand wrapped over hers, and she wanted to scream in frustration. “I’m not saying no.” She almost cringed at how begging that sounded. It was impossible that she had mistaken his desire, not with the bulge in his jeans even now.

  “I am,” he said, taking his marvelous heat away when he stood. “I’m saying no.”
r />   CHAPTER TEN

  He must be crazy. That was the only answer as to why he was standing there when a beautiful woman was on his couch, offering herself to him. Ryan fisted his hands and tried to get a grip on his raging lust.

  The last thing he wanted to be to her was one of those boys who had kissed her, then ignored her. He sat on the edge of the coffee table and picked up her hand. It really was small compared to his, and so baby soft.

  “You really are beautiful, and don’t doubt I want you. I just . . . I just—”

  She pushed herself up, and grabbed a pillow, holding it to her chest like body armor. “You just what?”

  “We’re not ready for this, not yet.”

  “I can’t figure you out, Ryan. You’re not like any man I’ve ever known.”

  “Is that bad?” He hadn’t explained a thing, and it was no wonder he was a puzzle to her. Hell, he even puzzled himself.

  Instead of answering his question, her gaze roamed over him, then her eyes lifted to his and she grinned. “It’s kind of weird. You know, like our roles are reversed. Makes it interesting if you want to know the truth.”

  Her perusal of his body reminded him he was shirtless, and he caught himself contracting the muscles in his arms like a damned peacock showing off his tail feathers to a hot chick. For the first time, he resented that he hadn’t spent his teen years learning about women and how to act around them. How to date them. He was sure he was screwing up with Charlie.

  His rabbit hopped out of the kitchen and across the room, landing with a thud on his bare feet.

  “Mr. Bunny, where’ve you been?” Charlie said, reaching down to scratch him under his chin.

  Ryan peered down at the fuzzy creature sitting on his toes. “He likes to sleep in the kitchen next to the oven when it’s warm.”

  She trailed her hand over Mr. Bunny’s back, and the rabbit arched into her touch. Ryan remembered doing the same thing mere minutes ago when she had slid her hand over his back. Why had he gone and ruined that moment and what might have followed?

  “I should go. I have to get up early tomorrow,” she said, and stood, moving away before he could touch her.