“Sure,” he said from the living room.
She put it in the microwave for twenty seconds. “Do you want ice cream?”
“No, just the orgasmic cobbler. The night’s young. I don’t want to wear myself out.”
Darcy frowned as she watched the bowl of cobbler turn in the microwave. What did he mean, the night was young? Just like that, the nervousness started up again, and her stomach started twisting into knots.
She wasn’t nervous because she thought they were about to get hot and sweaty on the couch. She was trying to talk herself into that being a good idea actually.
No, she was nervous because she was sexually broken. Think of the irony. Someone who had never had sex was already sexually broken.
She just couldn’t get past “go.” Yeah, if a guy was good, he could turn her engine on, but she always stalled out before she released the clutch to press the gas pedal.
The only orgasms she’d been able to have had been self-induced. Oh, and apparently Quinn’s peach cobbler kinda did it for her too.
When the cobbler was warm, she grabbed a spoon, and after a deep breath, she headed back out of the kitchen. Handing the bowl to him, she said, “I kinda feel like I should give you and the cobbler some privacy.”
He tipped his head back and laughed. He gave her a look as if to say he thought she was ridiculous, and then he took a bite. After a moment, he raised his eyes to her and smiled. “Good,” he said with his mouth full.
After eating the whole bowl, he declined a refill and got up to rinse his dish in the kitchen. When he rejoined Darcy on the couch, he sat a little closer than he’d sat before. The warmth from the whiskey was spreading through her chest, helping her nerves loosen and relax. His big body was turned toward her, and she could smell the woodsy scent of his cologne as he leaned back against the cushion.
“It’s easy to be around you. There’s never a dull moment.”
She smiled at his comment, taking another sip of her drink. His eyes seemed to roam over her, starting with her face, then going up over her head, following her hair down to her shoulders. He reached out and pushed a strand of black hair behind her ear, allowing his fingers to curl around the lobe to follow her jawline to her chin.
“You’re an incredibly beautiful woman.”
His voice was low and full of desire. Darcy looked over at him, and it was written in his expression too. The knots in her stomach started twisting and pulling harder, making it nearly impossible to sit still. She crossed her legs and bit her lip, not sure what to do about the demolition derby happening inside her chest.
He was attracted to her. That was plain to see. She didn’t know what else to make of the pointed look he was giving her other than he wanted to eat her alive.
Rhys was a good-looking man. And Darcy liked that he wanted her.
All right, Darcy. You can do this. Time to activate the nether region.
He used the back of his hand to push her hair behind her shoulder before running feather-soft touches along the taut cord of muscle below her ear. “Last weekend, I told myself not to call you when I got to Providence. I knew that if I spent any time with you, it would eventually lead to us sitting on your couch in a dimly lit living room. You sitting beside me looking scared to death. Me sitting beside you trying to keep my hands to myself.”
She swallowed. “I’m not scared to death.”
“Really? Then why are you trying to sit as far away from me into the corner of the couch as possible?”
“Because it’s more comfortable over here?”
Rhys smiled. He took the nearly empty glass on Darcy’s lap, leaned forward, and placed it on the coffee table.
“Like I said, I told myself not to call.” He turned his wide shoulders toward her, leaning one thickly muscled arm against the back of the couch next to Darcy’s shoulder. She saw the pink tip of his tongue run along his bottom lip. “I know we’re working together, and it’s probably not the best idea to get involved. But life’s too fucking short to worry about that. We could have our bid declined on Wednesday. Then all this waiting would have been for nothing.”
“We’re not going to have our bid declined.”
He smiled as he moved toward her. “Even so. It doesn’t change the fact that I want to kiss you right now.”
The full desire in his eyes bored into her and made her shiver. Darcy could feel the warmth from his chest as he leaned closer to her. She should just lean in and kiss him. A kiss would do the trick. It would get her juices flowing. She should press her lips against his, feel the warmth from his mouth. She might be a virgin, but she knew a thing or two about kissing.
Her first kiss had been a complete disaster. She’d been at a high school party at Lisbeth Tanner’s house, and Lisbeth’s older brother had cornered her in the hallway and shoved his tongue down her throat. He’d stolen her first kiss from her, and all she could remember was that he’d tasted like cigarettes and beer.
Her second kiss had been a bit more fun. It had been in college, and this time, she had been doing the drinking and had stuck her tongue into a guy’s mouth.
She’d known the guy from her history class, and her friends had always talked about how sexy his mouth was. Luckily for Darcy, he’d been pretty drunk too, so their kiss had lasted for a good five minutes before he’d tried to shove his hand up her shirt.
She really should have let him so she could have experienced college the way it was meant to be experienced. But she’d sort of freaked out and shoved him off.
Since then, there had been a few kisses. Nothing remarkable, but some tongue action here and there. One thing was certain: neither Darcy nor Rhys was drunk at the moment.
And no man she’d kissed before had ever looked at her like he was now. Like she was a juicy piece of steak. The kind you didn’t need to add steak sauce to because just the tenderness and the flavor of the meat were enough to make your eyes roll back in your head.
Yeah, she should just lean in and kiss him. Rhys’s kiss might do the trick. She had a feeling it just might.
His gaze was centered on her mouth as she dug her teeth into her lower lip. He reached a hand up and brushed his thumb along the crease of her mouth. His eyes moved to hers, and she got the distinct impression he was asking for permission. When she didn’t pull away, he leaned forward and gently touched his lips to hers.
Closing her eyes, she gave herself over to the feeling of his kiss.
His lips were smooth and warm. And as she began to move her mouth with his, they grew soft. His kiss was gentle and she could tell he was holding back. Except for her knee touching his thigh, their mouths were their only connection.
Okay, the spark of arousal was bound to hit any second now.
He nipped lightly at her bottom lip, causing her to gasp in surprise. He pressed his tongue in between her lips and gently caressed hers. Even though she should have been on sensory overload, she still had the cognizance to applaud Rhys’s craftiness in getting her to open her mouth. She’d have to remember that for future use.
He placed his hand on her leg, right above her knee. As he licked the insides of her mouth with light strokes, he slowly moved his hand up her leg to the outside of her hip. She felt his soft lips get firm against her mouth as his fingers curved around her waist and gently pulled her toward him. She went willingly, feeling and liking the strength in his grasp.
Did that zing I just felt originate in my vagina or was that my thong tightening when he yanked me forward?
Her hands found their way to his chest. The muscle underneath her touch quivered with reserved need. Her contact must have been a signal, because Rhys wrapped his other arm around her back and drew her flush with his upper body. There was no softness there.
Rhys was solid muscle. There was no sinking into him like there was with the other guys she’d kissed. There was no give in his body, just hard friction.
There you go, Darcy. Keep your mind blank. Think about friction.
His lips went
straight to her neck, and he nibbled and sucked his way along her jaw. He’d positioned her to where she was practically sitting on his lap. She could feel the muscles of his legs shifting underneath her thighs.
“Tell me you’re okay with this,” he murmured against her neck.
She just nodded as she ran her hands up over his shoulders and around to his back so she could feel the shift and pull of the strength under his shirt. He held the back of her head in one of his big hands and tipped her face down so he could take her mouth again.
Rhys knew what he was doing. On a scale of one to ten, where one was French kissing a male family member and ten was being kissed by Ryan Gosling circa Crazy, Stupid, Love, Rhys was definitely narrowing in on a solid six and a half. At that thought, Darcy felt Rhys’s hand move down to cup her backside, squeezing slightly and shifting her closer.
She could definitely feel one more part of Rhys that was hard. Yep, that was an erection. All right, move him up to a solid seven for sure.
I’ve never had a seven before. I’ve never had higher than a five, actually.
Darcy moved both hands to his neck, deepening their kiss. She pulled his lower lip into her mouth and sucked hard, causing him to groan with pleasure. Her hands continued to move to the nape of his neck. She was momentarily thrown off when she didn’t find any hair. She spread her fingers out and felt the back of Rhys’s clean-shaven skull, not even a prickle of stubble to be found.
And that did it.
It just didn’t feel right. His lips felt good, his hands felt fine. Yet there was no hair to run her hands through. Definitely no sandy-blond hair that looked so soft and silky. Light, sunny hair that curled just slightly at the nape of the neck to twist around her fingers.
No, no, no! Turn your brain off, damn it! Think friction and hard, throbbing things!
Who was she kidding? It was too late. It was what happened every single goddamn time. It was the reason she was sexually broken.
She squeezed her eyes shut at the thought of Sean. What would it feel like to be sitting on Sean’s lap, pressed into his erection? To have his strong, nimble fingers curved around her backside or knotted into her dark hair?
What would his lips feel like? How would he taste? Could he top kissing Ryan Gosling circa Crazy, Stupid, Love on the Kissing Scale?
There wasn’t a doubt in Darcy’s mind.
Darcy dropped her hands to Rhys’s shoulders and eased herself back, breaking their kiss. He let her go immediately, but he was breathing hard, every breath brushing against her lips.
“What is it?”
Darcy looked at his hungry eyes and his swollen lips. She wanted to want him like he obviously wanted her. But she just couldn’t.
“I’m not sure we should be doing this.” Although there was a question in what she said, the tone of her voice left no doubt of her certainty.
“Did I do something wrong?” He looked confused as he ran his hands up her spine in a comforting gesture.
Darcy shook her head. “No, you didn’t do anything wrong. It’s just that I’m not sure I’m ready to be getting into anything with anyone. Especially with someone I may be working with.”
He narrowed his eyes as he listened, eventually nodding his understanding.
“Rhys, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for things to go where they did. You probably think I’m a terrible tease. I’m just trying to do the right thing here.”
“No, I get it. And you’re probably right. Maybe we should slow down a bit.”
Darcy slowly slid off his lap back onto the couch and straightened her sweater. Rhys moved over to the opposite corner of the couch, stealthily adjusting himself.
He didn’t try to hide his disappointment. God, she felt horrible.
“This doesn’t mean I don’t like you. I think you’re pretty great.” She hoped he could hear the honesty in her voice.
He smiled over at her and nodded. “I obviously think you’re pretty great too. In fact, you’re probably the most fascinating woman I’ve met in a long time.”
She felt heat crawl up her cheeks as she reached forward and drained the rest of her whiskey. The shrill ring of the phone made her jump. Rhys laughed softly at her as she clapped a hand over her racing heart.
“You gonna get that?”
“No, I’ll let the machine get it.”
She got up and motioned to Rhys’s beer in question. He shook his head, so she went into the kitchen with the intention of putting her own empty glass in the dishwasher.
The answering machine chimed. “Darcy, it’s Sean. I’ve been trying to get ahold of you on your cell for twenty fucking minutes.”
Darcy jerked her head in the direction of the answering machine and frowned. Sean very rarely called this late. It was just past ten o’clock, and she knew he was supposed to be at his parents’ house for dinner. The same dinner that Quinn had gone to with Ewan. He sounded pissed.
“When you get back from your date, call me. I don’t care how late it is. Just call me.”
There was a click and then the red light on the machine started blinking.
Darcy stood frozen, staring at the phone. Quinn must have told Sean that she was out on a date. More than likely, Quinn had told him who the date was with.
She didn’t hear Rhys enter the kitchen, but when she looked up, he was there. The expression on his face was odd. Was it possible for someone to look amused and irritated at the same time?
“I’m gonna head back to my hotel.”
“You don’t have to leave if you don’t want to.”
He chuckled. “You gonna let me pick things up where we left off on the couch?”
Darcy bit the inside of her lip and shook her head.
“Then I better leave.”
He smiled at her, but she could tell that it wasn’t what he really wanted to do. He moved to the entryway, where he slipped his feet into his shoes. She opened the door for him.
“Thanks for dinner, Rhys. I had a nice time. I hope we can do it again sometime.”
Did she really mean that?
He brushed some hair behind her ear and kissed her on the check. He smiled at her before heading out the door.
She hated disappointing him. She just knew herself and that she wouldn’t have been able to get into it with him.
Maybe someday when the thought of Sean McKenna didn’t interrupt her hot and steamy foreplay with every spit-swapping man she came across.
After locking the door, she went to her purse and dug her phone out. Sure enough, she had five missed calls from Sean, followed by a text that read: PICK UP YOUR GODDAMN PHONE!! All capital letters. Plus exclamation points. A guy didn’t use exclamation points in a text unless he meant it.
Fucking Sean McKenna.
Hitting the call-back button, she smashed the phone to the side of her face and gripped the back of the dining room chair tight enough she could see the tendons wrapped around her white knuckles.
The ringing stopped, and Sean’s flat voice filled her ear. “Look who it is.”
“Someone better be dying, Sean. What the fuck do you want?”
“Did you have a nice evening? Is your date still there?”
“No.”
“No, you didn’t have a nice evening, or no, your date isn’t there?”
“No, my date isn’t here.”
“Where’d he take you?”
“To dinner.”
He laughed bitterly. “Like pulling teeth.”
“Listen, Sean. It’s late, and I’d like to go to bed. So can you please get to the point of why it was so fucking important I call you the moment I got home?”
“I don’t like you seeing him.”
Darcy probably would have laughed, but for a split second she couldn’t breathe. It was the last thing she’d expected him to say. Why in the hell would he care? He’d never cared before.
All those years that she’d lusted after Sean, he’d never noticed who she dated. She’d watched him with girl after girl like a se
rial dater. Felt her heart fracture each time he’d show up at a party with a new woman hanging off his arm. Fought to keep her goddamn tears away when he’d whisper something salacious into their ears.
She knew all about envy. Wanting something so much that she could taste it on the tip of her tongue yet she couldn’t quite swallow its sweetness. Jealousy was a high-handed bitch that left you twisted inside with craving for what you didn’t have. It surely couldn’t be jealousy she heard in his voice now. Could it?
“I’ll date who I want to date,” she said, half hoping that a little push would make it more obvious.
“Not when it could impact the Wellington project.”
The reminder was like a punch to her gut.
Stupid, stupid Darcy.
Of course it wasn’t jealousy. It had nothing to do with her. It was about the goddamn project. The most important thing in the universe at the moment to Sean. How could she have even entertained the idea that it had anything to do with her?
“I told him to stay away from you. We are too close to let something like this trip us up.”
“You did what?” Darcy clutched the phone in her hand with restrained anger.
“This deal is too important. You can’t be starting something with him. Not while you work for me.”
His voice was flat and angry in a way she’d never heard it before.
“It's none of your business what I do with my free time,” she said between clenched teeth.
“You’re dead wrong. One, you're both on my project and we can't afford any missteps, and two, you're one of my best friends, so that makes it my business."
She barked a laugh into the phone that sounded a lot like a cackle. “One, you do your fucking job, and I'll do mine. That's why you hired me. And two, just ’cause we're friends doesn't give you a say in who I choose to spend time with."
“It does,” he growled.
“If being friends gives us that sort of say, I should have told you a long fucking time ago that you have the worst taste in women. I haven't liked one of the girls you've dated. Not one. But I didn’t say anything!"
“Well, you should have told me,” he shot back.
“Like it would have mattered!”
Not In My Wildest Dreams (McKenna Series Book 2) Page 9