Her fettuccine Alfredo came, and she attacked it. She’d assuage the lust thumping through her veins with food. He laughed at her, commenting how he loved a woman who could eat. She fed him some from her fork, and he fed her a shrimp from his fingers, letting the tips linger on her lips until she flickered her tongue against them. His eyes closed.
“Damn, woman,” he breathed.
“I want you.” His eyes opened again at her declaration. His hand dropped beneath the fall of the tablecloth, and his fingers slid deftly under her skirt, bunching it up her thigh. In no time, he was tracing the edge of her panties.
“Here? Is this where you want me?” His fingertip just flickered over her clit, barred by the thin cotton panel.
She nodded and fused her mouth hotly to his. The little waitress was probably going to reappear any minute. Macy didn’t much give a damn.
“Oh, hey,” he said suddenly, breaking away from her mouth. “I almost forgot.” She nearly screamed when he withdrew his hand from between her legs, but her aggravation turned into confusion as he reached into the pocket of his black leather jacket. Whatever he brought out was hidden in his balled-up fist. “Hold out your hand.”
“What are you doing?”
“Just do it.”
“Oh my God, Seth, if you’re going to put something totally embarrassing in my hand—”
“Shh. Do it.”
“But you—”
“Macy. Shut up. Do it.”
She rolled her eyes and tried to glare at him, though she doubted it looked very convincing since she couldn’t even begin to force her lips into a frown. “I didn’t exactly mean I wanted to give away my autonomy when I told you—”
He leaned closer, so she could feel his warm breath across her lips, smell the wine on his breath. “Do you want me to touch you again? Do it.”
Panting gently, trembling violently, she lifted her hand palm up with all the eagerness of someone about to receive a hand grenade. He kissed her, just a light brushing of his lips back and forth across hers, as he slid his fist across her palm, opened it and left behind the mystery item. The scratch of lace told her exactly what it was. She broke away and snatched her hand under the table with a gasp.
“Seth!”
“You asked for them back.”
“Not in the middle of a freaking restaurant.” Glancing down and seeing the flash of red between her fingers confirmed it: he’d given her back her Valentine’s Day panties.
“We’re not in the middle. Here’s as good as anywhere.”
“Really.” She reached for her purse to put them away, but he caught her hand and shook his head.
“I want you to change into them.”
“You’re out of your mind.”
“What?” He chuckled. “Don’t worry, I washed them.”
“But…”
“Come on, killjoy.” He cast a glance back over his shoulder and then slid her hair back from her neck, leaning in to whisper in her ear. “I want to think about them covering that sweet, wet, hot, fucking amazing pussy of yours. When I strip you later, those are what I want to see.”
She shivered despite herself. “You’re so obsessed with my underwear, are you sure you don’t want to wear them?”
He stilled and silence hung for a moment. For one terrible instant, she thought she’d made him angry. No chance. “Who’s to say I didn’t?”
She couldn’t help it; she burst out laughing. “You are awful.”
“And you like it. Admit it.”
“And you’re pushy. And presumptuous.”
“No. I’ve just got your number, babe.”
“Really.”
“I saw you, you know, that very first day you came into the parlor with Candace. All prim and proper, looking like your outfit cost more than my entire wardrobe. Also looking like you were ready to bolt for the door any minute. But you didn’t, and we were being offensive as all hell, and I saw you trying not to crack a smile. Mostly failing at it.”
She remembered too. She remembered watching him when he wasn’t watching her. He’d asked her if she needed anything, a drink or whatever, and she’d jolted like being hit with a live wire, quickly shaking her head and going back to her ebook while she waited for Candace to finish getting her first tattoo from Brian. Everyone had probably thought she was the biggest stuck-up bitch to ever walk in the place.
“I just… I was worried about her.”
“Yeah? And yourself? Did you think one of us was going to tackle you and tattoo you against your will?”
“Of course not.”
“Are you mother hen to everyone, or just Candace?”
It was too truthful an observation for her to take any offense. “I guess I can be that way with everyone, but Candace was really sheltered. I mean really. I thought she was making a huge mistake, and it was probably the first time she refused to listen to me.”
“If she was so sheltered, I can’t really get why you would try to perpetuate that.”
“It just freaked me out a little.”
“Did I freak you out a little?”
She looked him in the eye. “Yes.”
“Do I still?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Let me know if I ever stop; I’ll have to think up something new.” Just as he was leaning in to kiss her again, the waitress showed up, and he backed off, facing forward as Macy tried to catch her breath. His nearness had a way of stealing it from her.
The waitress collected their empty glasses and smirked a little as she began to turn away. “Sorry. Carry on.”
Heat rose in Macy’s cheeks. He glanced sideways and winked at her. Clearing her throat, she dared raise her hand above the table, the one still holding her panties in a naughty little pile of silk and lace. “So what about these?”
His dark gaze followed hers down to them. “Go to the ladies’ room and put them on.” The corner of his mouth kicked up. “Though I have no objection to you putting them on here.”
“I don’t think I’m that brazen yet.”
“We’ll have to work on that too, won’t we?”
Chapter Thirteen
If someone had told her at any point before tonight that she would change her panties in a restaurant bathroom just to please a man, she’d have laughed herself stupid. Granted, she didn’t get through the process without a little grin she couldn’t quite wipe off her face. As she slid them up over her thighs and into place, visions of him sliding them off in the cramped confines of his backseat flashed through her mind, heating her flesh down there almost as if it were his fingers touching her. She had to lean against the door of the stall and try to calm her ragged pulse.
After all this fuss over them, if he ended up breaking her heart, she’d have to burn the damn things.
No thoughts of that now, though. They were still just having a good time, right? No hearts had been exchanged, and it would be a long, long time before they would be, if ever.
When she returned to their table and he slid out of the booth to let her in, she noticed with a pang of disappointment that the table across from them was now occupied by a couple with two little girls. That pang bit deeper when Seth took the seat across from her this time. She missed the feel of him at her side.
“I guess the mood passed,” she remarked with a wry smile, picking a strawberry off the cheesecake that had arrived while she was away. He watched in rapt attention as she slowly bit into it.
“Oh, I wouldn’t say that.”
“Hmm, maybe if someone weren’t all talk…”
The sound he made in his throat was almost a growl. “I’m gonna show you talk when we get back to my place.”
Macy finished off her strawberry while her mind turned that over. His place? Interesting. They hadn’t made concrete plans beyond the restaurant; she’d just assumed they’d go back to her apartment again. She was going to get to see where he lived. Given his various interests, it was rather frightening.
“You’re giving me ideas, y
ou know,” he said, picking up his fork and digging into his own dessert.
“Ideas?”
“I could name a few things I’d like to do with you and strawberries. And whipped cream.”
She fidgeted, tempted to tell him to hurry this along already. Something about slipping into the red panties she knew he found so sexy had lit fires down below. He’d known what he was doing making her put them on. And now he was making her wait.
Freaking tease.
The waitress, on her way to the family at the other table, dropped off the leather folder with their check. As he reached for it, she put her hand over his. “Let me.”
“No way. I got this.”
“Let me pay my share at least. I asked you to take me on a date, after all.”
“And I did, right? Because I wanted to, not because you asked me to.” He winked and slid the folder from under her hand. “I’m an old-fashioned guy myself in many ways, you know.”
She wasn’t placated in the least. She hadn’t asked him to bring her to one of the most expensive places in town, hadn’t even imagined he would dream of doing so. It had been a pleasant surprise, because it was her favorite. But not something she needed or expected. Hopefully, he didn’t have that impression of her, when she’d have been perfectly happy catching a movie or going to the sushi place they both loved.
And hopefully…well, she felt wretched for even thinking it. She had no idea about his financial situation, really, and no business speculating. But she hated the idea that he might think he needed to overextend himself just to make her happy.
Not to mention it brought back Raina’s hateful words from the other night, try as she might to keep them from echoing in her head.
After he’d taken care of the check, he helped her into her coat. He held the restaurant door open for her. He opened the car door for her. She didn’t think more than a few seconds had gone by on the journey without his hand on her somewhere…whether it was resting lightly on her back or low on her hip or even at her nape, raising the fine hairs there. Even they craved his touch, it seemed. When he settled in the driver’s seat, she cursed the console and gearshift between them. She wanted to scoot over until she could feel him all along her side, like she had in the restaurant.
Despite her aggravation with its obstacles, she adored his car. That he’d so lovingly restored it to mint shape gave her a little tickle in her belly. It made her think of everything else that could flourish in his careful hands.
“Your place, huh?” she asked once he steered out onto the street.
“Was there somewhere else you wanted to go?”
“Oh no. I just…” She broke off and laughed. “I am extremely curious to see where you live, I admit.”
“Yeah? I hope you won’t be disappointed with how normal it is, then. It’s the house I grew up in. I try not to deface it too much.”
“Ah. Family home.”
“When my parents died, Nana moved down from Oklahoma to take care of us so we wouldn’t be uprooted after what happened. After we all grew up, my brother was the first to take off, so that left me and my older sister. Nana moved back to Oklahoma after she saw Steph and I weren’t going to starve or wander aimlessly into the street. Not every day, anyway.” He threw her a grin. “Steph’s a mother-hen type too.”
She chuckled at his light-heartedness, but it sounded…lonely. Of course, she’d been surrounded by family all her life. Family and more friends than she knew what to do with. And the rodeo, though, all that had changed…
“But doesn’t your sister live in Oklahoma now?”
“She was visiting Nana a few years back, and she met a guy. Moved up there, got married. Has two boys.”
“Aw, Uncle Ghost.” She gave him a playful pinch on the arm.
“I miss those guys, too. I really got to know them while I was staying there. I need to get back up there soon.”
“Did you ever think of moving there yourself?”
“Not really. The whole time I was there, I couldn’t wait to get back.”
She didn’t have to know him well at all to see the sadness that came over him when he mentioned his nana. He tried to hide it. He did it well. But even if it was only a split-second faltering in his expression or the briefest flicker of grief in his eyes, she caught it. She honestly didn’t know how he was putting up such an amazing front. Laughing with her, flirting and talking dirty… Was he only trying to forget what was going on one state to the north?
His right hand was resting on the gearshift. Macy reached over and placed hers on top of it. “It’s really bad, isn’t it?”
He was a long time answering. She watched his throat muscles constrict as he swallowed. “It’s bad.”
“I’m so sorry. We don’t even—”
“No, stop right there. The thing about Nana is she’s more full of life than anyone I’ve ever known. And so genuinely good. To leave the life she’d made, and move down here to take care of us when she was grieving too… I don’t know that I could do it, you know? I can just hear her in my head telling me not to worry about her, to go on living. It isn’t that I don’t worry about her, but… Oh, shit.” He rubbed his eyes hard with his thumb and forefinger.
“What? Please tell me.”
His discomfort was palpable. He rubbed the back of his neck, checked the mirrors unnecessarily. She began to think he wasn’t going to answer, and she would have to accept that. But then he surprised her. “A few months back, she was having a good day, and I told her all about you. I have a picture on my phone I took of me and you when we were goofing around back when we first started hanging out, remember? The one where we’re making stupid faces. She looked at it, and then looked at me and asked me what in the hell I was doing there talking to her when I should be here chasing after you. That’s the kind of person she is. She really means it.” He hit the blinker and sighed. “That’s one of the last lucid conversations we had. All about you.”
Macy gazed at his profile in such silent amazement, she hardly noticed when he pulled into a driveway and braked to a halt. Once he’d shifted into park, he reclaimed her hand and laced his fingers through hers. “I can’t say that’s what I came back for, though. My sister encouraged me to go home for a while, and I felt like I needed to check on things around the house, see my friends, get back to my music, just be. But I’ve thought it’s pretty damn funny the way things work out. If you knew Nana, you’d know she almost always gets her way.” He brought her hand up, brushing her knuckles with his lips. “Here I am, chasing after you.”
She opened her mouth, but the words weren’t there. Whether it was terror or elation that held them captive, she didn’t know.
This wasn’t supposed to happen. Oh God. Warmth pricked the back of her eyes, and she wanted to run. Wanted to stay. Because his lips were warm and full and wonderful, and she wanted them all over her body. Right now.
She lunged for him, and the voluptuousness of his mouth on hers sent her stomach into a free fall. It wasn’t unlike the dizzying high of riding full gallop, and she hadn’t allowed herself to do that in so very long…
Gasping for air, she pulled back, her heart slamming in her chest.
“What’s the matter?” he breathed, leaning in and trying to recapture her. She let him, unable to resist. Just like the first night, just like every night they’d been together since. Unable to resist. Knowing she should. Helpless whimpers escaped her throat. His tongue slipped into her mouth. He let go of her hand, and she wrapped her arms around his neck while he smoothed his hand up her ribs and found her breast, squeezing gently through her layers of clothing.
Why did her body have to respond like this to him? Why couldn’t it have craved Jared’s touch this much? She never would have left if it had. Under Seth’s hands, she came alive. She unfurled, smoothed out, blossomed. He felt so right, even when everything else was so wrong.
“Let’s go inside,” he murmured against her lips. Macy couldn’t imagine letting him go, but she figure
d if she didn’t, they would only have another bout of vehicular sex. Nodding, she leaned back when he released her. “Sit tight.”
As he made the quick journey around to open her door, she gazed up at the house in front of her. Very pretty, traditional beige brick with gables. She slid from her seat after he popped open the door, taking a glance around. Nice enough neighborhood with similar houses cramped together along both sides of the street. Quiet. Most of the lights were already out; she had the feeling they’d been out for hours.
“I take it you can’t play your music very loud here.”
He closed the door, grinned and tugged her toward the front porch. “Might explain why I don’t hang out here that often.”
There was a chill in the air tonight, exacerbated by the heat she’d just felt in his car, in his arms. She shivered impatiently in her coat while he unlocked the front door, and then he was pulling her inside and pushing her against the wall, and there was nothing but him, his kiss, the strength of his body overpowering hers. She grabbed his collar and matched his ferocity with her own. When his lips left hers to kiss a hot path to her neck, she turned her head and noticed the still-open door.
“Seth…the door…”
“It’s dark.”
“You can’t—”
“Shut up, Macy.”
Damn herself for ever telling him she needed someone to shut her up. Then again, she thought as he pushed her skirt up her hips, it might have been one of the most beneficial requests she’d ever made. His fingers, still cool from the outside chill, seared the burning flesh between her legs, and her knees buckled. She grabbed on to his shoulders to hold herself up.
“So hot,” he said, brushing his mouth back and forth across hers in that devastatingly erotic way he had. “So fucking hot, Macy…” Big hands slid under her ass and lifted, planting her back hard against the wall. She wrapped her legs around his hips, arched into him and practically purred. He had to let go of her to unzip his pants, and she clung on haphazardly, praying he would hurry.
Five feet to their left, the front door still stood wide open, and a chilly breeze brushed her left thigh. Out on the street, a car cruised slowly by, and she gasped, though being seen wasn’t even a remote possibility.