From Exes To Expecting - Laurel Greer

Скачать книгу

he’d never quite gotten it back?

      “I’m not putting all this on you, you know,” she said. “I changed my mind. Was just as much at fault as you sticking to your need to roam.”

      He settled his hand over hers and squeezed. “Never thought you were.”

      “We’ll get through working together somehow. Through seeing each other every day.”

      Anticipation, blended with dread, fused his heart to his lungs. He wanted to see her every day. And knew he’d feel like he was walking on knife blades each day he did.

      “Maybe it’ll help us find closure,” she added.

      He snorted.

      “What?”

      “We’ve wanted each other for over a decade. I don’t see that ending for me after spending two weeks watching you trot around the WiLA sites in tight technical gear.”

      Her cheeks pinked. Her hand still rested on his chest and her fingertips dug into the muscle a fraction. “Kind of like you showing up on my dock in a fricking wetsuit?”

      “I couldn’t exactly turn down the invitation when Drew extended it. Figured the fewer questions the better.” Sending her a pained grin, he brushed the backs of his fingers along her jawline. “And you can’t point fingers about wetsuits.”

      The corner of her mouth curved as she toyed with the open zipper on his hoodie, running the tab up and down the teeth. “Pretty sure Cadie and Mackenzie suspect something’s going on between us.”

      “We’ll hide it. Even if you did decide that you were ready to be honest about our marriage, dropping it on our families right before Drew and Kenz tie the knot would be the definition of unfair.”

      Nodding, she slid her hand under the cotton of his hoodie. It rested on his waist. What he would give for her to drop that hand lower, cup his hardening length. He closed his eyes and shifted his weight, hoping she didn’t notice how much of an effect she was having on him. “I should probably go.”

      It would be a long walk back, especially in flip-flops, but he didn’t trust himself to stay in her presence any longer without reaching for the row of tiny buttons holding the fabric of her robe snug under her breasts.

      She stepped into him, until only an inch separated their bodies. A charged, heated energy thrummed between them, seeped from his skin deep into his bones. He couldn’t be the first to close the space. Couldn’t do that to her.

      He didn’t have to. Standing on her toes, she pressed a kiss just above the collar of his T-shirt. “I dunno. If we’re needing closure... Maybe you should stay.”

       Chapter Three

      Tavish sucked in an embarrassingly shaky breath. “Stay?”

      “Yeah.” Her lips landed on his collarbone again, along with the smallest flicker of her tongue. A fluttering, resolve-weakening caress. “Stay.”

      “I shouldn’t.” He cupped the back of her head with one palm. Taking one of her hands, he twined his fingers with hers. “But when have we ever done what we should?”

      She looked at the floor, sucked in a breath and then made fierce, needy eye contact with him. “Never. And we’ll be quick.”

      He chuckled. “I might take my time. It’s been a year since I’ve had my hands on you, and since you’re talking about closure, we won’t do this again. So I’m going to savor every second.”

      A faint complaint escaped the back of her throat. Those flushed cheeks, the bare thread of control in her eyes—she’d be the death of him.

      Settling his hands on her hips, sliding them over the slick silk, his heart stuttered. Yup, cardiac arrest city. But what a way to go.

      Rocking back a step, she plucked open one of the buttons holding her robe closed on the side. The thin strip of material was the only thing keeping him from palming her soft, pretty breasts. Man, he had a backlist of ways he wanted to pleasure Lauren Dawson. Freezing in his cot in Siberia this winter, he’d compiled a mental tally of ways they could have kept warm together. He started to shrug out of his hoodie, but she stopped him with a firm look.

      “I’ll do that.” She frantically shoved the material off his shoulders. It landed on the hardwood with a swoosh. “Hurry.”

      She flicked another one of her buttons open.

      His body twitched in agreement with her command for speed. No, slow down. “Why so urgent?”

      “To make sure we get into town on time.”

      “They think we’re speechwriting. If we’re late, they won’t question us.” His fingers shook as he managed to undo the rest of the delicate placket. One side of her robe fell to the side, baring a hint of supple skin, but another layer of thin material hid the rest of her. Lifting her and settling her on the counter, he groaned. “This robe is keeping me from seeing you, sweetheart. I think you did this on purpose.”

      “It’s buttoned on the side. Inside.” A sheen of sweat glimmered on her upper lip. She near to whimpered, forehead creasing with complaint, and scrambled for the bottom of his T-shirt. She tossed the material to the floor and moved on to the Velcro fly of his board shorts.

      He placed a hand gently on the side of her neck, kissed the opposite collarbone. “Hold on, Laur. I don’t mind speeding this up some, but I don’t want to miss the next part.”

      Shaking, eyes closed, she paused. Clenched her hands around his hips as, with a care he’d only ever felt for Lauren, he popped a few of the hidden buttons holding her robe together. Jade lace peeked out on one side from the parted fabric. He traced a finger along the exposed material.

      “Tavish.” She kneaded his hips and squirmed under his touch, bucked forward. Pressed her heat into his hardening erection. He let out a loud groan and dispensed with the rest of her buttons. Her robe parted like a jacket, only a few scraps of sheer lingerie covering all the parts he wanted to touch.

      Starting with her mouth. “I haven’t even kissed you yet.” And he’d fix that. He claimed her soft lips with his, nipped and delved and loved her mouth until the faint hint of her chocolate-and-coffee breakfast flooded every part of his tongue.

      Reaching again for his shorts, she dipped her fingers under the back of his waistband and cinched her legs around his hips. Her soft center was aligned with his very need. Amazing enough on its own, but then she twisted her hips. He had to lock his knees.

      “Tavish, foreplay is nice and all...”

      “Nice?” He shot her a look of mock insult and reached a finger down to the lace below her navel, drew a wavy line in and out of the top inch of her panties.

      “Really nice.” Her chest rose and her thighs tightened around his pelvis.

      Tavish’s mind cleared of everything but Lauren and how good it was going to feel to bury himself in her body. He flicked open the front clasp of her bra and cupped her breasts with all the reverence she deserved, swirled his thumbs around her beading nipples. “Pixie, you are so gorgeous.”

      “You, too. But I want more.” She framed his face in her hands, took his lips hostage and dueled with his tongue until he could barely breathe. “All of you. Now.”

      * * *

      Within seconds of her command, one that came from a place Lauren hadn’t known existed, Tavish unwound her legs from his hips. He shucked off his shorts.

      Lauren was caught by his beauty. Not unawares. She knew the shape of his muscular chest, the hair that delineated the center of his abs. But having all of Tavish in front of her, having him offer himself to her, made her realize how unprepared she was. Unprepared to deal with the sum of muscles and entrancing tattoo and that sexy happy trail. And

Скачать книгу