LITMIR.BIZ

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feet ate those last steps that separated them.

      “Hi,” she said, her voice breathless, her skin turning rosy-red. She thrust something toward him. “I brought you cookies.”

      Riley had never seen Hailey’s prickly younger sister look more beautiful. And the woman always looked hot. Today, the breeze caught her hair, ruffling the long, blond strands into her eyes. He reached, feeling the silky glide of her hair between his fingers as he gently tucked the soft strands behind her ear. He smelled the light honeysuckle scent of her. Her gaze lowered to his lips, and he was lost.

      His duffel bag hit the pavement, and his fingers sank into her hair. Riley saw the heat in her eyes before her lids lowered. She raised on tiptoe meeting his lips halfway. Warm and soft, Rachel’s mouth was everything he’d fantasized about. Her lips parted with a quiet moan that sent a shaft of desire straight through his body.

      Rachel wrapped her arms around his neck, one elbow snagging on the pins of his uniform. There were kisses and then there were kisses, and this one was becoming X-rated pretty quickly. Of course it wasn’t every day that the woman he’d thought unattainable yet still starred in several of his late-night fantasies was in his arms, kissing him with a carnal passion that nearly met his own.

      He was forgetting where he was, what he was doing. Riley reached for her hands, pulling them from around his neck, reluctance in his every move. With one last run of his tongue along her bottom lip, he broke the kiss. Riley settled his forehead on hers, his breath ragged and heavy.

      “Welcome home, Riley,” she whispered.

      They were the best damn words he’d ever heard.

      WHAT WAS IT SHE WAS JUST saying to herself earlier today about avoiding the men who were only around for a bit of fun in bed? How she preferred a connection? Well, the pounding of her heart sure told her she was wrong.

      Rachel always suspected Riley could be her downfall. She understood that now. It was probably the reason she’d always avoided him. Some hidden, elemental female part of her must have known he was the kind of bad-for-her boy she couldn’t resist. Downfall? Heck, she hadn’t even put up much of a fight. She’d met her ruin while offering cookies.

      Riley could destroy a woman’s sense of self-preservation with one kiss.

      “Nate was going to give me a lift home.”

      She cocked her head toward the exit. “I think those two wanted to be alone. I offered and they left.”

      Riley didn’t seem disappointed at his friend’s desertion.

      “Hope you don’t mind,” she said, needing to hear him say the words. That he wanted to be with her.

      Riley laughed. “After that greeting? I’m just sorry I made you wait. Hope it wasn’t too bad.”

      She’d been hot, sticky and growing more and more uncomfortable as the minutes ticked past. But now—it was totally worth it. Rachel lifted the box that was to be his welcome home gift from Hailey. “I did eat most of your cookies.”

      “And here I was really counting on eating those tonight,” he said, his voice teasing, and she laughed. Riley was pure charm.

      She’d never spent any real time talking with the man, but she could see why he did so well with the ladies. In mere moments he’d managed to make her laugh, show his concern for her comfort and let her know that he could rock her world.

      Emotional connections were overrated, right?

      “Then I guess I owe you dinner,” she told him.

      “At The Sutherland?” he asked, hope lacing his words.

      Nate’s single SEAL friends had made no secret of their love of the good food served at her family’s bed & breakfast.

      Rachel shook her head. “No, we made sure we booked no guests tonight so Nate and Hailey could be alone together. I was planning on making myself scarce. I could take you to a restaurant,” she suggested.

      Some of the enthusiasm faded from his eyes, and for the first time Rachel noticed the tiny lines of fatigue on either side of his mouth and around his eyes. He was tired and from what little she had gleaned from Nate of Navy life on a boat, the last place a newly returning soldier wanted to be was in a crowded, noisy eatery.

      Riley might be one of those always-out-for-a-good-

      time kind of guys, but tonight he was a man recently arrived from a faraway war who probably just wanted to sit down someplace comfortable and relax with a beer.

      “How about if I stop by a grocery store and pick up a few steaks? Do you have a grill at your place?”

      “If I didn’t, I’d buy one. But yes, I have a grill on my patio,” he told her with a smile. His big body already seemed less tense.

      He stooped and reached for his forgotten duffel bag. The one he’d dropped before he drew her into his arms and gave her hormones a sample of what they’d been missing. The material of his uniform pulled taut as his biceps bulged under the weight of his luggage. A ripple of desire instantly reminded her how dangerous this man could be to her. She’d known it, and avoided him. But not any longer. Today she’d indulge temptation.

      They began to walk toward her car, but Riley paused to twine his fingers through hers. The move caught her off guard, was so unexpected she automatically gripped his hand tightly. Her thumb began a dangerous exploration all on its own. His hand, like the rest of him, was large, the skin rough and his fingers calloused. A man’s hands. Rachel imagined his fingers stroking along her bare skin. Those big hands of his cupping her breasts. Caressing her nipples.

      Everything about Riley promised a woman he’d satisfy her like no other.

      Tonight she’d put him to the test.

       2

      IN THE PAST, A CAR RIDE to a man’s house was sometimes filled with second thoughts. Reservations. Cold feet. Right now, with Riley, Rachel could only fume about their slowness due to all the traffic. And feel utter impatience. Anticipation.

      “Mind if we stop off at my apartment before heading to the grocery store?” Riley asked, running a finger between his collar and his neck.

      “Ready to get out of that uniform?” she asked, which hey, sounded a lot more sexual said out loud. But she couldn’t even work up a bit of embarrassment. She did want Riley. Out of his uniform. At least his pants.

      “Something like that,” he told her, flashing gray eyes in her direction. Sweet heat emanated from him. All aimed straight at her.

      Rachel’s mouth dried. Her breath hitched. She leaned toward him, aching to feel his lips on hers once more.

      The car behind them honked, and Rachel jumped in her seat. “Just tell me the way,” she said, unable to keep the desire from her voice. She lifted her foot off the brake and applied it to the gas.

      “Turn left at the next light,” he said, pointing the way.

      Her fingers drummed against the steering wheel as she maneuvered through traffic. This would have been a funny situation if she weren’t the one living it. Here she was, so hungry for a man, she hadn’t even spotted the light changing from red to green. Rachel decided right then and there that as soon as she had that man alone in his apartment, she’d do whatever she could to take his mind off food and have him focus on her.

      She glanced over at Riley, who didn’t appear very relaxed. Probably wouldn’t have to work too hard to change his mind. A tiny thrill ran down her spine and settled at the small of her back.

      A tightness laced his voice as he gave her the final directions. Rachel liked that. She’d done that to him. Given him that edge. Ramped up his desire. With only a kiss. But a kiss that promised so much more.

      A few minutes later she claimed a parking space in front of his building. Traditional stucco with a nod

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