“Are you kidding? This took effort — sheets, comforter, pillows. Takes me back to those epic sleepovers at your mom’s when we were kids.”
The sleepovers had been his inspiration. He’d used the double mattress in his guest room, which made it easier to pull off the surprise.
But the mood had shifted ever so slightly. Maybe harkening back to their childhood adventures hadn’t been a great move. “I suppose it’s silly to?—”
“Nope.” Releasing his hand, she toed off her boots. “This is perfect. When I first got here I felt slightly disoriented, like youweren’t the Adam I’ve known all my life. But dragging a mattress out by the fire is so you.”
“It is?”
“Sure.” She dropped to her knees on the dark green comforter. “You were the one always wanting sleepovers by the fire, putting up tents in the yard, suggesting cookouts by the water hole.” She looked up at him, warmth and understanding in her blue eyes. “You’re a home and hearth kind of guy.”
That look was achingly familiar, the affectionate gaze of a friend. A treasured one. He couldn’t imagine his life without her in it. What if tonight changed everything? What if it destroyed their special connection?
“Hey.” Her low voice broke into his doomsday scenario. “Take off your boots, cowboy. That’s the first rule of horsing around on a mattress by the fire.”
He sucked in air. “I just?—”
“I could tell. Don’t chicken out on me now, Bridger.”
“But what if?—”
“We won’t let that happen. You even put it in the contract.”
So he had.The parties agree that notwithstanding the events that take place within the bounds of this contract, they promise to maintain their commitment to each other as friends and colleagues unless one of the parties turns into a complete jerk.
“You said we’d do whatever I want while we’re over here by the fire.” She gave him a long, slow once-over before locking her gaze with his. “And what I want requires you to strip down.”
The heat in her eyes torched his doubts and fired his blood. Clearly she’d found her moxie. “Yes, ma’am.” Toeing off his boots, he sank to his knees and unbuttoned the cuffs of his western shirt. “Gonna do the same?”
“Unless you want to take them off.”
He unbuttoned his shirt, his fingers clumsy, his heart racing. “It’ll go faster if you do it.”
“Alrighty.” Rising to her knees to face him, she crossed her arms, grabbed the hem of her sweater and yanked it over her head.
And he’d seriously miscalculated how that move would affect him. Or the next one, when she reached behind her back and unhooked her bra. When that went sailing, he abandoned his shirt buttons and sat back on his heels, stunned.
The fire crackled next to him and the dancing flames lovingly highlighted the bounty she’d revealed.
“Aren’t you in a hurry?”
Dazzled and shaking, he nodded. On New Year’s Eve, touching her had driven him insane but her apartment had been dark. He hadn’t been able to see… this.
She cupped her perfect, rose-tipped breasts. “Cat got your tongue?”
Her teasing words delivered in a sultry tone he’d never heard from her snapped what was left of his control. “Come here.” His husky command was so not him. He didn’t order women around.
She didn’t seem to mind. Crawling toward him, her gaze holding his, she straddled his knees. Then she finished unbuttoning his shirt, shoved it off his shoulders and pulled it down his arms.
A devilish gleam in her eyes, she slid her arms around his neck and brushed her tight nipples across his chest. “The next move’s yours.”
With a groan, he crushed her in his arms and claimed her mouth, thrusting his tongue deep. Her answering moan was all the encouragement he needed. In seconds he had her on her back. Another five seconds and her jeans were gone along with her panties.
He managed to get his jeans and briefs off and blessed his foresight as he pulled a condom from his pocket and suited up. No foreplay, no hesitation. His cock knew what to do.
She gasped as he sank into paradise. Blindsided by lust and breathing hard, he fought to keep from coming. By clenching his jaw and holding very still, he won the fight.
His vision cleared and he gulped for air. Close call. He’d almost made her earlier prediction of lousy sex come true.
