He pressed his teeth to my jaw, growling. "Both."
"Mmhmm" was my only response. What was there to say? I'd already used my allotted sassy tokens for this conversation and I was notoriously bad when it came to handling deliciously hot, tense interactions like a normal human lady. Instead, I went for obscure humor (I mean, I'd been talking trig) and awkward comments or—even better!—straight-up silence.
Again, it was no surprise I was single.
"Magnolia?" he asked, pressing his body against mine. He felt glorious. The sweetest rock and hard place in the world.
I ran my hands up his back, settling on his shoulders. My fingers slipped under his shirt, introducing myself to his skin. "Yeah, Ben?"
"I'm going to kiss you," he said. "If that's not what you want, tell me now."
He kept one hand on my hip but released the other as he stroked my waist, my flank, my shoulder. When he reached my face, he dragged his knuckles down the line of my jaw before tucking stray hairs over my ear.
"Tell me now," he repeated.
I met his gaze, blinked. I didn't say no. I wasn't going to.
Ben kissed me like the sand was almost out of the hourglass and this moment was slipping away. Fierce, unrelenting, frantic. His tongue swept over mine in a command, an order levied just as sharp and exacting as any of mine. And I surrendered to him. I wanted it.
"I've needed this for so long," he murmured against my cheek. He pressed a kiss to the corner of my lips. It was sweet. Chaste, even. It was nothing like the heat pulsing between us but it was right. "Goddamn, it's been so long."
"Not that long," I replied. "We met a few weeks ago."
"Yeah and you came in here with your tits out, honey," he said, his hold on my hip shifting to my backside. "I almost followed you across the street that night."
"Almost, huh?"
"I stood there, staring out the door, wondering how a little thing like you could walk in and rock my entire world." Ben nodded, dragging his rough scruff against my skin. Up my neck, my jaw, behind my ear. Right into tingle territory. "I watched from the front door. After you yelled at me for forty minutes."
"No more than five minutes."
"I watched you go home, turn off the lights. Thought about you getting into bed in that loose shirt. Jesus. Held on to the doorframe so hard I yanked the damn thing off."
"Is that what happened?"
"It is," he replied with a laugh. "I'm going to kiss you again. The molding will wait. We're doing this now. Okay? Answer me this time. I want the words."
"Okay," I said.
I didn't have to solve forfthis morning. Not when the focal length was pressed right up against my belly.
Chapter Twenty
My date was goingto town on a waffle cone.
When I noticed this, two thoughts crossed my mind.
First, demolishing a double scoop of gelato should be an Olympic sport, and second, that tongue had skills.
"Not liking the pistachio?" Rob asked when he took a breath.
His lips were shiny. It reminded me of…mmm. Like I needed that reminder. Every time I was with Rob, my body felt like a harp string pulled too tight.
Just waiting to be plucked.
I hadn't been plucked in ages. And I did mean ages. I barely remembered how a good plucking went but I knew shiny lips usually meant we were off to a good start.
I glanced down at the small dish in my hands. I hadn't touched it. I tended to do that when Rob was around. Forget about everything save for the quiver of anticipation conveniently located right between my legs, at least for a few minutes. "Oh, no. It's fine. I like pistachio. Love pistachio. It's great. Like, if I had to rank the nuts, I'd put pistachio right up—"
