He softens a little. “I don’t trustyouwith anyone except me.”
“Why?” That womanly tact begins crawling out,hoping for praise and compliments. It’s an uncontrollable urge because of him. “You think he might crash land?” I tease.
He shivers. An honest-to-God shiver. “No,” he growls. “He would never.”
“What are we talking about here? I was joking.”
Tahoe grits his teeth as his hands clamp tighter on my waist. “I trust in his ability to do his job. I don’t trust him with a woman. Especially not with you,” he says.
Jealousy. It feels so good. The ultimate in compliments, really. “I’ll wait for you to get the qualification then. So, if we crash land, it can be all your fault. Not your friends.” Twining my hands around his neck, I see his stress ease at my touch.
He pushes me back so he can look me square on, a mischievous twinkle in his eye. “Please, Caroline. Now it’s a challenge. I’m going to have to scare the life out of you to prove a point. It’s going to be one step before crash landing.”
“That’s rude.” Releasing him, I fold my arms across my chest.
He quirks one brow. “You question my skill. That’s rude.”
“It’s not even a skill you have…yet,” I fire back, smiling. “You’re not a jump master.”
Tahoe’s hands slip down my waist and around to my ass. “Right now I want to show you a few of my other skills.”
“Kitchen demo? I hate to burst your bubble, but I have that skill, too,” I tease. His gaze is fire as he watches my mouth while I speak. Wetting his lips, he swallows hard,his grip firm against my backside. “Not impressed with that,” I add, egging him on. “What else do you have for me? What skill?”
His eyes spark open wide, then he nods slowly. “Something you’ll never forget, Sunny.”
It’s a threat. One I willingly accept without offense. The sunlight has all but vanished since our conversation began, and now there’s just the low light from a chandelier with two working bulbs. It’s easy to have more confidence than I should in the dark, with his hands owning me the way they are right now, so I press my mouth to his. The response is immediate and real—the lighting of a fire that has never been here before. He pulls me into his lap, and the bulge between his legs is so mountainous I inhale sharply.
“You’re feeling one of my skills right now,” Tahoe says, nuzzling his face into my neck.
The scruff on his cheeks and chin scrapes against my neck.
“Isn’t that more of a gift than a skill?” I ask, my voice breaking. Caroline May doesn’t play games like this—she doesn’t play games at all. Against his lips, I steer away. “Why do you call me Sunny? You think I’m the sun? My sunny disposition?”
I feel his grin against my skin. “A touch more morbid than that,” he admits, bringing his hands up to hold my face in place as he works his mouth against mine for a beat or two. “The earth would die without the sun,” he growls, then looks me directly in the eye. “Sunny.”
I do die a little inside, right at this moment. At least the little girl with dreams of a man sweeping her off herfeet swooned.
Tahoe groans and pushes me out of his lap with that look in his eye that turns my stomach upside down. Now that I understand what it means, I know I’ve seen it many times in the past month. Dozens of times, when I mistook it for irritation or annoyance. It seems I’m as delusional and blind as my friends say I am.
A loud bang on the front door sends both of us across the room. Instinctively, he pushes me behind him with a straight arm before he opens the door with the other. “I saw your bikes when I was driving by. Just wanted to stop in,” Shirley says, peeking at me around Tahoe’s body. “What are you guys up to? Congratulations, by the way,” Shirley says, focusing on him instead of me. “You have some big balls. Buying this place. Man!”
“Shirley,” I cry. “Stop it!”
Tahoe chuckles and opens the door wide enough for my friend to slip through.
Shrugging, she says, “He does! Whether he knows it or not. Don’t be such a prude, Caroline,” she says, and then licks her lips. “I was congratulating him on purchasing another piece of Bronze Bay.”
He raises one brow. “Anotherpiece?” he asks, a half smirk pulling the corner of his mouth.
Shirley cranes her neck to look at me and lets her gaze float back to Tahoe. “Yeah,” she replies.
“Oh, my god! I’m right here!” Suddenly, I don’t want Shirley meddling in my love life, or lack thereof. “Humans can’t be purchased!” I shout, throwing my hands up.
Tahoe’s smile fades to something more somber. “Theyare, though.” He runs a hand through his hair, the tattoos under his biceps peek from his shirt.
Shirley and I both look at him, with what I’m sure is the standard, horrified expression. I’m reminded of what he is. What he’s capable of.
“I closed with your mama tonight. She mentioned you two are having dinner up on the hill tomorrow,” Shirley says, doing her best impression of me, trying to wield the power of the Southern topic change.
