He took a step back. “I’ll get the popcorn ready. You can find the movie on television.” He then left to grab the popcorn off the counter.
CHAPTER 13
A short while later, Eden sat on one end of the sofa while Drew sat on the other with a huge bowl of popcorn in the middle. When there was a commercial break, she asked, “Can I ask you something?”
He glanced down the length of the sofa at her. “Sure.”
“Had I not been here, would you have put up a tree?”
“No.”
She thought his answer had been quick, as if his response hadn’t been anything he had needed to think about. “Why did you do it for me?”
“I thought I made it clear that I had done it for both of us. We are two people without our families during the holidays. If you’re looking for another reason, just chalk it up to the fact that I’m a nice guy.”
“Okay,” she said, grinning. “I can buy that, because youarea nice guy.”
He chuckled. “I can give you the names of five women who don’t think so.”
“Maybe you’ve cleaned up your act since then,” she said.
“And maybe I haven’t. Getting the tree was no big deal, Eden.”
He was wrong on that account -it had been a big deal for her. She could recognize an act of kindness when she saw it, and she appreciated the gesture.
When the movie came back on, they began watching it again, and to her surprise, he told her thatIt’s a Wonderful Lifewas one of his favorite holiday classics as well. They chuckled simultaneously during the amusing moments and remained thoughtful and quiet during the serious ones. Without looking, they reached into the bowl of popcorn at the same time, and their hands touched. It was something she knew neither intended to happen, but it had. She went still, and he did as well, as if in shock.
They glanced at each other across the sofa, and she immediately wished she hadn’t. She had been aware of the sexual chemistry flowing between them before, but at that moment, it was in full force, with an almost combustible energy. She saw something in the depth of his brown eyes that almost zapped the breath from her lungs -and left certain parts of her tingling. Especially her center. When had that part of her ever tingled?
Eden started to draw her hand back, but he had moved the bowl aside and taken hold of it. Then he tugged on it, bringing her closer to him. And she went, unable to resist. She noticed him shifting his gaze from her eyes to her mouth. Suddenly, the tingling sensation she felt seemed to be centered there.
If all she got tonight was a kiss, she would take it and be happy for it. She’d been wondering how her mouth would feel against his. Sophie claimed every kiss had its own unique taste, and for days she had wondered about the flavor of Drew’s.
She didn’t have to wonder for long. When she was within arm’s reach, he tugged a little harder, and she tumbled into his lap. Before she could gasp at the unexpected move, he leaned forward and in one smooth movement, his mouth came down on hers. What she experienced next was nothing like the kiss one of the football players had given her once…before he’d found out she was Elijah Tyson’s daughter.
This was the kiss of a man who knew what he was doing, and the heat caused her to melt in his arms. He was taking hertongue with a hunger she felt in every part of her body. It was as if he wanted to devour her. This was a full-contact kiss, as raw and unapologetic as it was seductive. His taste, she decided, was a sensuous combination of wildness, heat, and man. Hungry but unhurried. Untamed but powerful. Then, when he deepened the pressure with strong, hard lips, she moaned. As if with a mind of their own, her arms slid around his neck and then lowered to his magnificent, muscled back.
And at that moment, she wished the kiss would never end.
**
Drew Steele was a man on the verge of losing control. He hadn’t expected the arousing scent of Eden to push him over the edge when she’d tumbled into his lap, her lips fitting so perfectly with his, and her sassy-yet-sweet taste. His brain was faltering, and sexual need was taking over. If they never kissed again, he would forever remember the shape, fullness, and taste of her lips. The feel of her soft, curvy body in his arms, and the sensual sound of her moan. He was drowning in everything that was her, as his tongue claimed every nook and cranny of her mouth.
They needed to breathe, so he slowly released her, plying light teasing kisses along her jawline, cheekbones, and the side of her ear, with enough finesse so that she wouldn’t think of leaving his arms. His first taste of her had consumed him. Ripped his control. Shattered his resolve. Even now, after-effects were vibrating within him, a fire he had never felt before was spreading through his loins. When had kissing a woman ever done that to him?
“Drew?”
The soft whisper of his name from her lips had him lifting his head to look into her eyes. The level of want and need he saw in their green depths should have placed his senses on heightenedalert. Instead, he was aroused even more than before. Reaching up, he brushed against her cheek with his thumb. “Yes, Eden?”
She continued to stare into his eyes, as if she needed time to formulate the words she would say. “I – I really want you to teach me.”
And then she did something he hadn’t expected. She pressed her lips to his and kissed him. Thoroughly, hungrily, and possessively, in a way that only an innocent could do. Yet, there was more in her kiss than just curiosity from an inexperienced woman. This kiss was an open invitation to be devoured. It was as if she was opening up to him, body and soul, baring herself to whatever he desired.
He suddenly broke off the kiss for a moment, needing to get control of his senses. When he found doing that nearly impossible, he gripped a fistful of her hair and slanted his mouth over hers, needing to taste her some more.
Then Drew got up, standing with her in his arms. He broke off the kiss when her feet touched the floor, and she slowly opened her eyes and stared at him. “Will you teach me, Drew?”
He stared down at her. “No.”
