“Jesus.”
It was all so gloriously unexpected, sitting in his lap, mischievous laughter bubbling up inside her. She gazed out at the ocean as she sucked on the lollypop and for the moment, she was content just to be with him. The moment spun out for an eternity. The cool breeze played with her hair. His scent surrounded her, earthy and fresh. She just wanted to start kissing him and never stop.Dropping the half-eaten lollypop on his plate, she wrapped her arms around his neck and laid her lips over his. He ran his hands up and down her back making her want more, need more. She sighed, shifting a little, trying to get closer. He broke away, but only long enough to press hot, desperate kisses along her jawline.
She tilted her head to give him better access as he found her earlobe, grazing it with his teeth, sending a shiver through her. He left a trail of kisses down her neck to her collarbone, but the dress was in the way, so he made his way back up to her lips, claiming them in a deep, drugging kiss. Juniper sighed when she felt his hand slide down over her hip, to the hem of her lacey dress, and under. His fingers brushed against the soft, satiny skin of her thigh. With one hand around his neck, the other was free to roam over his chest, then lower. Before she could get very far, though, he hastily pulled his wandering hand from under her dress and grabbed her wrist.
“We’d better stop.”
“Yes.” But she pulled away from his grip and buried her fingers in his hair, kissing him deeply, hungrily. It just wasn’t enough.
“Juniper,” he said against her lips.
“I know.”
“Not here. Not like this.”
“No.” She sighed and broke the kiss, resting her forehead against his, her breath shallow. “You’d better take me home.”
“Okay.” He smiled as she got to reluctantly to her feet, then blew out a sharp breath as he stood up. “Christ, you can kiss.”
Chuckling as she smoothed her hands over her dress, she said, “So can you!”
CHAPTER 9
Juniper
Juniper brushed the hair back from her forehead with the back of her hand. She had wet clay all over her hands and an errant curl causing trouble. Seeing her, Mikayla came over and tucked it under the multi-colored scarf she had wrapped around her head. “Thanks.”
“Then what did he say?”
Juniper’s eyes got misty as she worked the clay around the wheel. “He said that you couldn’t look at Billy and think he was a mistake.”
“God, that is so hot,” Leah said with a smile. “He’s not wrong though,” she quietly added from her seat at the wide workbench.
“Thank you,” Juniper said, smiling at her. She took her foot off the pedal of the wheel to watch Leah for a moment, with a thoughtful frown on her face. Leah was intensely focused as she bent over a pale blue vase, tracing an outline of a poppy in delicate gold paint. She was extremely talented and watching her, Juniper’s mind started to turn. She glanced at Mikayla who was looking from her to Leah and back again, her brow quirked in inquiry. Juniper senther a small smile before pressing down on the pedal of the wheel again.
“When are you going to bang him?”
Juniper rolled her eyes. “Mikayla Sinclair, you have a one-track mind.”
“I sure do and right now, that track is leading right to you having a night of unbridled passion.” Her brown eyes glinting with mischief, Mikayla moved to the fridge and took out a can of coke, shooting a questioning look at Juniper, seeing her nod and grabbing one for her. “Coke, Leah?”
As she didn’t answer, they both looked over. She was absolutely absorbed in her work now, oblivious to her surroundings. Mikayla grabbed a coke for her and took it over, sitting down to watch her as she worked. She glanced up at Juniper, who nodded in response. She had a plan brewing for Leah, she just needed the right moment to pull it together. Leah held the vase away from herself for a moment, studying it closely then nodding to herself. As she placed it gently on the table, she looked surprised when Mikayla pushed the coke towards her. She had been someplace else entirely. “Sorry, what was that?”
“Oh nothing, I was just wondering when our little Junebug was going to bang William.”
Now it was Leah’s turn to roll her eyes. “You have sex on the brain.”
“Ha!” Juniper exclaimed. “See!”
“I’m not ashamed to admit it. You’re the only one of us with a chance of getting any, so we gotta live vicariously through you.”
Leah took a sip of coke. “I don’t get what the fuss is about.”
Mikayla stared at her wide eyed. “Get out of town.”
Leah shrugged but a shadow passed over her face as she reached for the paintbrush and idly swirled it through the gold paint on her palette. Mikayla and Juniper exchanged glances before wordlessly agreeing to leave it.
“Mikky, can you check on Billy for me?”
