We shook hands on our agreement before he pulled back, settled himself against the worn vinyl seats, and folded his arms across his wide chest. For a long moment we just stared at each other, daring the other to go first. I wouldn’t break. I wouldn’t lose. Not this one. There was too much riding on it.
The silence that hung between us wasn’t uncomfortable, more like challenging. The silent dare that hung in the air was intriguing. I wasn’t going to break. I didn’t want to go first. I’d have the last word. It was the only way I could do this.
“Well?”
“Ladies before gentleman.”
I shook my head at him and a smile tugged at the corner of his lips. The moment his tongue darted out, wetting his lips, I had to clench my thighs together to stop myself from leaping over the table and rubbing myself against him like a bitch in heat. The all too recent memory of what that tongue tasted like was torture.
“Okay then. First kiss. When and who?”
Okay. I was not expecting that. “I was seven. Phillip Maddox. He was the best handball player in my class.” Taking a long gulp of my drink, I could see the amusement in his face and I knew it was only a reflection of my own.
“So, that’s your thing then.”
“What’s my thing?”
“Athletes.”
“Is that what you think?” It came out bitterly, and harsher than I’d intended. If there was one sure thing to get my back up, to piss me off more than anything else, it was judgment. Judgment for me was the root of all evil. I’d dealt with it all over the world. More than once I’d been labelled the dumb Aussie or the girl who spread her legs easily. And each and every time it happened, it cut a little deeper and hurt a little more. None more so than my own parents.
“Whoa!”
“What?”
“Touched a nerve there, didn’t I?”
“Sorry.”
“Don’t be. I shouldn’t have snapped.”
“Wanna tell me why you did?”
He seemed to genuinely care. It kinda knocked me off my axis for a moment. “Another time?”
“Sounds good.”
We finished our meal in strained silence before Nate suggested we head out. When we rose from the table, Nate stretched his hand out, and without thinking, I dropped mine in his. I was fine, I had everything under control right up until the moment he fired up the engine of the bike and I threw my leg over. A minute later, with the inky black sky overhead, we flew down the highway away from the pub and away from all of my heavy thoughts. Even the steady sprinkling of rain didn’t faze me. I was too caught up in the moment.
I wasn’t paying attention. I should have been. I know that, but I wasn’t. So when we pulled into Nate’s driveway, I was caught off guard. He pulled the bike right up to the edge of the veranda before killing the engine and jumping off.
“Come on. Let’s get you dry.”
Yanking off my helmet, I handed it over and Nate dropped it on the wicker chair before shooing me inside. It was my worst mistake yet. The moment I stepped over the threshold of Nate’s home I was surrounded by him. Everything screamed masculinity and Nate. Clean, simple, and uncluttered. Beige and leather and more electronic gadgets than I’d ever seen.
Noticing the puddle of water pooling at my feet, I felt bad dripping on his floor. I shrugged out of my wet jacket. “Do you have a towel?”
Spinning around, I caught Nate’s hungry gaze locked on me. Not on my eyes. They were fixed. On my chest. His eyes were black, and his jaw firmly set. He swallowed deeply.
Before I had a chance to think or pause for a breath, I threw myself into Nate’s arms, grateful for his quick thinking and not dropping me on my frozen ass. Slamming my lips over Nate’s, I let everything other than the feel of his lips against mine fade away. Pressing my body even closer to his, there wasn’t a breath of air between us. I felt his tongue trace the seam of my lips, and with a moan, I opened willingly. I was suddenly ravenous, and it was a hunger only Nate could satisfy.
While our tongues duelled, my fingers strained to gain purchase on the zipper of his leather jacket. The jacket I’d had more than one dirty thought about while we’d ridden through the night. Now I had my hands on it I wasn’t about to let go.
When Nate’s huge hands found my ass, I rubbed myself against him. I was so damn hot and horny I barely noticed my wet jeans and frozen fingers until they brushed against the warmth of Nate’s abs and he pulled back with a gasp.
He may have put distance between us, but he didn’t loosen his grip. With one hand cupping my jaw, he rubbed his thumb over my cheek leaving me even more flustered. The moment he wrapped his hand around my braid, giving it a good tug to expose my throat, I heard a moan. Or maybe a groan. Whichever it was, it didn’t matter. When he pressed wet, open mouthed kisses up and down my neck, my legs buckled beneath me. If Nate’s grip hadn’t been as tight I would have slumped to the floor.
“Josie…” His voice was breathy and laced with arousal.
