He dipped his head, his lips hovering just above hers. Tamryn knew she’d reached a critical moment. If she allowed his lips to touch hers, she was setting a course for how their relationship would play out for the rest of the summer. If she wanted things to remain on a professional plane with Matt, she should stop him right now.
Apparently, her sense of professionalism had deserted her since she’d arrived in Gauthier, because there was not a single ounce of her being that wanted to stop his lips from touching hers. In fact, of its own volition, her hand came up and cradled Matt’s cheek as his lips descended upon hers.
His touch was light, his incredibly soft lips gently meshing with hers. He peppered her with feathery touches, just the tip of his tongue slipping out to tease her.
After a few moments, he became bolder, his kiss more ardent. He scooped his hand around, stroking the small of her back as he pulled her closer to him. Tamryn melted. Then and there, her insides liquefied into a warm puddle. She allowed him to pull her even closer as both his hands traveled up and down her spine.
His tongue traced along the seam of her lips before pushing inside. He stroked with subtle passion, a low groan crawling up from his throat.
Emboldened by the sound she’d elicited from him, she sucked his tongue into her mouth, caressing it with her own. But then Matt took full command. He was both gentle and insistent, his tongue surging and retreating, exploring her mouth with bold strokes while his hands inched further down her body, until they found a place to rest on her backside.
Matt tugged her closer, pulling her body flush against his and groaning with a pleasurable, painful sound.
Tamryn knew she had to put the brakes on this. Not only had she declared this a tingle-free trip—and her body was feeling nothing but tingles right now—but several of the people cleaning up Heritage Park had seen her enter the law office with Matt. If she didn’t leave soon, Tamryn had no doubt that news of her and Matt’s tryst would be the talk of the town.
“Matt,” she said against his lips.
“Hmm?”
His deep moan sent delicious shivers down her spine. Delicious,dangerousshivers. She brought her hands up to his chest and gave him a gentle push. “Matthew.”
“Don’t ask me to stop,” he murmured against her neck.
“Matt, please,” she breathed. Maybe it was herpleasethat caught his attention. He released her and took a step back, running a hand down his face.
Tamryn pulled in several deep breaths to clear her head. It felt as if she’d been deprived of oxygen.
After a few moments, Matt grabbed both of her hands and brought them to his lips. “Can you at least acknowledge what’s happening here?” he asked.
“My skin is still tingling,” she said. “It would be pretty hard to deny it.”
His mouth curved in another of those half-grins that only fueled the relentless shivers that continued to travel from the top of her head to the tips of her feet, stopping at all interesting points in between.
“I wish I could deny it,” she continued. “This wasn’t a part of the game plan when I decided to come to Gauthier for the summer.”
“Sometimes even the best-laid plans have to change, especially when something so good is waiting on the other side.” Matt’s forehead met hers again. “Whatever it is that’s happening between us started the minute I pulled up to your broken-down car on the side of the road, Tamryn. It makes no damn sense to let all this chemistry go to waste.” He kissed the tips of her fingers. “Let’s just see where this leads.”
“I’m only here for the summer.”
“That means we have the summer.”
“You just kicked off a campaign, and I’m in the middle of an intense research project.”
“There’s twenty-four hours in a day. I’m pretty sure we both can find a couple of hours we can spare. I promise you it will be worth it.”
She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth, contemplating.
“Any other excuses you need me to shoot down with cold, hard logic?” Matt asked.
She shook her head.
“Does that mean I can kiss you again?”
She nodded.
Matt smiled.
And then he kissed her.
