She released another soft moan. The sound slid down his spine, caressing his skin, causing it to pebble. Matt dragged his hands down her sides and around to the small of her back. His palms dropped to her backside, and he pulled her closer, the need to feel her pressed up against him all but consuming him.
“God, Tamryn,” he growled into her mouth.
Matt swallowed the shallow whimper that poured out of her.
“Matt. Matt, stop,” she pleaded.
He could tell by the way she clung to him that she didn’t want him to stop, but she’d said the word, and that was all it took for him to put the brakes on. His mother had raised him to always heed a woman’s request to stop, no matter what hethoughtshe meant.
He released her lips, but not her body. His eyes closed, he dropped his forehead to hers and sucked in a deep, calming breath.
“I’m sorry,” Tamryn whispered. “I just…”
“I know. You can’t,” Matt said. He ran a hand down his face.
“I won’t be able to fight this much longer.”
“But you’re able to do so tonight,” he stated.
She nodded. “I’m not even sure how, but yes, tonight, I’m able to put up a fight.”
Matt blew out a breath and braced both of his elbows on top of the car’s roof. He was as hard as a horny teenager on his first date.
“I’m sorry,” she said again.
“Stop saying that.” He trailed his fingers down her cheek and along her delicate jawline. “You don’t have to apologize. I don’t want you to do anything you’re not ready to do.”
“That’s the problem,” she choked out with a hoarse laugh. “I want to do it so badly that if I don’t go inside right now we may just end up giving any guests who may be looking at us through their windows a free show.”
“Don’t tempt me,” he said. “A scandalous sex tape just might be the thing to put my campaign on the map.”
Her head flew back with her laugh. “I’m not sure that’s the route you want to take.”
“Ben would have a coronary,” Matt said with a chuckle. He leaned forward and whispered against her neck. “If I steal another kiss, will that get me in trouble with the teacher?”
“Why don’t you try it and find out?” she suggested.
She closed her eyes and tilted her head back, but Matt only pressed a light peck on her forehead. She opened her eyes, looking up at him in confusion.
“If I did anything more than that, I would have to follow you inside.” He gestured toward the Victorian. “Good night, professor.”
“Good night,” she said with a sigh. She lingered in his arms for a second longer before turning and heading for the B&B’s porch steps. Matt maintained his stance against the car. His legs trembled with the need to follow her, but he managed to stay rooted to the spot until she entered the house.
Then he walked around to the driver’s side, slid behind the wheel, and grabbed it with both hands, holding on so tightly he was sure he’d find imprints of his fingers when he finally released it. It took all he had within him to finally turn the ignition over and pull away from Belle Maison, but he managed to do it.
Barely.
Chapter 7
Mattuncapped thebottle of water he’d grabbed from the refreshment table and looked over the large crowd gathered in the Gauthier High School auditorium. He hadn’t expected his first public debate against Patrick Carter to attract many people, but interest in the campaign had escalated after the most recent commercial issued by Carter’s camp.
His opponent’s latest attack revolved around Matt’s “string of women,” as the ad stated. To say he was pissed off didn’t even begin to describe the anger that flowed through Matt’s blood just thinking about it. It was both inaccurate and out of line, and it cast him in the kind of light he definitely didn’t want Tamryn to see him in.
He had shown her the video on his phone last night while they were at dinner—the third dinner they’d shared this week. He hadn’t wanted her to see the commercial on her own and get the wrong idea. He explained that Carter had dug up every woman he’d dated since college.
He’d never professed to be a saint, but he wasn’t some philandering playboy, either. He was single, and had had his share of girlfriends, but he was fiercely monogamous, even when some of the women he’d dated had not been.
In the ad Carter had accused him of using his status as a Gauthier to “add to the notches on his belt,” and that pissed Matt off more than anything else. He’dneverused the Gauthier name as a means of getting women, even though some of the women he’d dated had pursued him solely because of his family’s money and prestige.
