Taylor clinked glasses with him. She was awed by how open and honest he had been about what had happened in his marriage. She did not think she had ever met a man that evolved or together. She also felt very guilty about her inability to be honest about her own marriage.
As she took another sip of wine, she realized she had deliberately let him think she was divorced. Luckily, she had enough alcohol running through her veins by then that sustaining any level of guilt for more than a second was impossible. All thoughts of self-recrimination were thrown out the window, the second Greer stood up and reached for her hand and said, "Dance with me.”
Chapter 11
River Rat Bar and Grill
Gulf Shores, Alabama
March 2012
For the next hour, Greer and Taylor drank, danced, and talked. The more they drank, danced, and talked, the more comfortable Taylor became and the thicker Greer's Southern accent became. The more he talked, the deeper she fell under his spell. Everything about her behavior was so out of character that it was like Taylor had become a different person. She held nothing back. She was simply enjoying the moment.
Almost all the songs they had danced to so far had been fast, up-tempo songs. Both Taylor and Greer were damp with sweat when a slow song about a love gone wrong came on the jukebox. As the sultry sounds of the song filled the room, Greer pulled Taylor close. She could feel his hot breath on her neck, and his hands burned everywhere he touched her. She knew he could feel the perspiration running down her back, but for the first time in her life, Taylor didn't care that she was sweaty and disheveled.
Instead, she allowed her entire body to relax into Greer's and let the music move her as her hips swayed seductively to the music. Her body was on fire with desire as she pressed herself against him.She had spent most of the night wondering if he was being as affected by her as she was by him. She was elated when she felt the proof that he was.
The longer they danced, the more sensual the movements became. If Taylor had been in the room watching them, she would have been appalled. She would have never believed she could be so blatantly sexual in public. She ought to have felt some measure of shame, but she felt none. All she felt was heat.
And then it hit her. She was in deep. In the sappy romance novel she secretly devoured earlier, the heroine fell madly in love with the hero at first sight. She had always thought that was ridiculous. No one fell in love at first sight. What she didn't know until that moment was that falling into lust at first sight was extremely possible. She was up to her eyeballs in lust.
She had come here tonight with a plan to seduce a man. But in the end, it was she who had been seduced. It felt wonderful to want someone as much as she wanted Greer. It felt even better, knowing he desired her as well. The question was, for all her bravado earlier in the evening, did she actually have the courage to do anything about it?
She was not sure if what was happening between them was that trigger thing Joules had been talking about or not, but this guy made her feel things she had never felt in her life. Turning her head slightly, Taylor could not resist putting her mouth at the base of Greer's neck and allowing her tongue to taste a few drops of sweat that rested there. The second her tongue touched his skin, she felt a shiver run through him.
Burying his face in her hair, Greer whispered, "Before you strike the match, darling, make sure you want the fire."
Pulling back just a fraction, Taylor looked up into Greer's eyes. The hunger and passion she saw simmering there almost made her knees buckle.
Gritting his teeth, Greer all but growled, "Stop staring at me like that, TJ, unless you mean it. It makes me want things I am not sure you are willing to give."
Taylor did not know how to respond. She wanted to ask him what he had seen in her eyes that he had wanted so badly when Bennett's earlier words floated through her mind. And suddenly, she knew what he had seen, and it gave her the courage to take the next step.
Placing her hands on each side of Greer's face, Taylor gently pulled his head toward her. Slowly, she melted her lips into his. Her tongue slipped into his mouth and caressed him. It was a long, slow, wet kiss, and when it was over, Taylor looked deeply into his eyes and said very determinedly, "I want what you want. And I want it now."
Her words were barely above a whisper. For a second, Taylor wondered if he had heard her because he did not respond. And then suddenly she knew he had because he became a man of action.
Not wanting to give her a chance to change her mind, Greer took her by the arm and practically dragged her off the dance floor and across the bar. Grabbing her purse from the back booth, Greer yelled, "Put it on my tab,” to the bartender, and they sprinted out the door.
Once outside, Greer was walking so fast that Taylor was having a hard time keeping up. She had no idea where they were going. She had expected him to go toward the parking lot, but he did not. Instead, he had turned and headed toward the area where several boats were docked.
"Where are we going?" Taylor asked.
"I live on a houseboat at the end of the dock. I don't like to drive and drink, so I always walk. It's not much further." The whole time he was talking, he was walking at breakneck speed.
Taylor was working double time to keep up with him. She was not a petite woman. At 5’7, she was above average for a woman, but his long legs made keeping up a problem. Add in the effects of the alcohol, and Taylor was basically a rag doll being pulled along behind him.
As they covered the short distance from the bar to the houseboat, Taylor replayed the events of the last several minutes in her head. She had to keep reminding herself mentally to breathe. All she could think about was being wrapped in Greer's arms again and kissing him until the fire he had started in her belly was extinguished.
They came to a steep set of stairs, and after several near slips on the steps, Taylor lost her footing and began to fall. Without missing a beat, Greer scooped her up. It was amazing how right she felt in his arms. She just snuggled into his embrace and held on with all her might.
With her in his arms, Greer sprinted down the short distance from the dock to where his houseboat was moored. Then, he carefully lifted her over the railing and sat her gingerly on the front porch of the boat. "Steady there, darling. You hold onto that rail until I can get on." Taylor was beyond words. She simply nodded her head and held on tight. She loved that when he called her darling, it came out darlin’.
In a split second, Greer bolted onto the boat, and Taylor was back in his arms. He opened a large sliding glass door and carried her into the front room. Once inside, he reached behind him to shut the door. The second the lock slid into place, he gently let her slide down the length of his body. His lips were everywhere, her face, neck, lips all at the same time. And she responded in kind. Like a ball of fire exploding in the night sky, their passion erupted in a fiery frenzy of kissing, touching, squeezing, and moaning. It was all so much and not enough at the same time.
As they made their way from the front door to his back bedroom, they left a trail of clothing that marked their path of lust. The pieces that could be removed quickly were left intact. Those that could not were ripped and left in tatters. By the time they made it to Greer's bedroom at the back of the boat, he was completely naked, and Taylor was down to her pearls and heels. Her last conscious thought as Greer pressed her down on his king-sized bed was that she still needed to take off her shoes and necklace. But just as she tried to sit up to do so, Greer pushed her back down on the bed and growled, "Leave them on."
And she did.
