Seb kept his face even. “What do you think, Hobbs? Should we …”
Helen shrugged, her expression as even as his. “Fire away.”
Seb dipped his head, and the way Helen’s eyes closed as he placed his lips on hers shot a lightning bolt through him, sparking a craving for more than just a kiss. When her lips parted, he took that as a signal to slide his tongue inside, tasting and savoring. Exploring. She leaned into him, another signal. This time for his hand to slip down to the rise of her butt.
Keep it chaste, keep it chaste.
But if her knee brushed his inner thigh one more time, he’d explode. And she tasted, felt …sodamn freaking good. He wanted to devour her—in one big juicy mouthful—and all he could see was her, spread out naked on that huge double bed upstairs.Whoa!
Seb ended the kiss and put a few inches of space several miles wide between them. He cleared his throat. “Is Brenda still watching?”
“No, she’s gone.”
“I think we’ve danced enough now.” But nowhere near as much as he wanted to. “We’ll give it an hour then we’ll make our excuses to leave.”
Back to the cottage, just the two of us, alone.
Seb’s balls ached. But Helen was an employee—not a real girlfriend. Sure, he’d be going home with her tonight but the moment they got into his car, they’d clock off. A day’s work done.
All he had to do now was tell his needy body.
Crossing and uncrossing her legs, Helen tried not to think about being pressed up against Sebastian’s body. As he drove them home, silence sat between them like an unwanted guest. Helen tried to relax, but temptation and yearning made it hard to keep still. If that random peck on the lips by the punchbag hadn’t been bad enough, the scorcher on the dance floor had sent her crush on Sebastian Clarke spiraling out of control.
Serves you right.
Brenda hadn’t been watching at all, and nowThat Kisshad changed everything!
Was Sebastian tempted and yearning too?
Helen couldn’t tell. The man had an excellent poker face, not to mention ironclad discipline of—literally—Olympic proportions. But like a flare exploding against a night sky, there’d been energy and fire in his kiss before he’d extinguished it. She’d seen the chinks in Sebastian’s restraint. Had seen the light beaming through the cracks during their playful sparring, had felt them in his kisses, split seconds before they were tightened and blocked.
Sebastian turned down her lane, the trees dark against the moonlit sky. His hand nudged her knee as he shifted gears, setting off another flare inside her. Anticipation hung between them like the imminent night ahead. When he parked the car, he drummed his fingers on the steering wheel like he’d been doing for most of the journey, then switched off the engine.
They got out of the car and walked to the kitchen door. Sebastian kept his distance. Just as well. If he stood too close, she’d be zapped by his energy and heat.
Helen unlocked the door and stepped inside. The clunk of her keys jarring the quiet as she placed them on the counter. “I’m glad today went well for you.”
“You helped a lot with that.” Sebastian stuck his hands in his pockets, that telltale sign ofI ain’t coming near you again. “You did a good job, Hobbs. Thank you for everything you did today.”
“It was the least I could do.” Helen clasped and unclasped her fingers. “Would you like a drink or anything?”
“No, I’m good. I’ll just probably …”
“Yeah, I should close up the chickens.”
“Me too … I mean, I should just … go upstairs.”
No, you should kiss me again.Another flare went off inside her, illuminating naked bodies entwined between tangled sheets. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Right. Well, thanks again for today.” Sebastian stepped back toward the door. “Goodnight, Helen.”
“Goodnight, Sebastian.”
Chapter 19
“Really,Sebastian.Thatclipis so vulgar.”
Seb gazed out across the apple fields from his bedroom window the next morning, regretting picking up Celeste’s call. But as she’d called so many times throughout the week, it was futile to resist any longer.
