“You’re on, sweetheart.” He grinds. Squeezes my ass. Kisses my mouth.
I moan again, and I swear it echoes into the dark night.
I feel reckless.
Wild.
Wrong, but in all the right ways.
I don’t want to think too much on what this up-against-the-wall session means. Not when my body feels like a Christmas tree, turned on after a long winter’s night. I grind right back, chasing pleasure, chasing something I haven’t experienced in a long time. I’m this close. I feel like I can come like this, with the blue and white lights flickering, underneath the cold, starry sky as my brother’s best friend dry humps me against the house.
“Don’t stop,” I plead as we press and rub, and I can barely believe what I’m doing.
My brain goes offline. My body is electric. This won’t take long. Not with all this pent-up?—
A light flicks on.
I blink.
Another light.
It takes me a few seconds to register it’s coming from inside the house. Another to registerI’mnot coming. My orgasm vanishes into thin air. I unhook my legs from his ass, and he sets me down. I step away. “I should go.”
“You should.” His eyes flare with urgency. Understandable. He has lots to lose here too.
I adjust my coat, try to will away the lust surging through me, then punch in the code to the keypad. I yank open the door as Rowan trots to his car.
My mom’s in the living room, yawning, holding a camera. “Oh, it’s you. I thought it was the raccoons again.”
“And you were going to scare them off with a Nikon?”
“Of course not. I wanted a picture of them. This takes better night shots than my cell phone.”
Talk about a close call.
My mother thought she was catching raccoons on camera. She almost caught me acting like wildlife.
27
SNOW COUTURE
ISLA
Before the sun even rises, I wake with an iron focus. I need to work. To review bios from prospective clients. To plan dates in the new year. To work on my marketing material. So much to do, do, do.
I whip off the covers, ready to be the busiest bee before the competition starts later this morning. After grabbing my phone, I swipe it on so I can turn off the alarm before it blares.
Ha, I beat my alarm. I am Miss Determination.
I’m determined to make sure last night’s orgasm interruptus does not play on repeat in my mind all day long.
With the alarm silenced, I’m about to head into the bathroom to brush my teeth when I spot a text bubble from Rowan.
Rowan: It’s one in the morning. I can’t sleep. I’m replaying everything about this evening. Every single second, Isla. Every word, every sigh, every touch. And just to be clear—I’m done with other people. I won’t date anyone else when I want you this badly. If I even went on a platonic date with some other woman, the only thing going through my head would be the sounds you might make in bed. Tonight, I got a taste of those sounds. I want the full meal.
I press a hand against the wall so I don’t sway from the lust raging in my body. Yes, that was clear, Rowan. That was temptingly, dangerously clear.
A few hours later, I’m still doing my best to keep last night’sappetizerout of my head. In the town square, the snow from a few days ago—topped off by a light dusting overnight—sparkles in the mid-morning sun.
