Page 43 of The Maverick’s Legacy

“Okay,” he responded. He stood up and offered her his hand. When she took it, he said, “Now, lead me to the couch so I can cuddle the hell out of you.”

She burst out laughing as they made their way into her living room, sitting on her oversized white couch. She grabbed her controller and turned the TV on.

“Feel like watching anything in particular?” she asked.

“Anything but true crime or hospital dramas,” he said. When she gave him a questioning look, he said, “There’s already enough unhappiness in the world. I don’t need to hear any more about how depraved society is. And hospital dramas bring back bad memories.”

“Got it,” she said. She flipped the channels until they landed on a rom-com. “Good with this?”

“Fine with me,” Jesse replied. He threw his arm around her and drew her close. She wrapped an arm around his waist, side hugging him. They settled in and started to watch the movie. She occasionally felt him brush his lips against her hair.

As the movie went on, Carly began to run her fingers up and down the smoothness of Jesse’s flannel shirt. She soon became distracted as different parts of his abs twitched at her touch so she continued to tease the muscles.

“Carly, I’m trying to take things slow and be a gentleman here, but if you keep touching me like that, I’m going to return the favor.”

Carly leaned slightly back so she could see Jesse’s face. “Who says I want you to be a gentleman?”

He groaned before he clasped the back of her neck and pulled her mouth to his. Her hands ran up his sides, her palms pressing against his pecs. As their kiss deepened, their tongues played with each other.

His hand ran down her back, along her hips before settling on her bottom, molding her roundness. Before she knew it, Jesse pulled her into his lap so that she was straddling him. His hands shifted up, running along her ribs until they cupped her breasts, his thumbs running circles around her nipples through her sweatshirt.

She wanted to feel more of him—all of him. Carly leaned back and ripped the sweatshirt off her head.

Jesse stared at her revealed skin, muttering, “I’d wondered…” before he cupped a breast and leaned down to lick her hard nipple. Carly arched as he savored her, her hands tightening in his hair. She ground down on his lap, feeling how much he wanted her. Her body responded in return, going liquid with anticipation.

Jesse pulled back, his pupils blown wide open. “Do you—” His next breath looked like it pained him. “Do you want to stop?”

An onslaught of tenderness for this man only made her need him more.

“Don’t you dare think about stopping,” she replied, rubbing down on his lap once more.

He hissed before he pushed her to the side so he could stand up on unsteady legs. “Your couch is very comfortable, but I’m going to need more room to give you everything I’ve been planning in my head since the moment I laid eyes on you.”

Carly shivered at that. “You promise?”

He pulled her against him and then picked her up, allowing her to wrap her legs around his waist as he carried her in the direction she pointed toward her bedroom.

“I guarantee it.”

Chapter Sixteen

As Jesse pulled away from her much later, Carly did her best to control her rapid breath. She stared at the ceiling, trying to get her reeling emotions under control. She’d give him this—he definitely kept his guarantee.

She stretched, her body aching delectably in all the right spots. “Wow, if that’s what you’re like when you’re trying to be a gentleman, I can’t wait to see what you’re like when you’re not.”

He didn’t say anything, and her head angled toward him. His chest was rising as fast as hers was. The moonlight shone through the windows, highlighting his face. It was more serious than she’d ever seen it. Carly bit her lip.

“Are you, um, are you okay over there?” she asked, tentative. After their open communication earlier, she’d expected something—jokes, tender confessions of love—anything but the uncomfortable silence that was building between them.

“Yeah…” He pushed back the sheets and sat up. “Can I use your bathroom?”

“Sure,” she said, pointing to the closed door across the room. Jesse got out of bed, his firm naked backside on full display. She couldn’t appreciate it like she wanted to, not with her stomach twisting in knots. Was he regretting what they’d done? A chill that had nothing to do with the fall night had her shivering. She reached down and pulled the sheets back up so that they covered her exposed breasts.

She turned on her side so she faced the bedroom door, away from where he disappeared. She counted the minutes on the clock, waiting for him to return. The sound of the faucet turning on and water running filled the tense silence of the room. It took ten minutes before the door finally cracked open again with a quiet squeak. She immediately shut her eyes and took even breaths so that he would think that she had fallen asleep.

After experiencing such pure magic with this man, the night had suddenly soured, and she wanted nothing more than to cry.

“Carly?” he whispered her name. She didn’t answer. He could wait until the morning to tell her it was a mistake.