Tough Love
Page 55
Which he accepted.
Drawing her in, he turned his head and fit their mouths together for a prelude-to-sex type kiss. The wet warmth of her mouth reminded him of wetter, warmer places. His dick remembered, too, and now the unruly bastard wanted to salute.
Stack tried to think of something other than Vanity’s body, but her hands fisted in his open jacket, then moved to his shirt.
Then under his shirt—and he lost it.
Someone beeped, and Stack lifted his head to hear cheers from the passing carload of high school boys.
“Damn.” He kissed her lips again, the corner of her mouth, her throat. “I need you, Vanity.”
“You do? Still?”
“Hell, yeah. We could have had sex this morning and this afternoon, and I’d want you again.” And again and again and again. He held her face so she couldn’t look away. “Let’s put the agreement aside.”
Eyes widening, she breathed faster. “Meaning...?”
“I don’t want a stopwatch ticking in my ear.”
Fascinated, she again looked at his mouth, then back up to his eyes with yearning. “What do you want?”
A complex question—but he chose to answer it simply. “You. Tonight and tomorrow.” After that, who knew?
Something shifted in her eyes, there and gone before he could decipher it. Her smile slipped into place, and she nodded. “Okay, sure, that works. But...Denver’s fight is next weekend, and then Thanksgiving is after that. Neither of those were part of our agreement, and they go way beyond tomorrow, so I’m not sure—”
Warm and soft, Stack pressed another kiss to her parted lips. “Quit keeping score, okay? Let’s just play it by ear instead of sticking to rules that never made sense in the first place.”
“Hey.” She playfully swatted at him. “My rules are what got me a date to the wedding.”
“No strings attached, I know. I was an ass.”
Clutching her heart, she pretended to faint. “You admitted it!”
Now it was his turn to swat her—and he did. Reaching around her, he landed a perfect smack to her ass.
Yelping, she bounced forward and against him. “Hey! That stung.”
Nowhere near contrite, he rubbed the lush spot with his palm. “Mmm. Want me to kiss it to make it better?”
“I do.” Before his gonads could celebrate, she sighed. “But I have to paint tonight. If I don’t, I won’t get things done by the deadline on Wednesday.”
“Tomorrow?”
Her gaze searched his. “I plan to finish painting in the morning, then I’m working at the resale shop a few hours. I’ll take the dogs with me—I think they’ll like that. But afterward I’ll have to run them back home, and then it’s my night at the rec center.”
From what he knew of her, she never missed her exercise. “How about I hang around after I finish my workout, and I’ll see you there?”
She visibly thought through several scenarios before pulling his mouth down to hers. “Hang around, and you could come home with me afterward.”
Finally. He’d started to think she’d keep putting him off with one commitment after another. He wasn’t insecure, and he didn’t need her to put him above other obligations—but he needed to know he wasn’t in this alone.
“Sounds like a plan.” Her lips were so soft under his. God, he loved her mouth. No more getting carried away on the street in front of his sister’s apartment. Wasn’t easy, but Stack pulled back. “Okay if I stay the night?”
Happiness brightened her smile. “It’d be awesome if you did.”
Now that was a reaction he could get into. “Awesome, huh? I promise to do my best.”
Her arms went around his neck, and she hugged him tight. “Stack?”
“Yeah?”
“Whitney is the reason you despise Phil, isn’t she?”
Well, hell. What a way to blindside a guy. First she got him thinking about tomorrow and sex, and then she threw out the tricky questions about the ex.
Taking a step back from her, physically and emotionally, Stack gave her a partial truth. “Phil is a lazy, unemployed, self-centered pothead who would use his own mother to keep from doing an honest day’s work or having to face his own responsibilities.”
Vanity nodded. “It’s your mother he takes advantage of, using her love for Tabby against her. I get that.”
Stack couldn’t hide his surprise at her perception, or her unfettered leap into his family’s private business.
Drawing her in, he turned his head and fit their mouths together for a prelude-to-sex type kiss. The wet warmth of her mouth reminded him of wetter, warmer places. His dick remembered, too, and now the unruly bastard wanted to salute.
Stack tried to think of something other than Vanity’s body, but her hands fisted in his open jacket, then moved to his shirt.
Then under his shirt—and he lost it.
Someone beeped, and Stack lifted his head to hear cheers from the passing carload of high school boys.
“Damn.” He kissed her lips again, the corner of her mouth, her throat. “I need you, Vanity.”
“You do? Still?”
“Hell, yeah. We could have had sex this morning and this afternoon, and I’d want you again.” And again and again and again. He held her face so she couldn’t look away. “Let’s put the agreement aside.”
Eyes widening, she breathed faster. “Meaning...?”
“I don’t want a stopwatch ticking in my ear.”
Fascinated, she again looked at his mouth, then back up to his eyes with yearning. “What do you want?”
A complex question—but he chose to answer it simply. “You. Tonight and tomorrow.” After that, who knew?
Something shifted in her eyes, there and gone before he could decipher it. Her smile slipped into place, and she nodded. “Okay, sure, that works. But...Denver’s fight is next weekend, and then Thanksgiving is after that. Neither of those were part of our agreement, and they go way beyond tomorrow, so I’m not sure—”
Warm and soft, Stack pressed another kiss to her parted lips. “Quit keeping score, okay? Let’s just play it by ear instead of sticking to rules that never made sense in the first place.”
“Hey.” She playfully swatted at him. “My rules are what got me a date to the wedding.”
“No strings attached, I know. I was an ass.”
Clutching her heart, she pretended to faint. “You admitted it!”
Now it was his turn to swat her—and he did. Reaching around her, he landed a perfect smack to her ass.
Yelping, she bounced forward and against him. “Hey! That stung.”
Nowhere near contrite, he rubbed the lush spot with his palm. “Mmm. Want me to kiss it to make it better?”
“I do.” Before his gonads could celebrate, she sighed. “But I have to paint tonight. If I don’t, I won’t get things done by the deadline on Wednesday.”
“Tomorrow?”
Her gaze searched his. “I plan to finish painting in the morning, then I’m working at the resale shop a few hours. I’ll take the dogs with me—I think they’ll like that. But afterward I’ll have to run them back home, and then it’s my night at the rec center.”
From what he knew of her, she never missed her exercise. “How about I hang around after I finish my workout, and I’ll see you there?”
She visibly thought through several scenarios before pulling his mouth down to hers. “Hang around, and you could come home with me afterward.”
Finally. He’d started to think she’d keep putting him off with one commitment after another. He wasn’t insecure, and he didn’t need her to put him above other obligations—but he needed to know he wasn’t in this alone.
“Sounds like a plan.” Her lips were so soft under his. God, he loved her mouth. No more getting carried away on the street in front of his sister’s apartment. Wasn’t easy, but Stack pulled back. “Okay if I stay the night?”
Happiness brightened her smile. “It’d be awesome if you did.”
Now that was a reaction he could get into. “Awesome, huh? I promise to do my best.”
Her arms went around his neck, and she hugged him tight. “Stack?”
“Yeah?”
“Whitney is the reason you despise Phil, isn’t she?”
Well, hell. What a way to blindside a guy. First she got him thinking about tomorrow and sex, and then she threw out the tricky questions about the ex.
Taking a step back from her, physically and emotionally, Stack gave her a partial truth. “Phil is a lazy, unemployed, self-centered pothead who would use his own mother to keep from doing an honest day’s work or having to face his own responsibilities.”
Vanity nodded. “It’s your mother he takes advantage of, using her love for Tabby against her. I get that.”
Stack couldn’t hide his surprise at her perception, or her unfettered leap into his family’s private business.
