Page 25 of Slapshot Summer
“I haven’t met her, but I like her.Is it too cliché to say it’s good you found outbeforeyou tied the knot?”
She lifted her head once more, parking her palms on his chest.“I don’t know.If it’s true, can it be a cliché?”
“I don’t think so.”He feathered a thumb across her cheek, wiping away the moisture clinging there.“Are you crying because you’re still in love with him?”He held a silent breath.
She didn’t hesitate.“No.I’m crying because he stole something from me, and I want it back.”
A burst of anger detonated inside Josh.“What did he steal?”
“Besides my dignity?How about my confidence?My belief that I’m worthy?That I’m attractive?I know, I know.Don’t get sucked into his narrative, blah, blah, blah.But it’s hard to fill yourself up when someone you loved and trusted has so completely torn you down.”She gave him a weak smile.“But I’m trying.”
Cradling her face in both hands, he mined her emerald eyes.“Believe me when I tell you, you are definitely worthy.As for attractive, you’ve turned every head in this hotel, mine included.I can’t stop looking at you.”
The space between them shrank and crackled.“Neil can.”
“Neil’s an idiot who has no idea what he wants.”Not that Josh knew what he wanted either, but hey, at least he wasn’t an idiot … most of the time.“Trust me, you don’t want him, Lexi.Besides, I might have lied to him last night after you went to your room.”
She blinked in confusion.
He rushed to explain.“I was sitting at the bar, and he came in and took the seat next to me.I told him you and I were together, and that he was a dumbshit for … that he was a dumbshit.”
Her eyes popped wide.“You did?Why?”
“I’m not sure.Might have had something to do with that kiss on the dance floor.”He tilted his head.She angled hers in the opposite direction and stared at his mouth through half-lidded eyes.He brought her face to his and brushed the tip of her nose with his.“I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it all day.I couldn’t sleep last night.”
“Me either,” she whispered.
Those two little words let loose something that had been coiled tight inside him, and he crashed his mouth down on hers.There was nothing gentle aboutthiskiss.It kickstarted something ravenous, hot, and wild deep inside him.He had to satisfy that hunger, and he wasn’t sure he’d be able to stop.
Chapter 10
Hunger
Josh’smouthmovedoverhers, his tongue eager and demanding, as if he couldn’t get enough of her.And she couldn’t get enough ofhim.He tasted like mint and smelled like sandalwood and soap andhim.A dizzying combination that made her light-headed.He nipped at her lip, licked it, then sucked it into his mouth as if he was ready to devour her.Last night’s kiss had been mind-blowing, but this one positively made the earth around her quake.No one had ever taken her mouth like this before, and no one’s kiss had fired off all her nerve endings at once.
Desire she didn’t know existed inside her suddenly broke free, and she didn’t have room for it all.She raised her leg and wrapped it around his waist, aching to get closer.He gripped it in his strong hand, anchoring her to him.Breaking the kiss, he moved to that sweet spot where her neck joined her shoulder, as if his mouth possessed a homing beacon for the precise place to land.He lingered a beat, then trailed hot open-mouthed kisses along her sensitive skin, licking, sucking, nipping as he went.
“I want you so bad, Lexi,” he rasped.
He drew back, his eyes dark and glinting with lust.He was all predator, feral and savage and dangerous, bent on only one thing:her.And that made her soar inside.
Were they really going to do this?
God, yes!
His hands had been moving over her back with determination, but he’d kept it PG.She wanted him to cross the line into X-rated territory.Wanton Woman had broken free and demanded wild monkey sex.
Now.
“I want you too,” she managed to gasp out.
Unbridled hunger flared in his orbs as he peered at her.“Are you sure?”
Heryeswas barely audible.
He set her apart from him, hands still on her upper arms as her leg slid from his hip.“We might not get to the beach for a while.”
“That’s okay,” she squeaked.God, she was bad at this!
