Page 42 of Smuggler's Beauty

The MC continued to pop up between acts, lamenting her band’s scatterbrained behavior and herding them to practice like cats. Eventually, all the band members assembled on stage, and the cast took a bow to the audience’s loud cheers.

As the house lights rose and the audience gathered their things, Evelyn found that she was loath to leave. She stirred the straw in her drink and wished in vain that the performers would come out for an encore, that the evening wasn’t coming to an end. One more song to silence the nagging voice in the back of her head chanting that once the night was over she’d never see Aiden again.

“Did I pick okay?”

“You picked exceedingly well,” she said.

“Excellent. Ready to go?”

Evelyn nodded and with what looked like great reluctance on his part, Aiden relinquished her hand so they could get up. He grabbed it again as soon as they were in the hallway, giving ita proprietary squeeze that stirred the butterflies in her stomach into a tornado.

They walked to the car, and he opened the door for her before walking to the driver’s side. He programmed the car to automatically drive them back to Evelyn’s house, keeping his focus on her the whole trip back. They discussed the performance, rated their favorites and least favorites, lobbying for higher rankings when they disagreed.

Too soon they found themselves in the driveway of her house.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Aiden had never been moregrateful for cars with automatic driving technology. He had had no faith in his ability to keep his eyes on the road with Evelyn next to him. He’d barely been able to keep both eyes on the performances, indulging himself with little peeks at her, gauging her enjoyment, watching her bite her lip when the dancers were doing their best to seduce the crowd, delighting in seeing her shiver when he moved her hair to whisper in her ear. He had cataloged each little murmur of pleasure, each bop of her head to the music.

The car parked itself in her driveway. Aiden turned it off without looking at the control panel, unwilling to twist his body away from the contorted position he’d ridden in for the last half hour.

“Did you have a nice time tonight?” he asked.

“I did. I had no idea Taylor Swift would go on to have such a successful career outside of country music.”

“She’s a legend.”

“Clearly I have catching up to do. Did you have a nice time?”

“Of course. I was with you,” he said, and his heart nearly beat out of his chest as a shy smile bloomed on her face. She duckedher head, trying to hide beneath her hair, and it took everything in him not to reach out and bring her gaze back to his.

Aiden opened his door and walked around the car. He knew she was perfectly capable of opening doors, but an irrational urge to take care of this woman had possessed him.

Who knows how many more chances I’ll get like this?

Aiden opened the door and offered her his hand. When she stepped out, he didn’t give it back. She didn’t try to take it back. They walked to her front door and stood there silently. It seemed unspoken that crossing that barrier was a bad idea.

“Thank you for letting me distract you tonight,” he said, inordinately happy when a grin flashed on her face.

“You’re very good at it. Thank you for distracting me.”

“Entirely my pleasure, dollface.”

Her eyes met his, shining with an anticipation Aiden had hoped would be there. His pulse raced as his free hand snaked around the back of her neck, tilting her head gently upwards. The quick inhalation she took was gasoline on the raging fire inside his chest. Before he knew it, her hand grabbed the front of his shirt and dragged his body closer to her own. He thought he heard her whisper “Fuck it” as she raised up on her toes and brought her lips to his.

The kiss started out gently, a soft meeting of lips. But her tentative bravery caused something to snap in Aiden, probably his self-control, and the pressure of his mouth on hers increased to match his need, his fingers at the back of her head digging desperately into her hair. Her mouth parted, and he groaned as their tongues met.

Needing to be closer to her, he backed her up against the cool stucco wall of the front porch as her hands wound around his neck. His hands slid down her body to grip her hips, and he hoisted her up against the wall for an easier angle. Evelyn wound her legs around his waist and moaned into his mouth, causingAiden to nearly combust on the spot. His cock was already rock hard, grinding against her core and providing her with glorious friction that she seemed to enjoy. She flexed her hips in a teasing circle, and he gave a sharp intake of breath as he reluctantly broke the kiss.

She took a steadying breath. “I’ll give you this. When you say ‘thoroughly’ you mean it.”

A slow, lazy grin spread on Aiden’s face. “I like to do things right the first time.”

She arched a perfect brow at him. “Don’t they say practice makes perfect?”

“You wanna practice with me, dollface?”

“Yup.”