Georgia On My Mind (4 page)

“I don’t do this kind of thing.”
Kissing in public on a first date, restraining the urge to tear off his clothes to get to the good stuff, again on a first date.

“You should.” Continuing to lavish her ear with attention, he added, “You’re good at it.”

With a firm hand to his chest, she made one last attempt to rein in a situation that was spiraling into something she wasn’t ready for. “Please.”

As if she had thrown cold water in his face, he stopped and pulled back from her. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. I was right there with you the whole way.”

He rewarded her with one of those grins that made his eyes crinkle and sparkle with mirth. “Take a walk with me?” Holding out his hand, he used those irresistible eyes to implore her.

She laced her fingers through his. “Since we’ve gotten the good-night kiss out of the way, there shouldn’t be anything else to worry about, right?”

“Absolutely,” he said in a light, breezy tone that told her she had everything in the world to be worried about.

“Oh, Nathan, this is beautiful!” she said of the shining hardwood floors, newly restored wood moldings, fresh paint in a dark tan she would have chosen herself, and elegant wall sconces. “You did all this?”

“I’ve been chipping away at it for the last year or so. It’s taking longer than usual because it needed everything.”

“This room is gorgeous.”

“I have ‘before’ pictures upstairs. You won’t believe the difference. Someone covered this floor with the most hideous carpet I’ve ever seen. Tearing it up and discovering this wood underneath it was like finding a million bucks.”

His passion for restoration was evident in the way his eyes lit up as he described the work he had done.

“Why anyone would want to cover this is beyond me.” Georgie squatted to run her hand over the glossy wood. She looked up to find him staring down at her with fire in his eyes and his jaw set with tension. “What?”

“That’s very sexy.”

“What is?”

“Watching you caress my wood floor.”

“Been a while for you, has it?”

He laughed and held out a hand to help her up. “Come see the rest.”

On the way up a steep flight of stairs, she noticed the kitchen had been taken down to studs. To the right of the stairs on the second floor was a large, fully renovated bedroom with a rumpled queen-size bed, a dresser, and bedside tables. “You live here?”

He nodded. “I always live in the houses I’m working on. Saves time and money.”

“Don’t you get tired of the chaos?”

Shrugging, he said, “I grew up with five brothers. I’m used to chaos.”

“I guess you would be. It would drive me nuts to live like this.”

“Have a need for order, do you?”

“Some semblance of it, anyway.” When the statement reminded her of the current disorder in her life, she quickly pushed the thought aside, determined to enjoy every minute of her brief escape from reality.

He pointed out the new light fixtures in the bathroom. “Energy-efficient lights and hot water heater. I’m kind of into the whole environmental thing.”

“
No!
” she said, scandalized. “I hadn’t noticed.”

“Very funny, Georgie Quinn.”

“I hate to tell you, but you tipped your hand with the hissy fit you had at the Dumpster—not to mention the organically grown flowers.”

With a sheepish grin, he said, “Everyone has to do their part.”

She pointed to a door. “What’s in here?”

“My brother Ben has been crashing in there, but he’s gone to
Block Island
for the night with some friends.” Nathan’s face clouded. “He’s going through a bit of a rough patch at the moment.”

His distress over his brother made Georgie want to reach out to him, but a sudden bout of shyness stopped her. The passion they’d shared on the street already seemed like a long time ago. She watched him make an effort to shake off his worries and return his focus to her.

“Can I get you a drink or anything? Believe it or not, I do have a fridge in this place.”

She shook her head. “I’m good. I should probably be getting home.”

“Right.”

They stared at each other for an endless moment before both took a step forward in the same instant.

His arms closed around her, lifting her right off her feet into another of those sexually charged kisses that had left her lips tingling and her body burning earlier.
This is insanity! It has to stop!
She would stop it. In just a minute. Surely one more minute won’t hurt anything.

His relentless tongue explored, teased, enticed.

Okay, maybe two more minutes
.

Georgie clung to him, her fingers gripping his muscular shoulders.

He held her in a vise-like grip.

The next thing she knew, she was falling, and he was coming down on top of her as she landed on his bed.

Alarms! Bells! Whistles! Stop! Now! This is wrong! This isn’t you—you don’t do this! Oh, but I want to. I really, really want to! I want to let this amazing, sexy man make me forget, just for tonight, all the misery of the last three months. Don’t I deserve that much? Yes, but oh how I’ll hate myself in the morning. The morning is twelve hours from now, though. Twelve blessed hours of release from the worry, the pain, the uncertainty.

“Georgie,” he gasped as he pulled back from her. “I can’t seem to resist you.” Resting his forehead on hers, he drew in a deep, cleansing breath. “But we should stop. I’ll walk you home.”

I don’t want to go home! I don’t want to be in a house full of memories that remind me over and over that I’m never going to see my mother again! Don’t make me go back there. Please don’t.
Telling herself that one night with him—one night of mindless, no-holds-barred, no-commitment sex with the most devastatingly sexy man she had ever met—was just what she needed, she reached up to release a button on his shirt.

He went still on top of her. “Georgie?”

Another button popped free.

Exhaling a long deep breath, he reached for the hand at work on his shirt. “Are you sure?”

She nodded.

“But—”

With a finger to his lips, she told him she was done talking.

Nathan studied her for an endless moment, during which she wondered if he was going to say no, and then he lowered his face to hers for a soft, gentle, mind-altering kiss. All the power he had shown her earlier was gone, replaced by sweet seduction that took their chemistry from simmer straight to boil.

While he went slow, Georgie redoubled her efforts to get rid of his shirt, desperate to get her hands on the chest that had dominated her fantasies for weeks. With her lips still fused with his, she couldn’t decide what part of him to touch first.

An opportunity like this was not to be rushed, nor should it compete with the sensations coursing through her from kisses that made her feel cherished as much as desired. That would be something to ponder tomorrow when this sure-to-be-incredible night was just a memory of a one-time lapse in judgment.

With her hands cupping his pectorals, she urged him onto his back.

Tearing his lips free, he resisted for a second. But the urgency he saw on her face must have swayed him because, with a great sigh of frustration, he did as she asked.

“Take this off,” she said, tugging at his shirt.

He sat halfway up and slid the shirt off his broad shoulders.

She licked her lips with anticipation.

His eyes narrowed as he watched her tongue move over her lips. “Georgie,” he groaned, his voice hoarse with desire.

Leaning forward to nuzzle the golden chest hair that had played such a big part in her fantasies, she said, “Hmm?”

A tremble rippled through him, and a wave of desire shot straight to her core when she realized the effect she was having on him. The light shining into the room from the hallway made it possible for her to see the growing bulge in his pants. Forcing herself to focus on his chest when all she wanted was to get rid of his pants so she could see the rest of him, she grazed her tongue over his nipple.

He sucked in a sharp deep breath and buried his hands in her hair. “Georgie, please. Come up here.”

“In a minute.” Her inhibitions faded away in a red haze of desire that was all new to her. The overwhelming need made it easy to forget that she had only just met him, that she was having first-date sex, that tomorrow she would be back to reality and most likely horrified by her behavior. None of that mattered now.

With her lips and fingers, she explored every ridge of hard muscle and each patch of soft hair while soaking in his masculine scent—a combination of soap, sporty deodorant, and spicy cologne. When she reached the waistband of his pants, she tugged on the button and unzipped him slowly, going for maximum effect. Where this temptress had come from, she couldn’t have said. All she knew was she loved the hissing sound he expelled when she ran her hand over his throbbing length—his
impressive
throbbing length.

“Georgie, sweetheart, come on.” He sounded as if he were speaking through gritted teeth.

Georgie was too busy freeing him from his clothes to venture a glance to see if that was the case. She closed her hand around him and stroked him gently, afraid to hurt him because he was so hard. “What do you like?” she asked in her best sex-siren voice, delighted by this new, unexpected side of herself. She had never been so bold or brazen with a man and had to wonder why not. It sure was fun.

“I don’t hate that,” he said in a choked whisper, his head turned to one side, his eyes closed, his lips parted, his jaw tight with tension.

“How about this?” she asked as she slid her lips and tongue over the head of his penis.

He clutched a handful of her hair. “Yeah,” he gasped, his eyes now open and focused on her. “That’s good, too.”

Georgie dipped her head and went back for more. Using her hand, tongue, and lips, she worked him into a frenzy.

“
Georgie
,” he groaned. “That’s enough. Stop.”

But she didn’t want to. She wanted to do something she had never done before, something she had never
allowed
before. If she was stepping outside herself for one glorious night, why not go all the way? So when he begged her again to stop, when he warned her it was the last chance, she continued on, determined to take him over the edge.

It didn’t take long.

Georgie stayed with him for every second of his almost violent release, thrilled to know she had driven him to it.

“God,” he whispered as she kissed a path to his stomach and chest. Still breathing hard, he gathered her into his arms and held her tight against him. “What did I do to deserve that?”

She shrugged. “Just felt like it,” she said as if it was something she did all the time. He didn’t need to know it was one of several firsts for her on a night when anything seemed possible.

“Lucky me. Maybe it was the calamari. I’ll have to make sure I feed you that next time, too.”

Next time
, she thought with a sigh, knowing there wouldn’t be one. Like Cinderella at midnight, the morning would transport her back to where she belonged.

“Why the deep sigh?” he asked.

“No reason.”

He propped himself up on one elbow and looked down at her. “You’re wondering when you’re going to get your fair share, aren’t you?”

His smile was so sexy and almost cocky that Georgie had to resist the urge to drool. “The thought never crossed my mind.”

“Is that so?” He slid a hand under her skirt and, in one swift move, had her dress up and over her head before she had time to determine his intentions.

“Oh,” she said, acutely aware of her mismatched underwear and wishing she had taken Cat’s advice to plan for this possibility.

“Mmm.” He left a trail of hot, openmouthed kisses along the top of her panties. “Purple polka dots. Very sexy.”

Saying a silent thank-you to Doug for dragging her to the gym every night after work and insisting on no fewer than two hundred crunches, Georgie took a deep breath as Nathan’s lips traveled over her firm belly. “It doesn’t match,” she managed to say.

He looked up at her. “What doesn’t?”

“Underwear.”

“And was that intentional?”

“I’d hoped it would be an insurance policy to keep me from doing exactly what I seem to be on the verge of doing right now.”

He laughed softly against her belly. “Let me say, for the record, I couldn’t care less if your bra matches your panties, because you won’t be wearing either of them for much longer.”

His words, coupled with the movement of his lips over her fevered skin, had her writhing under him, clinging to him, on the verge of begging him. Through her bra, he closed his lips around a protruding nipple and tore a moan from deep inside her. “
Nathan
,” she pleaded.

“My friends call me Nate, and I’d like to think we’re friends.” As he spoke, he continued to nip and suck and tease.

“I like Nathan better.” Somehow she managed to speak despite what he was doing to her breasts.

“Sweetheart, you can call me anything you want,” he said, reaching behind her to unhook her bra, “as long as you call me.”

His comment penetrated the aura of fantasy she had surrounded herself with, reminding her that he was a real man with real feelings, not the larger-than-life character she had made him out to be. If he was expecting more than this one night, they had a problem. That she had the potential to hurt him struck her hard. Placing her hands over his on her breasts, she said, “Nathan, wait.”

He nudged their hands out of the way so he could get at her nipple with his lips. “What?”

“I don’t want you to think . . .”

With a hard tug, he drew her deep into his mouth, rendering her speechless. Swirling his tongue over her nipple, he said, “Think what?”

“That this is more than tonight,” she forced herself to say, knowing it had to be said. With her hands on his face, she forced him to look at her. “I’m dealing with a lot of complications right now. I can’t handle another one. I don’t want to hurt you or lead you on.”

His jaw shifted slightly, which was the only indication he gave that he was wrestling with what she had said. “If that’s how you want it.”

“It is,” she said, even though she ached as she said the words.

Shrugging, he returned his attention to her breast. “Then I’ll just have to change your mind.”

“Nathan—”

“Shh. I’ve been warned.”

Unable to muster another ounce of protest, she fell back against the pillow and gave herself over to him as he used everything in his arsenal to bring her more pleasure than she could have imagined possible.

His broad shoulders forced her legs apart as he pressed his lips to her belly and then tugged at her panties with his teeth.

Georgie moaned and lifted her hips to help him get rid of them. His hands coasted over her legs, pushing them apart again, and coming to rest on her inner thighs. When he leaned in to nibble that sensitive skin, she cried out. He took advantage of her being distracted to sink his tongue into her.

“Oh my God.” She sighed. “
God
.” Since he already had her hovering on the brink, it took only a few concentrated strokes of his tongue to send her flying. Clutching his shoulders, she held on for the most intense release she had ever experienced. She’d had no idea it could be like this, and even as she was in the midst of it, she had the presence of mind to wonder if she would really be able to walk away from him in the morning.

Before she could catch her breath, he brought his lips down on hers for a searing, sensual kiss that ensured he still had her full attention. “Let me get a condom,” he whispered.

“I’m on the pill.”

Shaking his head, he said, “As tempting as that is, condoms are nonnegotiable with me.”

She let him up and watched him as he went into the bathroom.

He was back a minute later and pulled the sheet up and over them.

They lay facing each other, caressing, soothing, stirring. He pulled her tight against him and kissed her as if it was their first kiss all over again. “Georgie,” he whispered. “I want you so badly. I’ve wanted you for weeks.”

Startled, she said, “You have?”

He hooked her leg over his hip and slid his fingers through her moist center, denying contact to the spot that throbbed for him—again, already. “Did you really think I didn’t notice you when I ran by every morning? I never used to go that way until I saw you there the first time.”

Swallowing the lump forming in her throat, she said, “You didn’t?”

He shook his head, brushed his lips over hers, and slid a finger into her.

Sucking in a harsh deep breath, Georgie arched her back and pushed against his probing finger.

Adding a second one, he kissed her softly. “What a nice surprise to realize who was stuffing Styrofoam into the Dumpster today. You can’t imagine how sorry I was that I had upset you.”

No! He doesn’t mean that! He can’t do this to me. He can’t make this out to be more than it is. He’ll ruin everything if he does that
. Desperate to put the focus back where it belonged, she shifted onto her back and reached for him, encouraging him to take what she offered so willingly.

Poised between her legs, he looked down at her, daring her to look away as he entered her.

Georgie gasped and struggled to take in his hard length, which was more than she was used to—much more.

He went slowly until he was fully sheathed in her, holding still for a long moment during which Georgie let go of the worries and the fears and the lingering disgust over what she was doing and gave herself permission to feel.

And then, as if he had no choice, he began to move.

She raised her knees to take him deeper and cried out in shock when a climax slammed into her. Never before had it been so easy to get to that elusive place—never before had she gotten there so quickly. As he tightened his arms around her and let himself go, she had yet another reason to worry that her night of mindless sex wasn’t going to unfold quite the way she had planned.

When Georgie awoke the next morning, she knew before she even opened her eyes that she was alone. Sun streamed in through uncovered windows as she lay there trying not to think about the night she had spent with him. But despite her best efforts, flashes and images that would be forever burned in her mind played like a movie—straddling him and riding him with abandon as he held her hands, his face buried between her legs, the intense way he had gazed at her each time he entered her. She had lost track of the number of times and ways and orgasms. There had been a lot of them.

With a groan, she rolled over to bury her face in the pillow and was greeted by a scream of protest from muscles unused to such frenzied activity. A piece of paper crunched under her elbow, and she raised herself up to look at it.

Georgie, thank you for the most amazing night. I’m sorry I had to leave for work so early. Believe me, I’d much rather be in bed with you. There’s a coffeemaker in the downstairs bathroom that’s all ready if you want a boost before you go, or there’s OJ in the fridge. Make yourself at home, use the shower, anything you want. The door will lock behind you when you leave. I know you said this was a one-time thing, but I’d really like to see you again—and not just because of the s-e-x (which was incredible).
Call me or come by the house if you change your mind. I’ll think of you today. Probably tomorrow, too. And the next day.