It Takes Two (35 page)

“You’re right. I might have to go by feel.” He couldn’t resist and ran his flat palm over her butt again.

She licked her lips. “Thought you said no sex.”

“I said no sex on
this
date. But not on every date forever.”

“So this is…” She trailed off, clearly wanting him to fill in the blank.

“Foreplay.”

The buzzer sounded to signal the start of the new game and the inner doors swung open.

Ryan watched Amanda stare back at him, the single word
foreplay
hanging between them. She was the one to finally pull her gaze away.

“Then let’s go,” she said.

“Right
behind
you, babe.”

She tripped a little as she turned and started for the game area.

Ryan followed her, a big grin in place that he didn’t think that was going to go away any time soon.

Everyone gathered around the computer monitor that listed all the players by their player names and waited for the signal to begin.

“And when you say ‘against me’, you meant like in a sexy, get-up-against-me way, right?” Amanda whispered.

He grinned. “Sure.”

“You didn’t mean ‘against me’ as in you’ll shoot me if you find me?”

“Guess we’ll find out.” He raised his weapon.

“Ryan—” She was cut off by the starting buzzer.

The lights went down, plunging them into darkness but for strips of neon lights.

Everyone scattered but Ryan and Amanda. She turned and looked at him with wide eyes.

He raised his weapon. Her jaw dropped.

“You wouldn’t.”

“No consequences, remember?”

Her eyes narrowed. “Except maybe never seeing me naked.”

He watched her for a long moment, trying to gauge if she was serious.

“I would so throw this game if you meant that,” he finally told her.

She raised her gun and shot him.

As his vest beeped and blinked, she smiled. “Sucker.”

“You’re in trouble,” he said simply.

They both knew that after being shot, the game would disengage his gun for a few seconds, so she had a little time before he would be able to shoot her back.

She gave him a wink and then turned and ran.

He was laughing as he gave her a head start. He
was
going to find her. And when he did, she was definitely in trouble. Good trouble.

Several minutes later, he had to admit she was good. He hadn’t caught even a glimpse of her. He rounded a corner and suddenly felt someone grab the front of his shirt and yank him into a dark corner behind a padded column.

“Oh, my gosh, I’m in trouble,” Amanda hissed.

“I should shoot you right now,” he said.

She ducked behind his shoulder. “Some of my students are here.”

“No way.” What were the chances?

“They must have been in the game before ours too, so I didn’t see them up front.” She still hadn’t let go of his shirt.

“I take it you don’t want them to see you now?”

“Right.”

“Why?”

That seemed to stump her for a moment. “Well…because.”

It was dark, but he could see enough to know that she looked gorgeous. “You look like a woman who’s having a great time. Nothing is wrong with that.” He brushed a stray strand of hair away from her forehead.

“Yeah. Maybe you’re right.” She took a deep breath. “I just freaked out a little when I saw them.”

“That’s okay. You were surprised.”

“Well…embarrassed.”

“Embarrassed?”

“Yeah. I, um…” She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth.

“You what?”

“Kind of shot one of them. Repeatedly.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Okay, well, that’s what you’re here for.”

“I might have…”

“Yeah?”

“Yelled.”

“Yelled,” he repeated.

“Yep.”

“Something specific?” He was fighting a smile now.

She sighed. “‘Take that, maggot’.”

He couldn’t contain his snort. “Maggot? Wow. That’s harsh.”

She covered her face with her hands. “I know.”

“I’m sure it’s fine.”

“As long as they don’t see me it’s fine. They’ll think that it was a crazy woman who looked a little like their clinical director, but they won’t believe it because I’d never do something like that.”

“Obviously,” he said dryly.

“So if they don’t see me,” she went on. “I’ll be fine. But if they do then…”

“The world will still turn.”

“But I’ll be embarrassed.”

“Which is
not
the worst emotion to feel.”

She met his gaze. “I was thinking that maybe you’d be okay with hanging out in this dark corner with me.”

Oh. He leaned in, bracing his forearm on the wall beside her head. “Well, it’s probably best that these impressionable young people not find out that their director of clinical education would say something so horrible.”

She smiled. “Exactly.”

“Even worse would be for these kids to know that their director of clinical education is so hot and fun.”

He leaned in and kissed her. She dropped her gun and wrapped her arms around his neck. He cupped the back of her head, holding her in place for a full, deep tasting. He stroked his tongue along hers, drinking in the sound of her groan and welcoming the feel of her pressing her hips into his.

Thankful for the wall behind her, he leaned in. Their vests kept them from being breast to chest, but he felt every inch of her legs along his.

When he lifted his head, she sighed. “Wow.”

He grinned. “Yeah, seeing you like this would definitely fuel some major fantasies for a lot of your students. It would be so distracting and so unfair to their learning process.”

She smiled. “Thanks for thinking of all of them. Really generous of you.”

“I feel strongly about the education of our future physical therapists.”

“Uh-huh.” She pulled him down for another kiss.

It was hot and made every cell in his body pulse. He wanted her and he
was
going to have her.

Amanda gripped his hips, her thumbs through the belt loops on his jeans, and pulled him closer.

Their height difference with her flat shoes and the laser tag vests kept him from getting close enough. Though he wasn’t sure if he’d ever actually feel close enough.

He ran his hands over her vest, unbuckling the straps. “Gotta lose this, babe.”

“Right with ya.” Her fingers got busy on his vest, and within seconds both dropped to the floor with a thump.

Free of the plastic and electronics, Ryan ran his hands down her shoulders and over her back to her ass, and lifted her closer.

She gripped his shoulders, arching against him, kissing him again, her mouth hot under his.

Ryan curled his fingers into the firm flesh of her butt. He wanted to eat her up, lick her from head to toe, taste every sweet, soft, silky inch of her. He wanted to know how her lips tasted compared to her toes and how the back of her knee felt on his tongue compared to the skin on her inner elbow.

She pulled back and took a deep breath. “No-sex rule still in place?”

“Yeah. For now.” It would be a good excuse to drag this thing out. “But I never said no orgasm.”

What happens on the road can follow you all the way home.

Since You’ve Been Gone

© 2013 Elle Kennedy

Welcome to Paradise, Book 4

Austin Bishop is going home to face some difficult truths, but that doesn’t mean he can’t take the long way home. So rather than hop on a plane, he accepts a photography assignment that requires a cross-country drive.

The road can be a lonely place, though, and when he spots a cute redhead leaning against a broken-down car, he stops to offer the stranded damsel a ride.

Mari Smith has lost her job and her apartment, she’s moving back in with her parents, and now it looks like she’s without a car, too. When a sexy, dark-haired stranger stops to help, she’s utterly grateful. And utterly tempted to explore their sizzling chemistry.

The fresh-faced Mari is so sweet, so smoking hot, so easy to be with, Austin finds himself spilling a shocking secret he’s been holding onto for the past year. But passion doesn’t fix everything. And Austin realizes he has some personal demons to vanquish before he and Mari can hope for a chance at forever.

Warning: This book features a hero who knows exactly what he wants between the sheets and a redhead who isn’t scared to give it to him!

Enjoy the following excerpt for
Since You’ve Been Gone:

Austin spent way too much time in the shower, delaying his return to the bedroom for as long as he possibly could. The past few days had been pure torture, yet somehow he’d managed to keep his hands off the quirky redhead who made his entire body burn. The separate room arrangement had been a blessing—every night he’d been able to retreat to his room and jack off in the shower using all the Mari images he stockpiled during the day.

Like the way her hair shone in the sunlight. And how her full breasts filled those skimpy tank tops she liked to wear. How her sensual lips curved impishly whenever she teased him.

So far, the self-gratification sessions had succeeded in easing his discomfort.

But tonight they would be sharing a room.

And a bed.

God help him.

He tipped his head and let the shower spray soak his face, but the water had grown lukewarm, a signal that he really ought to quit stalling. It didn’t help that Mari had been acting strange all evening, far more subdued than he was used to. Normally she chattered on endlessly, always armed with a sassy remark or silly joke, but she’d been quiet during the visit to Virgil and the dinner that followed.

Sighing, Austin shut off the water and stepped out of the tiny shower stall. He reached for a towel, but it was difficult to secure it around his waist what with the massive erection trying to poke through the terrycloth. The memory of Mari in those flimsy pink panties and sports bra flew into his head and sent a jolt of heat straight down to his cock.

Jesus. The woman had the curviest, sexiest body he’d ever seen. His hands had itched to touch all that smooth white skin, to glide over the curve of her hips, to cup her firm ass. And her breasts…his mouth turned to sawdust just thinking about those perky breasts.

Maybe asking her to travel with him had been a mistake. How the hell was he supposed to keep his hands off her now that he’d seen her half naked?

Austin stifled a groan of frustration and forced himself to be mature about this. So they were sharing a bed tonight. Big deal. He’d draw an imaginary line down the center of the mattress and pretend that he was sleeping alone. He was twenty-five years old—surely he could sleep with a woman without
sleeping
with the woman.

He quickly dried off and yanked on the clean pair of boxer-briefs he’d brought into the bathroom with him, then took a breath and left the bathroom.

“That was the longest shower I’ve ever seen anyone take,” Mari announced. “Are you secretly a girl or something?”

She was sitting cross-legged in the middle of the bed, wearing a pair of blue cotton shorts and a white tank top that didn’t hide the braless state of her breasts—or the puckered nipples straining against the thin fabric.

“I was shaving my legs,” he cracked, doing his best to keep his gaze far, far away from her mouthwatering chest.

In fact, he avoided looking at her altogether. She looked too damn cute in her PJ’s, with her wavy hair loose around her shoulders and her skin pink from the shower she’d taken before him.

“Anyhoo,” she went on, “your super long shower actually gave me the opportunity to do some thinking, and I’ve made a decision.”

“Okay.” He drifted to the television set and grabbed the remote control, still averting his eyes. “What about?”

“I think we should sleep together.”

The remote promptly fell out of his hand and clattered to the linoleum floor.

Austin couldn’t help but turn to gape at her. And God help him, but her declaration had made his cock go harder than granite, an erection that was hard to miss beneath his boxers.

Sure enough, Mari’s blue eyes instantly homed in on the undeniable proof of his interest.

“Huh. I thought it would take a lot more convincing,” she mused.

Breathing through his nose, Austin tried to banish the desire sizzling through his blood. “What do you mean, we should sleep together?”

She shrugged. “Like I said, I thought about it, and I don’t think a short-term fling would be a terrible idea. I mean, as long as we agree that it’s temporary and promise to stay friends afterwards, I think it could work.”