Home At Last Chance (Last Chance #2)(36)
Author: Hope Ramsay

“I thought you were going home,” she said. “I sure hope you didn’t follow me because you thought I needed protection. Because I’m a big girl, you know.”

He jammed his hands into his front pockets and screwed up his courage. “Yeah, I know. And that’s why I was wondering…” His mouth lost steam. Man, this was as awkward as that time Old Man Nelson had aimed a shotgun at Tulane to protect his granddaughter’s honor. Tulane had only wanted a little kiss that time. He wanted more than that tonight.

He looked around the suburban parking lot. No hillbillies seemed to be lurking in the shadows. The coast was clear.

He started again. “Uh, look, Sarah, about that thing you said this weekend.”

“What thing?” She pretended ignorance, but she knew exactly what he was talking about. A little fire ignited in her hazel eyes, and it didn’t have anything to do with the complex’s security lights.

He stepped a little closer. “You know. That thing you wanted me to do for you.” His heart ricocheted off his rib cage. He was going about this all wrong, and he suddenly knew it.

He should start over and tell Sarah that something had changed during the flight last night when she’d held his hand. But he wasn’t brave enough for that.

She looked up at him, wide-eyed, kind of innocent. And then she bit her lower lip and something clicked in his head.

He leaned in, bracing himself on the car. He caged her between his arms. She didn’t try to get away, so he wasn’t being like Kenny. He didn’t ever want to hurt her like Kenny had.

She thought she was easy, but he knew better. She’d been playing that part, and he’d ignored her. But he had just changed his mind, because he knew he was never going to hurt her. And he was ready. Somehow he knew he was ready for this.

He pulled in a deep breath. “You know, Sarah, I’m thinking we need to do this. I know I’m trying not to break rules and be mature and all that, but—”

“We can still be mature and do this,” she said.

“Really? You think so?”

“Absolutely. This is about you giving me an experience I need. We can set some clearly understood ground rules before we start.”

His heart slowed a fraction. What was she talking about? “Ground rules?”

“Well, you know, we just need to understand that it’s a onetime thing. And then we’ll be over it and I’ll have had my experience and no one will be any worse for the wear.”

He stood there leaning into the car, her warm curvy body so close, her scent messing with his mind.

He wanted her on every level a man could want a woman.

And she wanted a one-night stand?

He almost turned away. But something kept him there, glued to the blacktop as he stared down into her pretty, freckled face.

She had no idea of her power over him, did she?

If he turned and walked away, or got angry, she would misread his intentions. And she’d think she had done something wrong.

If he cared about her, he had to get her beyond that kind of foolish thinking.

But standing here discussing it maturely was only going to confuse things. It would be simpler, all the way around, if he could just show her how he felt. And then tomorrow morning she would understand.

That seemed like a perfectly legitimate plan of action. So he put on his most earnest voice and said, “Okay, honey, I think ground rules are good.” Of course, he never said that he was going to agree with her ground rules. He had his own set of rules. Sarah would discover them soon enough.

She straightened her prim little shoulders. “All right, I’m glad we understand each other clearly. Because, well, our bosses would kill us if they found out we were… you know…”

“No, I don’t know. What?” He was having fun teasing her now. What was it about Sarah that made teasing her one of life’s greatest pleasures?

She rolled her eyes and blushed. “You know…”

Boy, she was adorable. And she was in for the surprise of her life. “Okay. I think we’re all clear with one another.” Not.

She stood there, kind of frozen. She was scared. But he was going to take care of her. He was looking forward to the moment her fears disappeared. Like that time in the river, before he decided to be mature and walk away.

What an idiot he’d been that night.

“So, can I come up? See your place?” he asked.

She let go of a deep sigh. “You mean you want to do this now?”

“Strike while the iron is hot, you know.” He had trouble keeping the grin from his face. It was just so much fun to call Sarah’s bluffs.

“Uh, yeah, okay.” She looked like a deer staring down headlights.

He needed to break the ice, so he dipped down and gave her a little kiss on the mouth that soon became a middle-sized kiss and then escalated to something that was hotter than the hottest day in July. And, boy howdy, did she ever taste like barbecue and summer heat. His whole system went haywire.

They stood there for a good five minutes, just kissing and not much else. It was so much fun—like being a teenager all over again and learning how to make out.

After a while he finally drew back. “So, we going upstairs?”

Sarah took off toward the entrance of her building, her heart beating so fast she could hardly get her breath. She didn’t look back to see if Tulane was following her. She was going to get hurt if she let this happen, wasn’t she? On the other hand, if she chickened out now, she would regret it for the rest of her life.

She opened her front door, turned on the lights, and let Tulane into her apartment.

Tulane sauntered into her living room and studied the place for a long moment as Sarah did battle with her inner Puritan.

Her living room was decorated in shades of burgundy with a neutral carpet, floral couch, and utilitarian blinds at the balcony doors. The place was sterile—a temporary home for someone who didn’t plan on staying too long in Florence, South Carolina.

Somehow the temporary nature of her home underscored the temporary nature of what she was about to do. Well, things never lasted forever, did they? She could deal with the heartbreak of her decision, especially since she was going into this clearheaded and with the rules well established.

Tulane strolled to the stereo on the bookshelf and studied her small collection of CDs. “Ah, this will do,” he said as he pulled one from the stack and popped it into the CD player.

A moment later, the soft sounds of Norah Jones’s unique and sexy blend of jazz-soul-folk filled the air. “If you’d had Barry White, I would have put that on. But Norah is almost as good for making out.”

Sarah stood by the couch while her stomach clutched. Suddenly, this scenario was looking like something that should be filed under the heading of “Be Careful What You Ask For.”

“I… uh… maybe we should… um.”

Her sudden confusion elicited the sweetest smile from Tulane. It curled up both corners of his mouth and folded laugh lines into his cheeks and around his eyes. He crossed the room to stand right in front of her. “So, you want me to stop?”

Her voice didn’t seem to want to work, but Tulane seemed to understand about that. He ran the back of his finger across her cheek. The touch, even as gentle as it was, generated a contrail of fire across her skin. She closed her eyes.

“You like that, don’t you?”

She didn’t say anything as his finger traveled across her cheek, and over her jaw, and down her neck to her collarbone, where he played with the little crucifix she always wore. Obviously he didn’t find the jewelry any obstacle to the seduction he was planning, because in the next instant he said, “Let’s find out where your erogenous zones are.”

Her eyes flashed open, and she found her voice. “Erogenous zones? Uh, aren’t they kind of obvious?”

He shook his head. “No, ma’am.”

“No?”

As if in answer, he stopped playing with her necklace and reached for her right hand. He cradled it in his much larger palm for a moment, sending little shocks of reaction running all along her arm wherever his rough skin abraded hers. And then, like a courtly gentleman, he brought her hand to his lips.

He brushed his mouth across her fingers, and his lips parted just enough for the tip of his tongue to lave the back of her knuckles right in the crease between her first and second fingers.

Sensation curled around her insides and bubbled right out of her in the form of a groan. His lips retreated. “Nice,” he murmured.

Tulane placed her hand on his shoulder, and then he pulled the clip from her hair. Her tresses spilled down to her shoulders, and he let go of a long, vocal sigh. “I love your hair down.”

He brushed her hair away from her face at the same time as he pulled her closer, his fingers running across her neck and up into her hairline.

Tension coiled in her belly the minute his lips found the flesh of her neck. He nibbled at her skin, sending heat shooting through her like a supernova. But that sensation wasn’t anything like what happened when his tongue found the lobe of her ear.

Once again, something unspeakably exciting bubbled right out of her in the form of a noise that should have embarrassed her, but didn’t, because the minute she made that noise, she heard Tulane make a noise of his own.

And that noise did something wicked to her soul, and her body, and her mind. It occurred to her that he might have a few erogenous zones of his own. She could touch him back if she wanted, and she wanted to touch him everywhere. She wanted to feel him next to her in a way that had become suddenly urgent.

She shoved her hand up into his hair and the hard contours of his skull, and then she let her fingers travel back down across his powerful shoulders. He was trembling.

She had made Tulane tremble? How had she done that?

Just as that thought registered in her brain, Tulane moved off in search of yet another one of her zones. His right hand traveled over her shoulder and down to her rib cage, and then back up to her breast. Even through her T-shirt, things were starting to heat up.

Suddenly, Tulane wasn’t nearly close enough. She wanted to feel him, not just his hands and his lips. She wanted his…

She didn’t know what she wanted. She just knew that she wanted something more.

She sagged back a little and managed to look up into his face. What she saw there sent her up in a column of flame. He appeared drugged, aroused, and excited. Somewhere in the back of her brain, she registered Norah on the stereo singing about “the nearness of you.” Tulane wasn’t anywhere close enough.

“What?” he asked, stroking her hair back from her face. “Tell me.”

“I want to get closer,” she whispered.

His gaze did a slow circuit of her face. “You want to get nak*d?”

Yes, that was precisely what she wanted. She wanted his skin on hers. She nodded, biting her lip. “Don’t you?” she said hoarsely.

“Honey, I wanted to get nak*d when I kissed you out in the parking lot, but I’m a simple guy.”

Only that wasn’t true at all. Tulane was a lot of things. Simple wasn’t one of them. Easy maybe. Easy to arouse. Easy to be with. She had no idea what she had done to put the fire in his eyes.