AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“That would be him. You worried you chose the wrong Murphy brother now?”
All playfulness left his expression, and she hated she’d made him question how she felt, even for a second.
She rose onto her knees and pulled her wet top over her head, then quickly undid her bra and let it fall to the ground.
She heard his breath catch and couldn’t believe that this beautiful man—yes, beautiful—could think she possibly wanted anyone on the entire planet other than him.
“Not even a little,” she assured him. “I don’t even like country music. Just wanted to make sure we are alone.”
She lowered herself over him so they were skin to skin, chest to chest.
Eli growled, and Beth’s heart pounded against him.
But she hadn’t forgotten that day in his office after they said goodbye to Frederick…or the way he hightailed it out of the guesthouse soon after. Was she competing with a ghost? It shouldn’t matter. He wasn’t hers for the long term, so why couldn’t she be satisfied with whatever he could give her while they had time?
“Eli…” Her voice cracked on the second syllable of his name. She rolled off him and onto her side, head propped on her hand. “Are you sure?” That it’s me you want? “I don’t want to be… I mean, it’s okay if I’m…” Your second choice. Except it so wasn’t okay. Beth hadn’t waited this long to fall for someone only to have it be under the shadow of his first love.
“Hey.” He turned to face her, rising up on one elbow and cupping her cheek in his free hand. “I got spooked that first week, but it’s not what you think.” He stroked her temple with his thumb. “I see you, Beth. Only you.” He kissed her. “And yes. I’m sure.”
She let loose a shaky breath and smiled.
“I’m sure too,” she told him, then reached for his jeans, unbuttoning them in one swift move.
“Shit!” he hissed. “I don’t have… It’s not like I was planning for us to…”
This time, she was the one with mischief in her smile. “Check my back pocket.”
He slid his fingers down her torso, over the swell of her backside, and into the pocket of her jeans.
His eyes widened. “Well, well, well, Mighty Dancer. What kind of plans did you have for today?”
Her cheeks flamed. “That’s just it. I didn’t plan. But I wanted it to happen when it was supposed to happen without anything ruining the moment.”
He dipped his head and kissed the sensitive skin between her breasts.
Her stomach flipped, and her core tightened as his eyes met hers.
“My hero,” he whispered. Then he produced the condom, and she snatched it from his hand.
Beth held the small packet between her teeth. She rolled Eli onto his back and unzipped his jeans, tugging them and his boxer briefs down to his boots, then removing everything and tossing it into the grass.
She opened her mouth and let the condom fall into her palm.
“Seriously, Dr. Murphy. Get yourself a full-length mirror if you don’t have one already, because good lord, look at what we are working with here.”
Eli laughed. He rose up on his elbows. “You better lose those jeans of yours and whatever you’ve got going on underneath quick.”
She didn’t need to be told twice. In a matter of seconds, Beth’s boots and jeans joined Eli’s in the grass, and soon they were back where they’d been before she got spooked and wondered if she’d spook him again. Except this time there was nothing between them. No cotton. No denim. No past.
I see you, Beth. Only you.
“I hope you like what you see.” She hadn’t realized she’d spoken the words aloud until Eli answered.
“I love it,” he told her. “I love what I see.”
And because she didn’t think she could utter another word without her voice breaking, she rolled the condom down his length and sank over him, burying him inside her.
Chapter 17
