He was close now, her body plastered against his, his heat burning her up, and before she could stop herself, before she could think of all the reasons why being honest was the stupidest idea in the history of stupid ideas, she shook her head no.
His nostrils flared, and he dipped his head a little closer. “No?”
“No,” she whispered.
“What about the clothes? They for this date of yours as well?”
She shook her head again.
What the hell are you doing?
“This all for me, Rusty?”
Electricity sparked between them, firing her blood, scrambling her brain. She clung to his heavy biceps, wanting, needing like she never had before, and that’s why, instead of denying it, she nodded and whispered, “Yeah.”
He wrapped her hair around his fist and tilted her head back in a way that told her just how much he liked her hair. The way he handled her, gentle but sure, also sent her a message that Reid Parker was a man who got what he wanted, and when he did, he called the shots. This didn’t come as a great surprise, but what was, was that she liked it. A lot.
She’d always had to be the strong one, the one who held it all together, and right then, she didn’t need to be. Reid had complete control of the situation, of her, and it did something to her, made her feel things she hadn’t known existed inside her.
She could just let go, let someone else take charge for once. It was intoxicating.
He dipped his head farther, closing the space between them—then his mouth was on hers. His fingers stayed in her hair, bodies flush as he kissed her, softly at first, then he slid his tongue across her top lip, sucked and nipped it gently, then said, “Open.”
She did, and he slanted his mouth over hers and proceeded to devour her. His tongue moved with hers, kissing her deep, not hard, but in a way that gave her no choice but to follow his lead. The guy could kiss, not that she had a lot of experience, okay, barely any, but she didn’t need to be a kissing expert to recognize the guy had skills. She felt it down to her toes.
He had her clinging to him, as if he was some kind of lifeline, rubbing up against him like she couldn’t get enough. And she couldn’t. If he’d had a mind to yank down her shorts and fuck her against the rack of tires at her back, she didn’t think she would have stopped him.
He took his mouth away and kissed her jaw, her throat. “So fucking sweet, so hot.” His lips moved to her ear. “Never known a woman as gorgeous as you.”
To most women a compliment about the way she looked from a man like Reid would have had them dropping their panties—but for Rusty, it was a double-handed shove, yanking her out of her lust-induced haze. Is that the only reason he was kissing her right now? Because of the way she looked?
Wise up. Of course it is.
She shoved his shoulders, and he finally, after a second shove, released her. “Rusty?”
“Why’d you ask me here?” She knew she was sending mixed signals, acting crazy, but she couldn’t stop the ugly feeling in the pit of her stomach, couldn’t escape the doubt that was always there, hovering just below the surface. God, she was messed up.
He let her go and gripped the racks on either side of her, effectively caging her in. “What’s going on?”
“Cut the shit and tell me why you really asked me here, Parker?”
He shook his head, breathing heavily. “Where the hell’s this coming from?”
“Tell me,” she demanded, suddenly pissed, and not just at him but at herself for being so damn stupid. He barely knew her, and by the looks of it, that was just fine with him. He hadn’t intended on going any deeper than what was under her shorts.
“You know why.” The wary expression on his face almost had her second-guessing herself, almost, until the next words out of his mouth. “You’re fucking gorgeous, Rusty. This can’t be news to you. I wanted some of your time. That’s it.”
And there it was. At least he was honest. Unfortunately, what she wanted to hear was, “I wanted to take you out, get to know you.” Or “Tell me something about yourself, Rusty?”
He was just like the rest.
She stepped forward, grabbed his wrist, and tried to move it, but he held fast, blocking her exit. “What the hell?”
“Thanks for showing me your place, but I have to go. My date will be waiting.”
“Bullshit. There’s no damn date. Now tell me what’s wrong?”
“I’m sorry if I gave you the wrong idea, but I’m not interested in you that way. Now move your arm so I can get the hell out of here.”
