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“No.” He covered his eyes with his forearm. “Don’t do that. She’ll take out a column in the local newspaper if she thinks enough people care about it.”
“Hm. That’s tempting.” I set up and reached for my purse.
“Don’t you dare.”
I leaned right over and grabbed it.
Dex jumped on top of me. I squealed and gripped hold of the straps, but he was stronger than me, and he easily wrestled the straps from my grip and tossed it to the side.
“Nooo!” I laughed, stretching my arm out, but he was straddling me now, and he grasped my wrists and pinned them to the ground above my head. I wriggled against his hold, eventually giving up to pout at him.
He grinned like the cat who had the cream. “Yes. You’re not calling her.”
I pouted harder. “I was messing. And now you’re squashing me. Can I have my hands back?”
His eyes searched mine. “I don’t know. I’m still deciding.”
“Deciding? What is there to decide? If I can have back the use of my own hands?”
“No. Deciding if I should kiss you or not.”
My heart skipped a beat. “Do I have a say in that?”
“Do you care either way?”
“I—I mean, maybe. I don’t—”
“That’s a no, then.”
I nodded.
He stared at me a little longer, his fingers twitching as they held my wrists together. The grass tickled against my skin, but all I could really focus on was the way his eyes pierced mine—on the battle that waged in his eyes.
I wanted to reach up and grab him, to pull his mouth to mine. But I couldn’t.
Thankfully, I didn’t need to try.
Dex moved, lowering his mouth to mine. I leaned my face up until our lips met, and as his descended down onto mine, my head sank back into the grass. I drew a deep breath when he pulled back briefly, and our eyes met for a flash before he kissed me again.
It was warm and soft, the gentlest kiss he’d ever given me, and heat twirled slowly through my body. It was dark and there was a light chill to the fall air, but I could barely tell. Whether it was just the heat of his body over mine or the kiss or both, I didn’t know, but it felt good.
So damn good.
Until I remembered something.
We were in the middle of the park.
In the middle of town.
In public.
I jerked my face away from Dex’s, gasping. “Oh my God, get off me.”
“What? What did I do?” He released my hands and moved.
My cheeks burned red-hot, and I sat up, clapping my hands to my face. “Oh my God, you just kissed me in public.”
“No,” he deadpanned. “I thought it was in your bedroom.”
“Oh my God, if anyone saw me, they’ll be texting my mother right this second.”
“And there goes my erection.” Dex sighed and, bending one knee, hugged his leg to his chest. “Thanks for that.”
“Oh God, oh God, oh God.” I rocked a little. “Do you not understand how much she’s going to be on my back about this? She’s going to bug me all the time.”
He stared at me. “You’re a grown woman. You can kiss a man in public if you want.”
“That was half-porn!”
“You think that was half-porn? Darlin’, if you want me to show you what that is, I’d be more than happy to climb back on top of you and demonstrate.”
“No. No.” I stood and grabbed the empty coffee cups, then threw them in the trashcan just a few feet from us. My purse was next. “Oh God.”
I looked around the park. There were tons of people. Nobody was looking at us, of course. And we were in a darker area, after all. But still.
Shit. All it took was one person. One nosy asshole walking their dog and…boom. I was in trouble with my mother.
Dexter Ryne would surely be the death of me.
Chapter Twenty-Five – Dex
She looked like a deer in headlights. Like she’d been caught fucking me in broad daylight, not kissing me in the darkness.
I recognized it for what it was.
She didn’t care if her mom knew.
She cared that, yet again, she’d liked it. That this date she wouldn’t refer to as a date, one she stressed she did under duress, was more than what she would admit to.
That she liked it when I kissed her.
I knew. I’d felt it. I’d tasted it.
And I wasn’t done with her. Not tonight.
“All right. We’re done here.” I stood up. “I’ll take you home.”
She drew in a deep breath, turning around to look at me. “Oh.”
“Let’s go.” I approached her, and before she could move, grabbed her. I wrapped one arm around her back and bent to hook my other arm beneath her knees.
I picked her up.
She screamed.
“Dex! What the—what the hell are you doing?” She wrapped one arm around my neck and gripped my shirt with her other hand. She clung to me like I’d drop her any second.
