“I’m not gonna hurt you. We can’t talk with all the noise.”
“There’s nothing to talk about. It’s obvious you aren’t interested in me. I made a fool of myself. End of story. Nice knowing you.”
He kicked open one of the doors and pulled her inside. Swinging her around, he pushed her back against the wall. Cupping her chin, he tilted her head back, his gaze searching hers. “Not interested? Fuck that.”
He tilted his head down and pressed his lips against hers. They were smooth, soft, and silky as shit, and he knew he was a goner—one taste would never be enough. Hungrily, he slipped her bottom lip between his teeth and sucked hard, knowing he was leaving his mark. A guttural moan escaped from deep in her throat, and it went straight to his cock that was punching to get out.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and drew him closer to her, and he pressed into her softness, loving the way she felt in his arms, the way her scent wound around him, tangling around his dick. As her lips parted more, he slipped his tongue inside to taste and feel her. Her fast breathing filled his ears, and he ran his hand over her hips and glided it over that perfect ass of hers. Cupping the cheek, he gripped hard, careful not to touch the one he’d recently tattooed. Hailey rubbed herself against his throbbing cock and he thought he’d lose it. His cock was so hard that it hurt. He wanted nothing more than to have her full lips around it, sucking the shit out of it as he pumped fast and hard.
The door swung open and, out of instinct, he jumped to attention, reaching for the knife in his cut’s inside pocket. One of the waitresses smiled at him. “Sorry. We’re out of napkins.” After grabbing two large packs, she said over her shoulder, “Go back to what you were doing.” The door closed behind her.
Goldie looked at Hailey, who was still against the wall. Her hair was disheveled and her lips were a bit swollen and glossy from his kiss. Raising her hand, she brushed the strands of hair away from her face, then looked down at her fingers.
Way to go, asshole.“I gotta get back out there.” His voice filled the space between them.
“Sure. Me too. I’m sure my friends are wondering where I am.” She moved away from the wall and walked to the door.
He looped his arms around her waist from behind. “About the kiss, I—”
A nervous laugh spilled out. “No worries. We’ve both had a lot to drink. Well, I mean, I did. Gotta go.” She untangled his arms from her, opened the door, and disappeared into the hallway.
Goldie slammed the door and rested his forehead on it.Fuck!
The kiss was so good. He wished it would’ve been shitty, lukewarm at most, but it wasn’t. It was raw intensity. The type of kiss that stayed with you, scorched your insides, and invaded your thoughts.
The type of kiss that couldn’t just stop at one.
He was so fucked.
Chapter Six
Turning into theparking lot of Cherry Vale, the rehab center, Hailey shut off the radio and pulled the visor down. Swiping a bright fuchsia pink on her lips, her stomach fluttered when she thought of Goldie’s mouth on hers. She’d never been kissed that way by any man, and she could only imagine what his sexy mouth could do to her body.
She leaned back in the seat and closed her eyes. Their stolen kiss in the back room had been more than hot. If the waitress hadn’t come in, Hailey didn’t doubt that she probably would’ve ended up doing something decadent and totally out of character. She wasn’t one to rush sex or act on her emotions when it came to men, but the way he held her, rubbed against her, and kissed her was beyond awesome. Whenever she thought about it, her lips tingled and her body shivered.
The only snag was that he acted like the whole thing had been a mistake. She’d told him it was no big deal only to save herself the humiliation of him dissing her, but the truth was she’d felt a connection to him, one so strong that she’d chided herself about it the whole way home.What’s the matter with me? So he was a good kisser, and he probably knows how to screw real well. So the fuck what.
As if on cue, her phone rang and Brent’s name flashed. Making a face, she shoved her phone in her purse and exited the car.
Her aunt Patty was propped up on a straight-backed chair in front of the large window overlooking a courtyard. The flowering crabapple trees around the small pond gave off the ambiance of calmness. Her aunt’s roommate wasn’t in the room, and Hailey smiled as she saw a half-made afghan. Josephine, the roommate, was either crocheting or knitting, and afghans, scarves, and baby hats were her favorite projects to make. Hailey reckoned she’d be taking home the red, green, and yellow striped afghan she saw on Josephine’s bed when she’d completed it.
“Hi, Aunt Patty.” Hailey went over and gave her aunt a soft squeeze.
Patty shifted her body around. “How’s the shop?”
“Doing great. We’ve got so many weddings for the next three months. It’s going to be wildly busy. How’re you doing?”
“The same. Stuck in this damn room and bored out of my mind. Some of my friends came by yesterday and snuck in a bottle of champagne. That was fun. You should’ve seen the way Josephine guzzled it down. I don’t think she’d ever had any. She was out cold for the rest of the night.” Patty laughed.
Hailey placed a box of chocolates on the table next to her aunt. “I didn’t forget.”
Patty’s eyes lit up. “Did you get the mixed variety?”
Hailey nodded. “What does the doctor say about your progress?”
“He tells me everything’s going as it should be. I still can’t put weight on this damn leg.”
“Just keep listening to him. You don’t want to end up coming back here like the last time when you rushed it.” She glanced outside and then back to her aunt. “It’s a beautiful day. Do you want me to take you for a walk so you can get some fresh air?”
