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“Oh,” she said again. The words getting inside her, tightening around her pussy. “Oh, fuck.”
“Yes,” he murmured. “And when we’re done, I want you very clear on whether you’ve been fucked or not.” His mouth was so close to her now. She could feel his breath on her lips. “I don’t want any ‘pretty much’ about it. Okay?” he asked.
She had to swallow to wet her mouth enough to let her speak. “Okay,” she croaked.
He kissed her. One quick little peck. “Okay,” he repeated. “But I’m hard as hell again. Does that make you feel better?”
Yes, it did, because it was warm between her legs again. He could get her wet with just words. And he was going to fuck her. He’d made that clear. She didn’t have to doubt that anymore. But she didn’t say yes. She just shrugged and started down the trail. “Hope you can walk with that thing,” she called over her shoulder. And if she had a spring in her step, she tried not to let it show.
***
CHAPTER NINE
SHECOULDN’TSTOPthinking about Gabe.
Veronica had spent 90 percent of her day thinking about what they’d done the night before, the words he’d whispered and exactly what they might do the next time they were together. She’d wasted hours. She’d fantasized. She’d squirmed. Just the way he wanted her to.
But she hadn’t made herself come. Honestly, she hadn’t even been that tempted. There was nothing new about her own fingers, and she’d broken in her shiny new vibrator two years ago. It was old hat now. But Gabe... Gabe might call at any moment. And she’d be damned if she’d preempt their first night together with yet another solo orgasm.
So she’d waited. But she had no idea when Gabe would get in touch.
He’d gone out for a full day of climbing today, but that hadn’t stopped her from checking her phone every five minutes.
Squirming. She was squirming in every way possible. And she was very afraid that this was the start of a long wait.
“Not if I can help it,” she muttered as she stopped in front of her fridge to look at the notes one more time. Her advice was actually working out so far. If she could pull off “Ask your friends for help,” she’d have to move on to number three. She just had to figure out what that was.
Baby steps.
The 10 percent of her day she hadn’t been daydreaming about Gabe had been spent on work. She’d roughed out answers to a couple of emails she’d received and line-edited two articles her editor had sent her, but she couldn’t stop going back to that letter from Torn. It called to her, yet she’d flinched away every time. If she couldn’t figure it out by Monday night, she’d use one of the other letters. If she did figure it out, she’d publish the other letters on the web-only version of her column, where her editor allowed her a few hundred more words of advice every week.
She grabbed a coat and headed out for the night, and for once she didn’t feel like a complete fraud as she stepped into the real world. She might be almost a virgin, but not for long. Tonight she felt sexy. She felt desirable. She had let a man lick her nipples on a public trail while the sun set behind her, and goddamn if that wasn’t something.
Grinning now, she sashayed down the sidewalk toward the north end of town. The restaurant the other women had chosen for girls’ night out was more expensive than she could afford, but she deserved a treat.
It was her birthday, even if no one but Gabe knew it. She hadn’t told her friends. She didn’t like being the focus. She preferred to watch from the shadows. A faceless Veronica who could put her carefully edited thoughts onto paper and then duck out of sight.
Except, of course, when it came to being touched by Gabe MacKenzie. She definitely wanted the focus on her then.
She’d learned in New York City to always walk the streets with your spine straight and your eyes fixed on where you were going. You didn’t look at the men who called out to you. You didn’t make eye contact.
Jackson was different, of course. She’d never experienced any catcalling here, though she wouldn’t put it past a drunk cowboy on a Friday night. Here she could smile at the people she passed. She could look around. And she did. Her eyes traced the boardwalks, looking for dark waves of hair and a trimmed beard.
The sun was setting. Gabe would be done climbing by now. He could be out with his friends, making the most of his day off. And Veronica was showing off her legs again. She’d never thought too much about them before, but now she wanted Gabe to see her in her short red dress. She wanted his gaze to drop. Wanted him thinking about fucking her.
So instead of keeping her eyes on her destination, she let her gaze search the streets as though she were a woman on the prowl. She felt taller tonight, and it wasn’t just the heels.
As soon as she opened the door of the restaurant, she spotted her friends. They stood and waved at her from a table right in front of the window. Veronica noticed that even Isabelle was dressed up. Not normal for her when she was in the middle of a commission, but tonight she wore tight black jeans and heels and a turquoise top that shimmered when she moved. Lauren looked sleek and beautiful in a black sheath.
And there was a champagne stand next to the table.
“Happy birthday!” Lauren called when Veronica drew near.
“Oh, my God!” She automatically returned Lauren’s hug, though she was completely confused. “How did you know?”
“I snooped in the library records months ago.” Lauren pulled back after one more squeeze. “That’s a little illegal, though. Don’t tell anyone or I’ll end up with a record like this one.” She gently elbowed Isabelle.
“Shut up,” Isabelle responded, then gave Veronica a big hug. “Twenty-seven years old. You’re almost a grown-up, V.”
