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Always Cash.
* * *
Rather than go out, Cash brought dinner to my house. At first, I was disappointed, but then I remembered there were eyes and ears all over Blossom Berry Falls. It would take only one town crier to see us for everyone else to find out.
I’d never wondered before if it were possible for someone to get more attractive within a matter of hours. Yet there I was, staring at Cash and wondering that very thing. Maybe it was the damn conversation I had with Mia. I swear, since we were teenagers, that girl had my mind going in places it never would have on its own.
Another thing that caught me off guard was my reaction to the intricate tattoos adorning the contours of his muscular arms. They were an unexpected aphrodisiac, and I couldn’t help but stare at them. Cash’s confidence was unmistakable as he leaned back in the kitchen chair that almost looked too small for his body.
Catching on to my ogling, he pointed to his forearm and the reptile etched around it. “Got this one in Tempe, first year of training camp. Almost stepped on a snake outside the apartment I’d been renting.”
“I would have had a heart attack.”
“Not going to lie, scared the shit out of me. But George was harmless.”
“George?”
“Yeah.” He chuckled. “Figured may as well give him a name since he greeted me every morning.”
“Okay, I suppose that makes sense. It’s so weird, isn’t it?”
He reached across the table and placed his hand on mine. “What is?”
Flicking my gaze down to where his hand met mine and trying to ignore that electric zing that shot up my arm before looking back up at him, I admitted, “That we share a son but barely know each other.”
His hand flew from mine to his chest. “You wound me. No one knows me like you do.”
“Not anymore.”
“Okay, what do you want to know? I’m an open book.”
I cocked a brow. That was my chance. To find out everything I wanted to know without sounding like I’d taken a job as a reporter at theBlossom Berry Falls Tribune. “Have you been in any relationships ... longer than one night?”
“No. Next question?”
“Wow, that was a fast reply.”
He shrugged. “It was an easy question. What about you?”
No, I was the one who should be asking the questions. Feigning ignorance, I countered with, “What about me?”
“Well, I now know that Rob was just a friend from school, but you said something during one of our conversations about me being the only guy you’ve been with ... sexually. That can’t be right, can it?”
Dear floor, please open up and swallow me whole.Knowing that fact about myself was one thing, but hearing someone who wasn’t Mia say it out loud made me sound like I had a sparkly chastity belt slung around my waist with a big old padlock and a lost key.
Feeling the weight of his eyes on me, my face grew heated with embarrassment. I could only imagine my normally pale skin now a nice shade of pink. Taking a breath, I forced myself to look at him, and I immediately regretted that decision. Not because he looked at me with sympathy but because those pale-blue eyes darkened thanks to the weighty stare I knew to be desire. I’d seen that same look years ago, and seeing it again had my body ready to burst out of my chair and onto his lap.
Except I couldn’t do that. No, I needed to keep a clear head when it came to Cash. Forcing the chair back, I stood, grabbed our empty plates, and moved to the sink and began to clean. Because that was what one did when they’d just admitted to not having sex for a ridiculous number of years. The plate slipped from my hand, and a tattooed arm reached in front of me to turn off the faucet.
His strong body pressed against mine. My back to his front ... his very firm andhardfront. Warm breath caressed my neck before landing on my ear.
“Hannah, stop washing dishes.”
A chill, which I was sure he felt, ran down my spine. Still, I kept my fingers lingering in the lukewarm bubbles filling my sink. Big strong hands with light calluses slid down each arm, starting at my shoulders and stopping just before getting wet. Skilled lips kissed that taut muscle between my neck and shoulder. Then they moved up, landing on the soft spot just beneath my ear.
I should put a stop to whatever was starting to happen. But someplace deep inside, I didn’t want to. It had been so long ... ridiculously long ... since I’d been with a man. It figured the same man who’d kick-started my libido all those years ago was the same one who jump-started it now.
On its own accord, my head rolled to the right, giving him more real estate to tease. Transfixed by the way my body remembered him and the power he still had on it, I remained quiet. Again I thought to tell him to slow down, except my lady parts begged me not to ... and for once I decided to listen to them. The hell with consequences. Right then, all I wanted was to feel good. Wanted. Sexy.
