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The towel didn’t conceal much and Harper let her hands skim over his firm chest. “Sorry. Just stupid hang ups from my last relationship that I can’t seem to shake.” But that was the last thing she wanted to discuss.Time to deflect.Her fingers touched the cross hanging around his neck. “Are you religious?”
“No. It was my dad’s,” he told her then frowned. “What hang ups?”
She hesitated. He didn’t want to discuss his father and she didn’t want to discuss Patrick. Instead of remaining at a stalemate, she attempted to gather her courage and open up. “When he broke up with me, he said…”Dammit.She didn’t want to talk about Patrick and when she started to pull away, Ryland held her in place.
“Uh-uh. Tell me what your assclown of an ex said.”
Harper let out a soft sigh. “He said he wasn’t attracted to me and the sex wasn’t enough of a reason to stay because it was only okay and I wasn’t very good at…things. I could never…relax.” She squeezed her eyes shut, unable to believe she just babbled out her biggest humiliation. “But I was under too much stress and when he kicked me out—”
“He kicked you out?” His words were sharp, gritted through clenched teeth.
“Yeah, I’d been staying at his place for a few weeks after losing my apartment. But then he got a new girlfriend.” She really didn’t want to get into the dirty details, but Ryland didn’t let it drop.
“And then you moved to San Diego to be near your sister?”
“No. I should’ve, but I made a promise to myself that I’d stick it out and pursue acting.” She gave a sad chuckle. “But I just became another sad Hollywood statistic, living in my car.”
“Living in your—” He stopped mid-sentence and a muscle ticked in his jaw. “You had nowhere to live and that fucker threw you out?”
The fierceness in his voice caught her by surprise. The last thing she meant to do was unload her shitty past year on him. He had enough to worry about. “Can we not talk about it, please?”
Ryland swore under his breath. “Listen to me, Harper. First, I want you to forget all about that dickwad and never waste another thought on anything he said or did. And second…” He took her hand and slowly dragged it down, down, down. She froze when he placed her hand over his raging erection. His voice came out raspy when he said, “I have full faith that you are very good at all the things.”
God, he was so big and hard as steel. Her breath caught in her throat and her confidence wavered. “I’m scared I’ll disappoint you,” she whispered.
“Impossible.” He leaned in and kissed her. It was gentle, extremely tender, and when she opened her mouth for more, he stepped back. “Why don’t you let me take care of you tonight? Show you exactly how wrong you are to believe anything he said.”
She wasn’t exactly sure what he meant, but when he extended his hand, she didn’t hesitate to lay hers in his. His warm fingers wrapped around hers and tugged her over to the bed. “Sit,” he ordered, eyeing her like his next meal.
Harper lowered herself onto the edge of the bed, trying not to let her insecurities hold her back. Ryland slid his hands over her tense shoulders and squeezed. Then he motioned for her to scoot back, and the mattress sank as he joined her.
“On your belly, sweetheart,” he said, twirling his fingers in a circle.
“My belly?” she echoed.
“I’m taking care of you tonight. Starting with a massage.”
With a small nod, Harper rolled onto her stomach and Ryland moved over her, locking her in with his knees. She knew that towel was stretched wide and probably falling off him and that sent a surge of heat straight down between her thighs.
Ryland’s large hands began to rub and knead, working the tension from her shoulders, and in minutes, she was sighing softly. God, his hands were magic. “How are you so good at this?” she murmured, cheek against the cool sheets. She felt like she was sinking into the bed, all of her stress, inhibitions and anxiety melting away from his soothing touch.
“I’m good at quite a few things,” he answered, and she heard the smile in his voice.
“Mmm, don’t ever stop.”
“How about we try something else?” he suggested.
He swept her long hair aside and when his lips touched the back of her neck, she moaned softly. They were so soft and when he began kissing and licking her skin, a shuddering breath escaped her lungs.
“You taste so sweet, Harper.” His hands slid under her shirt and played with the waistband of her shorts. “Do you taste this sweet everywhere?”
Words escaped her as his hand curved over her ass and squeezed.
“I have a feeling you do,” he murmured, voice low and sexy in her ear.
Goosebumps pricked her skin and, with her head still turned sideways, she saw his towel fly through the air and land in a pile on the floor. Knowing Ryland was naked and straddling her, touching her and whispering naughty things in her ear, had Harper breathing harder. Her heart started galloping and the anticipation of what he would do next had her fisting the sheets.
Her previous nerves dissolved and all she wanted was his hands and mouth all over her. As if he heard her thoughts, Ryland did exactly that. He lifted her shirt and slowly kissed his way down her spine, spending extra time at the two indentations on her lower back.
