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He found his words, his voice husky and raw. “Go right ahead.”
His palms were planted on the workbench behind him, his elbows bent. The toes of her heavy riding boots bumped his as she placed her hands on his shoulders. He sucked in a breath, his ribcage rising sharply. With the laces tight around her ankles and unyielding soles, it was difficult to rise onto tiptoes, but she managed with fair grace. Other than bending his neck so she could reach his mouth, he remained bolted in place.
His beard rasped her chin and the corners of her mouth. His lips, dry and a little chapped, clung to hers as she tasted him. She ran her tongue along the seam and he welcomed her in. When she invaded his warm wetness, his tongue danced with hers almost shyly.
He opened his legs so she was cradled between them, her core pressed against a heavy, hot bulge, her breasts flattened on his chest. His hands hadn’t left their positions on the workbench and she wriggled, wordlessly inviting him to bring them into play. When he didn’t take the hint, she drew back just far enough to issue a command. “Touch me.”
He groaned and his palms cupped her ass. She whimpered approvingly, rewarding him with little nips along his full bottom lip.
She’d forgotten how much she liked kissing. Liked the sensations, the tastes, the explorations. Liked the anticipation of what could come next without the pressure to perform.
Her arms wound around his neck and her fingers played with the hairs on his nape. It was almost long enough for a ponytail. She’d never like that look on men, but she might be willing to make an exception for him.
She might be willing to make a lot of exceptions for Cash.
COURAGE HAD ALWAYS been an aphrodisiac for Cash, maybe because he wished he had more of it himself. Penta’s emotions were easy to read on her face, and he’d watched, fascinated, as she’d swung from nervousness to anger to determination.
He’d expected her kiss to be tentative. Instead, it was bold and teasing. She savoured him with a thoroughness, a tenderness, that made his knees shake.
The round globes of her ass were heavy and full. She seemed to like it when he squeezed, squirming against him, yet never letting her lips leave his for longer than a breath. His neck ached from bending over, but no way in hell was he going to break this connection, so he hefted her up until her toes left the ground.
She squeaked and drew away. “What are you doing? Put me down.” Her protest was undermined by her knees clamping onto his hips, her arms wrapping around his shoulders.
“No.” He liked the feel of her, solid and soft. But he wasn’t as young as he used to be, and his back gave a warning twinge. Compromising, he turned and sat her on the workbench he’d been leaning against. “Now, where were we?”
But the lustful spell had broken. A flush reddened her cheeks and her lashes, naturally thick and dark, swept down to hide her thoughts. She worried her bottom lip with her teeth in a way that had his stiff cock hardening further, and then dropped her head to his shoulder.
“I hate to admit it, but maybe you were right.” Her words were muffled against the leather of his coat.
“About what?” Despite her withdrawal, he took heart from the fact she remained in his embrace. He couldn’t stop sweeping his palms up and down her back. She still wore her son’s heavy canvas jacket over her sweatshirt. He itched to get below the layers, to see and touch Penta. Just Penta, with nothing between them.
“Maybe I’m not ready for casual sex. Just kissing you was...”
He waited, but she remained silent. Curiosity gnawed. Had their kiss made her feel as powerful yet vulnerable as it had made him? Was she already regretting it? “I’d never pressure you into anything you didn’t want. You know that, right?” Given she’d seen him attack a teenage boy, it couldn’t hurt to state that outright.
She lifted her head, curls catching on his beard with tiny tugs. “I do.”
He hadn’t bothered turning on the huge fluorescent fixtures on the ceiling. Only a couple of small bulbs hanging on the wall shed any light in the dim space. Sitting with her back to one of them, he couldn’t read her expressive face. Her tone, however, was decisive, and he relaxed. “I can’t remember the last time I made out with a pretty girl.”
Her teeth gleamed in a quick grin. “I was just thinking how much I like kissing. Sex is good too. But sometimes I just want to fool around with no end goal.”
If she thought sex was just good, her husband hadn’t been doing it right. “I’ll fool around with you anytime you want.”
She’d regained some of her confidence. Her shoulders straightened and her knees tightened, gripping his hips. “Do we have a deal, then? Making out is included?”
“I’ll sign on that dotted line.” An odd bubbly sensation filled his chest. Happiness hadn’t been a part of his life for a long time. Satisfaction, sure. Even contentment. But true joy? Not so much. He’d grown used to regarding anything like it with dread, knowing he was bound to ruin it somehow.
She wasn’t done realigning their relationship. “Does this mean we’re...I don’t know...friends? I know it was supposed to be fake between us, but it doesn’t feel that way. Not anymore.”
It was never fake for me. That revelation from his subconscious knocked the wind out of his lungs. He sucked air in through his nostrils. How had he fooled himself for so long? He had been attracted to Penta from the start, but the fact now blazing in neon orange was that he liked her too. Worse, he trusted her.
He uttered a gruff agreement. “I’m good with friends.”
Her smile lit up the gloomy garage. “That’s a relief. I’m a very bad actor. If we’re real friends, doing this will be so much simpler.”
He was glad she thought so. Because he was certain having Penta in his life would be anything but simple.
CASH TOOK THE RIDE back to town at a slower pace, intensely aware of Penta riding pillion. She was much more relaxed, swaying confidently into the corners, hands resting lightly on his waist. Her chin bumped his shoulder from time to time, her breasts squashed against his back, and her thighs bracketed his. He resisted the compulsion to pull off the highway and find a secluded copse of trees where he could continue what they’d started in the garage.
