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He didn’t pry or question about what was wrong. This was the support she needed, and it came from a man she only grew attached to recently.
“Is there anything I can do to help?” he asked.
She pushed back, daring herself to be bold, and stared him in the eyes. He looked back. No words came out. There were none that would rightfully convey how she felt. Her body did the talking, already leaning closer. Her focus went to his mouth. When she looked back into his eyes, she saw the kindle.
His gaze burned, reacting like how she had hoped. The desire was clear, but there were other emotions running through. Their mouths parted simultaneously, and she waited. For a fleeting moment, she was afraid he’d step back, but he lowered to capture her lips.
The grip on her arm moved to the back of her neck as he savored her mouth the way she was asking only in her mind. She wasn’t too embarrassed to admit the many fantasies of what kissing Rick would be like. Now it was reality.
Like quenching a thirst to salvage her sanity, he fulfilled her starvation for weeks. The kiss numbed everything awful before replacing it with a surge of lust.
She moaned, something she hardly did during a kiss, but she felt so much with this one. Her hand went to cup his jaw, feeling the areas of tiny, prickly stubble. His arm went around her waist, pulling her tighter.
Their tongues met as a sizzling shock ran down her spine. Hismouth continued to brush hers, drinking her whole. She was crushed in his embrace, but she wouldn’t have it any other way.
They parted only for air, but she refused to let him go.
“Fuck, Charlie,” he said against her cheek, his voice ten times rougher and accusing but so sexy she shivered again. He didn’t stop there. To her delight, his mouth slid across before nipping at the groove below her lips.
“Rick,” she murmured and wrapped an arm around his neck to encourage the exploration. Their faces were so close, she couldn’t see his eyes clearly, but it didn’t matter when she moved to resume the kiss.
Twelve
She was so soft.
Her scent, the wisps of her hair fluttering on his skin, and the way her mouth moved with his confirmed his fear. Kissing her was better than he’d imagined.
The times he spent thinking about her lips bordered on perversion, and he kept a distance between them so something likethiswouldn’t happen. But she looked so helpless and so inviting he would be insane not to. It didn’t matter what his principles were. He was only a man.
She took the lead in this second kiss, and the fervency nearly finished him. Her hands skimmed down his neck to rest on his chest, and he felt her fingers brush in circles. Arching her back until her breasts flattened against him, he fought to keep control. They were in a public space, with hundreds of people around. Any of them, a staff or a member, could walk by.
It didn’t seem to matter so much when she slid her tongue inside. A groan escaped from him, and he was lost in the pyre. Their noses grazed as their lips locked tight. He couldn’t remember the last time he was so fired up from justmaking out. Teenage hormones had left him so long ago, but they were now back with a vengeance because of Charlie.
He pulled back before his pants became uncomfortable. Carefully holding her, he rested his face next to hers and backed out to look at her.
Charlie’s flushed cheeks and puckered red lips made her glow. Eyes under lowered lashes stared back at him observantly. There were things running in her mind as well, but the sparkle in her pupils said she had very much enjoyed their kiss as much as he did.
“Thank you.” She bit her lips, forcing him to fix his attention back on them. “I don’t mean to get carried away–which seems like that’s all I do around you–but I really needed…you.”
Rick twitched in surprise.
“I know I’m far from the woman you’d usually get involved with, but I thought we might’ve gotten close the few times we spent together,” she said, then shook her head. “I’m embarrassed. Here I am, taking advantage of the situation, and taking advantage of you when you don’t even want to be here. You don’t even like me that much.”
“Don’t like you?” he laughed. “Charlie, I tried my best to stay away from you so this wouldn’t happen.”
The hurt shadowed her face before she heard him finish, and he thought it may be a better idea to leave it that way. But it wouldn’t be the truth, and hehatedlying.
“You’re right that you’re not who I typically go for. Besides the fact that you and my brother are close,ourworld is different,” he explained. “But since I snuck you back home after you ran from your wedding, I couldn’t stop thinking about you.”
Surprise turned her face, and she was speechless. Caving, he crushed her to him, unable to resist her.
“I don’t know what to do,” he whispered. “Being near you feels so good. Iwantto be near you.”
“I want you near too,” she admitted.
Rick inhaled the scent of her hair, allowing him to relax againsther. “You have a lot going on. Between your business and your personal affairs, I think you should put those at the top of your priorities.”
“What do I do about this attraction between us? It sounds like a priority to me, too.”
