Ten first dates, p.28
Ten First Dates, page 28
That made me grin. “I’m finding the idea of you feeling shy a little hard to believe.”
“It happens randomly. I can’t explain it.”
“You’re adorable. You do know that, right?”
“If I’m so adorable you should kiss me.”
That seemed more fitting for her personality.
So I did.
I pulled her closer to me, then cupped her cheeks with my palms. I waited, wanting to draw the moment out, wanting to give her a chance to change her mind. Her lips parted, an open invitation. She rested her hands on my waist in the water, the light touch barely there, but one I was acutely aware of. She was above average height, maybe five nine, so I didn’t have to bend over at an awkward angle.
When she showed no signs of pulling back, I moved in and brushed my lips over hers. She gave a soft sigh of pleasure that reverberated throughout my body.
I shifted my hands back into her hair to get a better grip as I kissed her again, teasing at her mouth with my tongue so she would open for me.
She did and I kissed her deeper. She tasted like summer. Like water and fruit and unlimited possibilities.
Her hands came out of the water and snaked around my neck. Water ran down my back. She met my tongue with her own and we were off to the races. I found myself hauling her leg up over my hip so I could grind my hard cock closer against her. She was moaning and pressing her tight nipples up on my chest. We were a tangle of desire, of unexpected passion, of the setting sun, cool water, and strangers meeting.
I wanted to have sex with her right there, in the pond.
I wanted to take her body with mine and give in to everything I, we, were feeling.
My runaway thoughts had me struggling for control, but I managed to pull myself together enough to yank away from her to see her reaction to the fire being stoked between us. She blinked and let go of my neck. She took a step back.
We stared at each other for a second, both breathing hard. She looked as shocked as I felt.
She pushed her hair back off her shoulders. “We should probably get out of the water. Anyone could see us and I don’t want to get you in trouble.”
“How would you get me in trouble?”
Her gaze dropped slightly and she shrugged. “I’m on the catering staff. I guess I would get in trouble more than you now that I say it.”
Something seemed off about her words but I dismissed the feeling. How the hell did I know if something was wrong? I didn’t know her at all.
Though I hadn’t expected her to say she was working at the wedding. Then again, I didn’t know her and I thought I knew most of the guests at Cash and Sera’s wedding so it shouldn’t be surprising she was working the event. That was definitely a risky move on her part.
“You really needed to cool off if you were willing to risk your job.”
“My shift ended. But I’m definitely impulsive,” she said. “Some people think it’s a character flaw.”
“I’m impulsive too. It has gotten me into trouble more than once. It’s also led to some really fun times.” I cupped her cheeks with my hands and gave her another deep, lingering kiss. “Like now.”
CHAPTER THREE
Faith
What the hell was I doing?
I had just lied to MacKay about being on the catering staff. It had popped out before I could even think about how easy it would be for him to figure out that was a lie.
But the way he was looking at me… the way he kissed me… I didn’t want him to stop. And I one-hundred-percent knew that he would the second he found out I was Cash’s little sister.
It was obvious he didn’t recognize me. Which wasn’t surprising. I hadn’t seen him in at least seven years. Cash and MacKay had played football together at LSU and the first time I’d seen Mac, when I was twelve years old, I had fallen hard for him. Cash had any number of muscular and good-looking friends back then, but Mac had a crooked smile, and a whiskey smooth voice that made parts of me I hadn’t known existed before flutter to life.
Every opportunity I had to be anywhere in the same zip code as Mac, I’d slathered on layers and layers of makeup in an effort to look a decade older (total epic failure) and tried to keep my mouth closed so he couldn’t see my braces. Mac had been nice enough to me. But nothing more.
Because I had been twelve. He had been nineteen. It was doomed to be an unrequited crush.
It had taken several years for me to figure out that I wasn’t going to grow up fast enough for Mac to fall wildly in love with me. It had been a hard reality to accept when you had spent as much time building an elaborate fantasy life together in your head as I did. When I’d heard that he had a serious girlfriend, I had cried myself to sleep in my bedroom and decided Mac sucked.
Then my brother and all his teammates had graduated and scattered around to various cities to play pro and I’d never seen him again.
Now here he was. My teen fantasy.
Just as good-looking. Maybe even more so. He was a grown-ass man now, probably thirty years old. He still had that voice I remembered so well. Low, with a hint of a drawl, and a smoothness that gave me goosebumps and damp panties.
He was looking at me in an entirely different way than he had a decade earlier. Then he had been polite to the awkward preteen little sister of his buddy.
Now he looked like he wanted to devour me in very slow bites.
I didn’t want that look to evaporate, replaced with remoteness when he realized that I was off-limits.
Because I knew my brother.
Cash would never want his friend to date me. To touch me. Have sex with me. Anything with me. And MacKay was a man who valued his friendships.
Which had all rolled around in my head at lightning speed and had me blurting out I was on the catering staff. I mentally berated myself, but at the same time, I didn’t want this opportunity to slip away.
Mac had stepped back from me. “You’re really beautiful,” he murmured. “What’s your name?”
I could lie. Again. Or I could tell the truth and see what happened.
It was tempting to fudge the truth, but I couldn’t do it a second time.
“Faith.”
Then I turned and put my arms on the bottom of the paddleboat and hauled myself out of the water. I did it mostly because I didn’t want to see his face if/when he realized I was Cash’s sister.
But it had an unexpected effect.
He made a sound in the back of his throat. A cross between a growl and a groan. Startled, I looked back over my shoulder and realized that my panties were covering exactly nothing and my ass was straight up in the air.
Whoops.
I hadn’t meant to do that.
But I wasn’t exactly sorry either.
In spite of my momentary attack of shyness, which had appeared when I’d thought about all the nights as a teen I’d fantasized about MacKay kissing me, I wanted to take full advantage of this unexpected encounter.
“I can’t pull myself up,” I said, kicking my feet a little in the water.
I wasn’t lying. I was on the curvy side. I had big tits and a booty. It wasn’t easy to haul all of that up onto a paddleboat with arms that hadn’t seen the inside of a gym ever.
He surprised me by putting his hands on my bare ass and giving me a gentle push. The sensation of his big palms resting on my skin didn’t help my chaotic feelings.
“Thanks,” I said, breathlessly, crawling up into the paddleboat, trying to be as graceful and enticing as possible. Not exactly an easy combination when you’re elbows and knees down on slippery damp plastic.
I finally got myself into the seat and squeezed the water out of the ends of my hair. I was twisting my hair up into a top knot as he rocked the boat, literally, by pulling his large body up onto the decking.
“What’s the weight limit on this thing?” he said, looking a little nervous as he sat down. His knees barely fit. “I’m not exactly a small guy.”
“But you’re all muscle.”
“Muscle weighs more than fat. And this looks like it was designed for a ten year old. How am I supposed to paddle?”
He tried to shift his legs around but he was right. He didn’t fit. His legs were knocking into me and his shins were colliding with the front of the swan as we tried to paddle in tandem.
I put a hand on his knee to stop him. “I’ve got this.”
“No. No way.” He looked appalled at the very idea. “I am not going to sit here and let you paddle me to shore. Hell fucking no.”
“So that’s a no?” I asked, amused.
“That’s a no,” he confirmed. “Just give me a second to figure out what to put where.”
I burst out laughing. “That’s not reassuring.”
It was a joke, of course, but instead of laughing along with me, his expression turned seductive.
He eyed me, his nostrils flaring. “In this fucking floating piece of plastic, Faith. Everywhere else I know exactly what to put where. Trust me.”
I instantly stopped laughing. Why did the sound of his voice get me so damn hot? But suddenly all I could picture was those big hands on my bare ass, only this time giving me a playful smack while he used that very commanding voice. I swallowed hard, nipples beading. I needed to redirect. Talk about something. Anything.
Be flirty but light.
He beat me to it. “Where are your clothes?”
Not exactly a nonsexual topic but it was safer than what was running through my head.
“On the bank.” I surreptitiously kicked my dress into the front of the swan where my pedals were so he wouldn’t see it wasn’t exactly a catering server’s outfit. “This is a great meet-cute, you know.”
“A what?” He was still attempting to angle his legs so that he wasn’t licking his knees.
“A meet-cute,” I repeated. “That moment when the main characters meet for the first time in a tangle of dog leashes, or by having the same seat assignment on an airplane, or going for the same taxi at the exact same moment and their hands touch on the car door handle.”
His eyebrows shot up. “Me thinking I was rescuing you but I wasn’t actually rescuing you is a meet-cute?”
“Absolutely,” I said, resting my feet on the pedals on my side of the paddleboat, waiting for him to sort out his own feet. “The sun dappled water, a swan boat, the handsome stranger risking his life to save the fair maiden.”
The corner of his mouth turned up. “Handsome?”
I nodded. “Yes. And the handsome stranger knows he’s handsome.”
“And the fair maiden isn’t in need of rescuing. I’m pretty sure even if she was she could save herself.”
“That doesn’t mean said fair maiden doesn’t appreciate the thought.”
MacKay managed to figure out a way to tilt his legs so he could fit his feet on the pedals. He started pedaling and the boat started moving. “Before we reach shore, can I have your number, Faith?”
I shivered, the breeze suddenly feeling cool on my damp skin. Goosebumps rose on my arms and chest. Teen me wanted to jump up and down and squeal. Adult me tried to play it cool. “You never told me your name,” I said. He hadn’t and I was bound to screw up sooner than later if he didn’t. I wasn’t supposed to know his name and yet I did.
He glanced over at me. “I didn’t? My apologies. I’m MacKay Lennox. Friend of the groom. Well, and now the bride too. I own Four Brothers Distillery.”
I hadn’t known he owned a distillery. I knew Cash spent time with Mac, but I hadn’t asked about him and no information had been offered. In the month since I had moved to Nashville and was living with my brother and his family, Mac hadn’t been around the house.
“What do you distill?” I asked.
“Whiskey, bourbon, rye.”
I didn’t know anything about whiskey, bourbon, or rye, or why any of those were any different from the other, but I just nodded. “That sounds very impressive.” I meant that. I would love to find a passion for something. I had a brand-new college degree and zero job prospects. I had applied for upwards of thirty jobs in marketing and hadn’t gotten more than a handful of calls, no job offers.
“I don’t know if it’s impressive, but it’s almost as much fun as playing football, which was what I used to do.”
We were getting dangerously close to me having to explain who I actually was. But we were also close to the bank of the pond.
“How do we stop this thing?” I asked.
MacKay said, “Like this.” He stepped out of the boat. The water was only two feet deep. He pulled the boat onto the grassy bank of the pond.
I hung on to the sides and waited until the boat had completely stopped. I stood up.
He held his hand out and I took it. In a few steps I was on the grass beside him in my bra and panties.
MacKay’s gaze swept over me from head to toe, causing my goosebumps to return.
“Give me your number,” he said.
It was my turn to assess him. He was taller than I was expecting, with broad shoulders and that muscular chest that made me want to run my fingers over every inch of that expanse of smooth skin. He was in his boxer briefs. They were firmly clinging to his hard thighs and clearly outlining a package that made me very aware of my inner thighs.
Damn it. There. Was. No. Way.
I couldn’t just walk away from him. I one-hundred-percent was going to give him my number, consequences be damned. I would have given my right arm for this chance when I was twelve. And thirteen. Fourteen. Possibly even still at fifteen.
“Where’s your phone?” I asked.
“In my pants.”
The teen girl in me reappeared instantly. I fought the urge to giggle and lost. One slipped out before I could stop it. I pressed my fingers to my lips.
MacKay grinned at me. “And why are you laughing, woman? Did I say something funny?”
I nodded. “I’m having an internal battle with myself whether or not I should say, ‘Do you have anything else in your pants for me?’ and what you will think of me if I do say something like that. Will you think it’s funny or sexy or just think I’m weird?” I raised my arms up to let my hair down out of the knot. I shook it loose over my back. “But I told you I’m impulsive. And I guess I lost the debate with myself because I just told you my goofy internal thoughts that are now no longer internal.”
MacKay stared at me. Then he looked up at the sky and murmured something under his breath.
I wasn’t sure if he was asking for divine intervention or if he was swearing or asking to be beamed up and away from me.
But then he met my gaze. His eyes were dark and filled with lust. “You’re killing me,” he said. “And if you glance south, you’ll see exactly what I have.”
I shouldn’t have obeyed his suggestion. But I did. I couldn’t help myself. I’d already stolen a few glances but I couldn’t pass up the invitation. I swallowed hard as I took in the view of that very impressive cock before I forced my gaze back up to meet MacKay’s.
“And never hold back. Always say whatever you’re thinking. I think that you probably have a lot of very interesting things to say.”
For some reason that made my stomach flip with more than just desire. It cut right through the heart of what I’d been struggling with lately. The youngest of seven, growing up my voice was frequently drowned out by older siblings. I’d tried to break free of those constraints in college, but I was still floundering, trying to figure out who I was.
Sometimes you need a stranger to slice through all the white noise and give you a random compliment. A stranger who wasn’t even a total stranger.
He had been my very first over-the-top real-life crush.
My feelings were chaotic and excited and restless and aroused. I didn’t want this to end. Not yet.
I slipped my hand into his and gave him a tug. “Come behind the barn with me.”
CHAPTER FOUR
MacKay
I didn’t even hesitate. Once Faith asked me to go behind the barn, I knew exactly what she was suggesting and I was all the fuck in.
“Wait one second.” I jogged the few feet to where I’d dropped my clothes and grabbed them. They were in a wrinkled bundle in my hands, but I was almost positive I had a condom in my wallet and I wanted access to that if this was going where I thought it was. Then hopping on one foot, I yanked my sock off, then repeated it with the other foot. I couldn’t stand those wet socks for another second.
Faith had goosebumps on her bare arms and chest. I took my jacket and wrapped it over her shoulders, settling it so it wouldn’t slide off. She didn’t say a word as I gripped the lapels of my own jacket and kissed her again, amazed at how easy it was to get swept away with her. The air between us felt like it was crackling with sexual tension and when she parted her lips for me, I pulled her as close to me as possible with my arms between us.
Her breasts brushed my forearms and she gave a soft moan in the back of her throat. We tasted each other without hesitation, without fumbling, without reservation. Desire shot through me like a lightning bolt and I needed more. I shifted my hand lower, releasing the jacket, to cup her breast, thumb strumming over her nipple. She had full breasts, arranged to push out of the top of her bra, and I took advantage to drop my head down and kiss her bare flesh right above the fabric. I trailed a line along the seam with my tongue, before flipping the bra down and taking her nipple into my mouth.
Faith gripped my biceps and gasped softly, her head tilting back. She rocked forward against me, her softness colliding with my hard thighs and my rock solid cock.
My feet were on hard packed dirt and the sun was blinding me. I glanced behind Faith and saw we were only ten steps from the barn. I lifted my head. “Let’s move back a little so no one sees us.”
Gauging the distance to the reception no one could see us, but I wanted to make sure. Faith was only in her bra and panties and I wanted her in nothing but my jacket in about five minutes.
We shifted around the corner of the barn to the backside. Totally secluded. No sun in my eyes. Nothing but the two of us and hot kisses and exploring hands.
