“You want this?” I asked, picking her up so that her nipple was at my mouth and her legs wrapped around my waist. Sticking my tongue out, I flicked her nipple with the tongue ring I’d worn, knowing my mouth would be pleasing a woman tonight.
“Yes, God, yes. Suck it!” she cried out.
I enjoyed the fullness of her breast in my hand as I pulled the hard nipple into my mouth. I opened my eyes frequently to remind myself of who this was. I wasn’t going to use someone else like that again. If I was gonna fuck her, then I was gonna fuck her. Just her.
She began rubbing herself on my chest. This one was hot. She was gonna blow fast and several times. Good. I needed several times. I threw her onto the sofa, shoved her dress up around her waist, and buried my face back into her cleavage as she cried out my name.
She didn’t smell sweet like Blaire. Her sounds weren’t soft and sexy. Fuck!
I had to stop this. I shoved her legs apart and slid my hands into her panties. Glancing down at them, I saw they were black. Not pink. They were also lace, not satin. Nothing like Blaire. This wasn’t Blaire.
I slid my fingers inside her, and the wetness pulled me in further. She was ready. More than ready. I was going to exhaust us both.
“Yes, Rush, baby, just like that. Harder. Suck it harder!” she cried out.
I needed her to shut up. This wasn’t helping me, dammit.
“Mmm, yes, please touch me,” she begged.
“Shhh,” I told her, not going near her mouth. I had a thing about mouths. I didn’t trust where they had been. I never kissed easily. Her sounds were all wrong. She was too loud. Too . . . too—
A door slammed, and I froze. Shit. I was off Bailey and standing up instantly. “Cover up, pull your dress down,” I demanded, and I walked out of the room to stop Blaire before she saw anything. I stuck my hand into my pocket when I thought of Bailey’s smell on my fingers.
“She ran out. Whoever it was,” Bailey said from behind me, and I stopped walking.
No. Fuck, no. Not this time. Not now. Hell!
“Who was that?” Bailey asked behind me.
“Get dressed, I’ll take you home,” I told her, and headed for the bathroom where I could wash my hands. Blaire had run out. Why did she run? The last time, she’d gone to her room. This time, she ran out and slammed the door.
It was the kiss. I didn’t kiss. I fucked. But I’d kissed Blaire. I knew her mouth was clean and sweet. I had wanted it. More.
Always more with her. I always wanted more.
I couldn’t have more.
When I stepped out of the bathroom, I headed for the door. I jerked it open, and my heart sank when I noticed that Blaire’s truck was gone. She had been here and left. She’d worked in the sun all day. She had to be exhausted and hungry. She needed to come home and get something to eat. She probably wanted a shower. But she was off doing what? Riding around? She didn’t even have a damn cell phone. Fuck that. I was getting her a phone. She needed a damn phone.
“Why was she here? Did you double-book?” Bailey asked in a sharp tone. I’d upset her. But I couldn’t keep touching her while thinking about Blaire seeing us. I hated the idea of Blaire seeing us.
“No. Let’s go,” I said. I didn’t owe her an explanation about Blaire.
“I don’t care. I know this is a one-night thing. I’m aware of how Rush Finlay works. I want that one night, Rush,” Bailey said, walking up to me and pulling on my shirt. “I need to be fucked hard. Wherever and however you want it.”
Great. Now I had her worked up, and it was going to be even harder to get rid of her. “Listen, that girl . . .” I paused. What was I gonna say? I was using Bailey to get that girl out of my head. Now all I could do was think about her. “She—she’s special. I need to check on her and get her back here. She’s staying here, and what she saw . . . she didn’t deserve to see that.”
Bailey took a step back. Her heels clicked against the marble floor. “Are you in a relationship?” she asked, incredulously.
I shook my head. “No. I’m not in anything with anyone. But she’s . . .” I stopped. Fuck this. I didn’t have time for this. “I need to take you home now and find her, or I need to call someone to come get you. I don’t have time for this.”
Bailey spun on her heels and headed for the door. “Fine, Finlay But don’t ever call me again. This was it. Your one chance. It’s over.”
Best news I’d heard all damn day.
I took Bailey home and then drove through town, with no sign of Blaire. I hurried back to the house, hoping she’d be there. It was almost midnight, and I was about ready to call the fucking police. She could be hurt somewhere, or someone could have her, or . . . no. I was letting my imagination get ahead of me. She was upset. I had upset her. My stomach knotted up. She had to understand that we couldn’t do this. That kiss was it. No more. I wasn’t ever going to let there be more for us.
Her truck was still gone when I parked in the garage and headed inside. I would wait for her for fifteen minutes, but then I was calling for backup. I would have a search party looking for her within ten minutes of my call. It was too dangerous for her to run off late like this. Even in Rosemary Beach.
Headlights filled the driveway, and I let out the breath I was holding. She was home. I waited until she was out of the truck and at the door before I opened it. I wasn’t giving her a chance to run from me.
She stood there in front of me then glanced around at my feet as if she were expecting to find something.
“Where have you been?” I asked, trying not to sound as frustrated as I was.
“What does it matter?” she asked. She wasn’t angry. She looked confused.
I closed the little bit of space between us. “Because I was worried,” I said honestly. She needed to know. She’d scared me.
“I find that real hard to believe. You were too busy with your company for the night to notice much of anything.” The distaste in her voice was obvious.
“You came in earlier than I expected. I didn’t mean for you to witness that,” I said, knowing it sounded bad as I said it. But I didn’t have an excuse. Even if I wished I did.
She shifted her feet and let out a sigh. “I came home the same time I do every night. I think you wanted me to see you. Why, I’m not sure. I’m not harboring feelings for you, Rush. I just need a place to stay for a few more days. I’ll be moving out of your house and your life real soon.”
Damn her. She was going to make me feel. I couldn’t fucking feel. Not with her. Closing my eyes, I muttered a curse and tried to calm myself down. “There are things about me you don’t know. I’m not one of those guys you can wrap around your finger. I have baggage. Lots of it. Too much for someone like you. I expected someone so different, considering I’ve met your father. But you’re nothing like him. You’re everything a guy like me should stay away from. Because I’m not right for you.”
She laughed. She fucking laughed. I was being honest with her, and she was laughing at me. “Really? That’s the best you’ve got? I never asked you for anything more than a room. I don’t expect you to want me. I never did. I am aware that you and I are on two different playing fields. Your league is one I will never measure up to. I don’t have the right bloodlines. I wear cheap red dresses, and I have a fond connection to a pair of silver heels because my mother wore them on her wedding day. I don’t need designer things. And you are designer, Rush.”
That was it. She had pushed me too damn far. I grabbed her hand and pulled her inside my house and backed her up against the wall. Caging her body in with mine felt good. It made my body hum with excitement that it didn’t need to be feeling. “I’m not designer. Get that through your head. I can’t touch you. I want to so damn bad it hurts like a motherfucker, but I can’t. I won’t mess you up. You’re . . . you’re perfect and untouched. And in the end, you would never forgive me.” There, let her laugh at me now. The soft O of her lips only had me craving her taste again.