“You drive me crazy,” he said against her mouth, then nipped her bottom lip. She nodded and delved her tongue inside to show just how much he affected her. Good and bad.
“Fucking insane,” she agreed and sucked the tip of his tongue. He hissed and clutched her closer. Keeping a tight grip on him, she stepped back into her apartment, ready to take this to her bedroom, but then he stalled, easing from her grasp.
Breathing hard, he took a step away. His dark eyes like smoldered obsidian. She wanted to tell him that she wasn’t pulling away, she was going inside with him.
But reality hit when she looked at his face.
He was pulling away.
She’d gotten caught up, and the Deputy obviously had more restraint than she did because he didn’t see this going anywhere beyond a kiss.
Running a hand over her hair in attempts to smooth it down and gain some composure, the gesture did little for her buzzing body and raw mouth.
“Good night, Mia,” he said, as if a standard greeting would suffice and they hadn’t just been trying to climb each other. Whatever was going through the Deputy’s mind was anyone’s guess, but it wasn’t going further with her.
It was a kiss.
It was done.
That message was clear.
“Goodnight, Deputy,” she replied, wishing her voice hadn’t cracked on the last syllable.
She went inside and shut the door. Tried really hard not to overthink what had just happened but the reality was blaring in her face.
“Another moment with no forethought,” she mumbled to herself. Proving Tatum right about her…and that stung. Because like a fool, she got swept up in that kiss and committed to go for more. Wanted to. But Tate didn’t appear to have the same thought. She didn’t miss the irony of the moment or how her actions a week ago outside the bar were now bitter. Because tonight, it had been him who walked away from her.
The playing field was even.
She’d remember that and made a vow right then that she wouldn’t make the mistake of getting caught up in the Deputy’s charms again.
Chapter Seven
“This is looking good,” Tate said, glancing around his backyard where ten, simple booths stood along his fence. Thank god he had some land, otherwise he’d have no clue where to put these until the event.
“Thank you, sir,” Kyle said, hammering in the last nail to the eleventh booth. A few pieces of plywood, a long afternoon and between him and Kyle, they had knocked out half the booths needed for the community event.
He hadn’t seen or talked to Mia in the last few days. Not since he kissed her. And no, he wasn’t counting the few text messages giving him tasks to do for the event as talking. He did learn that even via text message, Mia had sass. Her acronyms could be brutal.
She didn’t seem to care for the semi-colon-closed-bracket back to the text instructing him that the booths should be painted red, green and white, because she came back with a symbol of her own.
He had no idea one could make a symbol that looked like the middle finger.
Okay, so she obviously wasn’t happy with him and it may have something to do with that kiss the other night. The woman was all fire and even though he knew that kiss was a bad idea, he couldn’t stop thinking about it.
“By the time Santa’s Sleigh Drive is here, your community service will be completed,” Tate said.
Kyle nodded.
He seemed like a good kid. Focused and respectful.
“I’m hearing good things about you. Gearing up for your next game?” Tate asked.
“Yes, sir.” Kyle said. “It will be the first time my sister gets to see me play. She took the night off.”
Kyle glanced at Tate and he knew what he meant. He was sure Mia must have reiterated their first meeting. He knew she was trying to get to the game that night but he didn’t know about her brother playing. Maybe he would have acted differently.
Maybe?