The Virgin Next Door (Stud Ranch 3)

He’d needed to prove to himself he was normal, maybe. So there, he’d proved he could screw a chick no problem. Meant he hadn’t been fucked up by all the shit that went down inside, right? Not permanently anyway.

But easy pussy got tiresome real quick. Plus, what did any of it mean except confirming he could still stick his cock in a hole, shut off his brain, and fuck till he came?

Great, his dick wasn’t broken.

That had never been the problem though, had it? It was his head that had gotten fucked ten ways from Sunday in that place.

He moved out here and hadn’t gone chasing tail since. His right hand worked just fine. Plans he had, he didn’t need any woman getting caught up in his shit. Even if he was tempted, the town was so small and insular, well, he knew better than to shit where he ate.

Hadn’t been a problem.

At least until now.

The woman said she’d seen him around and he wondered where the fuck she

meant because surely, he would have noticed her.

He washed out his cup, looking at her out of the corner of his eye. She had a square face and strong features for a woman. Sharp cheekbones and an angular jaw. Pale, pink lips. Her chin-length hair fell over one half of her face and she tucked it behind her ear before looking over at him.

“You’re staring,” she said bluntly.

Mack cracked a grin. She was interesting. Mack couldn’t remember the last time anything had interested him. “I am.” He continued staring.

She narrowed her eyes at him. “It’s rude to stare.” The microwave beeped and she reached to pull the plate out but Mack beat her to the punch.

“Let me get that for you. Don’t want you to burn yourself on the plate. They’re ceramic. They get hot.”

He tagged a kitchen towel from the oven beside the sink and popped the microwave door. He had to lean into her side to do it. An intentional move. His chest brushed up against her side as he pulled the steaming plate from the microwave. He didn’t miss her quick intake of breath. So she wasn’t completely unaffected by him.

She kept her head down while he set the plate on the counter in front of her. He didn’t move away, though. He stayed right where he was, intruding on her personal space. It was a dick move but if she told him to back off, he wouldn’t push it.

The devil in him was too curious to see how she’d react.

She finally turned her face his way. Her eyes were a golden hazel and they flashed at him in a way that had his cock stirring to life.

“Am I in your way or something?” she asked. She started to slide to the left but Mack moved with her.

“No. You’re not in my way.”

She paused at his words, her head tilted toward him and her eyebrows furrowing like she was confused.

“I’m right where I mean to be,” he clarified. When she didn’t try to pull away again, he dropped his hands to the counter on either side of her, caging her in.

That got him another little breathy inhale as her eyes searched his. Fuck, but it made his balls tight when she did that.

“You are?” Her eyebrows went up slightly. Her surprise seemed genuine. Then her eyes dropped to his mouth.

“Fuck yes I am,” he all but growled. Her eyes flicked between his and then again to his mouth, like she couldn’t stop looking at it.

He was close enough he could smell the clean scent of soap on her skin. He would have known she’d just come from the shower even if her light brown hair hadn’t still been slightly damp. But it wasn’t any flowery shit. Just a crisp, clean smell. Her skin was tan and there was a scattering of freckles across her nose.

Her chest rose and fell with each breath. Mack couldn’t help his eyes tracing down her swanlike neck. Even in the shapeless T-shirt, he could see the outline of her pert little breasts, especially where the hard peaks of her nipples poked out. Was she just chilled? Or aroused?

Mack couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt such an instant, animal attraction. And it wasn’t just his cock responding to her. Even exchanging as few words as they had, he could tell she wouldn’t be just another easy lay. There was more to her. She seemed real.

Had it been long enough, finally? Could he go to bed with a woman without all that other bullshit interfering?

One of her hands shot up to lay flat on his chest, over his heart. Like she meant to push him away. But she didn’t put any pressure behind it. She just kept it there and the longer she did, the more it felt like a scorching iron of connection between them.