Dirty Deal (Perfectly Matched 2)

“And you get in close like this, right?” Her warm breath fanned across his face, and he willed himself to meet her gaze. Damn, that was a mistake. They were still true blue, but slightly more hooded than they’d been before. Like she was just as affected by the proximity as he was, but trying not to be.

“Then you say something like, ‘Girl, has anyone ever told you that you have the most beautiful eyes on this planet?’” Her warm breath washed over him, but just when he was most tempted to lean into her soft, inviting lips, she fell back onto her bottom and crossed her legs in front of her. Though, if he was keeping score, he also noted that she didn’t bother to scoot away. Instead they were nearly hip to hip, her body heat radiating off her in waves.

“Yep, you got me again. But then, also, sometimes I pull over to the side of the road and I put a kitten in a tree just so I can save it later. It’s a roundabout process, but it gets ’em every time.”

“Logical.” She nodded. “I can dig it.”

“Don’t you have a move?” He arched a brow toward her.

“We’re still on my question.”

“I answered your question. Kittens and haikus, remember?”

“Bullshit answer.” She scoffed. “I’m totally not counting it.”

“Then double or nothing if you answer mine.”

“Do you think I need a move to pick up men?” she asked, making a duck face that should’ve been ridiculous but just made him want to lean in and kiss her.

He bit back his answer, but even as he tried to look away, his gaze roamed over her body, stopping at her delicate ankles, the space where one long limb crossed over the other. Then higher. His cock jerked as he settled on her breasts, taking in an enticing vee of cleavage beneath her shirt.

What he wouldn’t give to bury his face between those breasts and suck each of those stiff nipples…

He swallowed hard past his too-dry throat. “I wouldn’t think so, no.”

The laughter that had played around the corners of her mouth was gone. Instead, her full pink lips were slightly parted. Poutier than he remembered. Tempting.

Her tongue peeked out from the corner of her mouth, and she swiped it along her top lip, though he was sure it served no purpose other than to drive him insane.

“That’s my move,” she said, her voice huskier than it had been even seconds before. “If we’re being totally honest.” A smile tugged at her lips as she did it again. This time it was punctuated by her perfect white teeth biting down on her lower lip as she stared at him.

God, what he wouldn’t give to do that. To close his teeth over those lips. To lick and touch the rest of her…

But that was an invitation, wasn’t it? She’d shown him her move. Any man worth his salt would respond in kind. Fuck, it would be rude not to. And it wasn’t like she didn’t know the score, or even have a scorecard of her own. She was as anti-relationship as he was. Plus, she knew full well that he was leaving in a few weeks.

Two adults. Surely there was nothing wrong with enjoying each other while he was still here.

“Double or nothing, right?” he said, his voice sounding gritty to his own ears.

She nodded.

“Well, if total honesty is a rule of this game, I do have a move.”

“What is it?”

“I’d rather show you.”

…

Questions and answers, moves or poems, none of the crap they’d been spouting off to each other since they’d met mattered in that moment. What mattered was the way he was looking at her, like he was picturing how he was going to rip off every inch of her clothing.

Her breath caught as he inched toward her. It was like the air itself was charged with his electricity, pinging off her skin and skittering over her nerves. She was aware of every move, every breath.

And when his mouth slanted over hers? That energy sparked into a fire. She responded without thinking, pulling his body in closer and parting her lips to taste him. It wasn’t fast or furious like their first kiss. If anything, it was slower than any kiss she’d ever had. Intense but soothing. Demanding and pleading all at once.

Most of all, though, it was entirely irresistible.

She was supposed to be over her little crush. What had happened to one time only?

He pressed into her and she sank backward, into the cushions. She didn’t know what she thought anymore. Why was she wasting her time thinking about any of that? What did it matter?

With the way her heart was pounding, the way the ache built between her legs, there was only one thing she could know for sure. There was no going back now.

He pulled back for a moment, and she forced a shaky smile. “Slick,” she murmured with approval. “Was that the move?”

He cocked a brow. “This? Wow, you must really have low expectations of me.”

His fingers closed around the hem of her shirt and she lifted her arms as he pulled. When she was finally free of it, she expected his lips to close over hers again. She even leaned in, hoping to continue where they’d left off.

Instead, he rolled from over the top of her. “Get up.”

“What do you mean—”

“Just do it.”

The words weren’t harsh, but there was a command there, and she bit back the urge to argue if only to keep her feet mired in something familiar.

He sensed her hesitation and sent her a sizzling look that melted it away. “It was dark on that beach, and I want to see all of you this time.”

“Then are you gonna do the move?” she asked.

“No.” He shook his head with a pained laugh. “But for right now, I want you to forget about that. All I want you to think about is getting naked for me.”

She furrowed her brow but stood, stepping back so that the hallway light slanted over her body. Of all the things she’d expected tonight, it had definitely not been this. Why couldn’t he just bend her over the sofa and pull her panties aside? Or better yet, they could have done it right there on the floor.

This? It felt, well, intimate, and she paused over the hook of her bra and survey

ed him, trying to ignore the sinking feeling in her stomach.

This was like no other encounter she’d had before, and she wasn’t sure that it was a good thing. All she knew was that she couldn’t bring herself to end it yet.

So she unfastened the hook and let the bra loosen, though it didn’t fall away that instant. If she wanted to, she could still change her mind. She could back out of this. All she had to do was say so…

With a whoosh of air, the bra fell to the floor, and she was bare before him.

There was a long, heavy silence until he spoke again. “Now the pants.” He nodded toward them. This time, his voice was gritty, like he’d been sucking on glass, and it sent her pulse skittering.

He was breaking down her wall of resistance, brick by brick, and if she let herself stop spackling the holes for even a second, she was going to wind up defenseless and primed for a hurting.

“Since when do I take orders from you?” she murmured halfheartedly, though a shiver went through her at the intensity of his gaze, and she hooked her thumb under the elastic of her pants all the same.

“Since I told you to.”

“You first.” She gestured toward him, all too aware of how her naked breasts bounced as she moved.

“Will that put an end to your stalling?”

“It’s the best chance you’ve got,” she shot back.

He pulled his shirt over his head and tossed it to the floor. Jesus Christ, when would she learn to be careful what she wished for? Had she thought that his panty-dropping hotness had been a trick of the light last time? Or, really, every time she’d seen him since? If she had, she was woefully mistaken. His wall of muscles rippled, his biceps flexing as he worked open the fly of his jeans.

“I’ll do you one better.” He pulled the jeans off and stepped from them one leg at a time until he was in nothing but dark red boxers.

That thin scrap of fabric was the only thing blocking him from her touch. All she’d have to do was go over there and pull, close the distance between herself and the hard, impressive bulge beneath…

Her heartbeat sped more, pounding in her ears until it was a constant, rhythmic reminder of just how fragile it was. If she pulled off her pants and let him have her again, she’d lose something to him this time. She knew it in her gut, and while she couldn’t bring herself to turn away, she couldn’t bring herself to step toward him either.