Southern Player (Charleston Heat 2)

At the same moment, something in my chest squeezes.

Oh, God.

Oh, God, this man—I am totally, definitely falling for him. He’s slipped his fingers inside me. Slipped through my defenses, too, and now—

Well. It’s too late to go back now.

Now I’m starting to see that Luke was right. That I’d been trying to force a round peg into a square hole when I was with all the guys I’ve been with before. They weren’t right for me. I didn’t feel comfortable with them. So I hid.

But I don’t feel the need to hide with Luke. Not at all. I don’t feel smothered with him. Even after we talked about the potential for a relationship—I don’t feel any need to try harder or change who I am. What I want.

Instead, I feel set free. Every conversation we have, every orgasm we give each other—it all continues to push me that much closer to something that feels really, really good.

Something that feels like the truth.

The beauty of that takes my breath away.

That. Or maybe it’s Luke’s hand between my legs that’s got me breathless, curling his thumb over my clit again. I roll into his touch, sensation gathering and winding and blaring. My body draws taut, begging for the release.

But it suddenly seems selfish to come without him. We’ve worked on my list. Now it’s his turn.

I want to give. As much as he’s given me.

“What do you want?” I whisper, trailing my hand up his arm.

His eyes are soft when they lock on mine.

“I wanna make love to you,” he says.

My stomach dips.

That’s one hell of a truth right there.

I squeeze his bicep. “That sounds serious.”

He recognizes the line—he used it on me the day I ran into him at The Pearl.

One side of his mouth kicks up. His eyes soften.

I love it when his eyes get all soft and serious like this.

“It is,” he replies, trailing the hand on my belly up to my breasts. He cups one, kneading it. Sensation darts from my nipple to my clit.

My lips part on the word.

“Yes.”Chapter NineteenLukeGracie’s pussy is spread open in front of me, sweet and small. Tits upright, soft in my hand.

Looking down at her, I got no fucking clue if this is the right call.

Am I a shameless piece of shit for making love to her tonight?

Am I making this call because I’m scared and desperate?

Or am I doing it because I’m fucking wild for her and I wanna give her everything I got? Because I wanna tell her my truth in the hope she’ll see it and love it the way I love hers, and then she’ll ride with me on my tractor off into the sunset?

I just—

I don’t know.

All I know is this feeling keeps catching. Of Gracie slipping through my fingers. One breath, one minute, one night at a time.

Which does and doesn’t make sense.

Tonight, I saw firsthand just how different our worlds are.

But then Gracie spoke about the possibility of an us. Not only that—of an us that worked out.

That’s a big ass step for her.

And then she just said yes. She’s gonna let me make love to her.

Another big step.

Maybe right now, a couple of steps are enough. She’s trying.

Which makes me think—if and when the time comes—she’ll help me try to make those circles in my mental Venn diagram overlap a little more.

“Talk to me, Luke,” she says, moving her nails up the back of my arm. That feels—Jesus, real nice. “You’re pensive tonight. Which I don’t mind. I just want to know what’s going on inside your head.”

See? See how fucking great she is?

I take a breath. Let it out.

“A lot,” I say. “You’re doing a real good job of keepin’ an open mind, Gracie girl. So good you’re gettin’ my hopes up. Might be my turn to be a little scared.”

She nods. “I don’t want you to be scared. But I understand why you are. I mean, hell, I’m afraid, too. This—I think this is moving a lot faster than either of us anticipated. Totally normal to be feeling a little whiplash.”

Whiplash.

Don’t I wish that’s all this was. A simple mind-body discombobulation from too much anal play. Too many smiles.

“What would Lady Jane do?” I tease. At a loss for what else to say.

The corners of her eyes crinkle. “She’d screw her courage to the sticking place and let you bone her.”

“Make love to her,” I correct. “Important difference.”

Gracie laughs. Her eyes—they’re different tonight. There’s this new softness in them. This trust.

I ain’t gonna waste it.

I lean down, caging her head between my arms. Still on my knees.

“How does their story end?” I ask, pressing a kiss to the corner of her lips.

She leans up to grab my mouth with hers. “I don’t know. Haven’t finished it yet.”

“But it’s a happy ending, right?”

Gracie looks me in the eye. “Always.”