Catching Fire (Hometown Heat 2)

But maybe it’s okay to fizz a little.

Maybe I can fizz and still keep my head on my shoulders. Maybe I’ve misjudged my capacity to handle off-the-charts chemistry…and misjudged Mick while I was at it. Any guy willing to hold my hair while I’m sick in a toilet and help me brush my teeth when I’m too drunk to hold a toothbrush isn’t the kind to run at the first sign of trouble. Or to treat a woman like shit.

The thought makes sense.

Enough sense that I muster the guts to say, “I kissed him because I was hoping it would help me stop thinking about kissing you.”

“Did it work?” he asks softly, his gaze shifting from my eyes to my mouth and back again in a way that makes my lips tingle.

“Not even a little,” I say.

He nods, but he doesn’t smile or break the mesmerizing eye contact that’s suddenly making it hard to breathe. “So maybe you’re more interested in me than you let on?”

“Maybe.” My heart skips a beat as he stands, tossing his fleece blanket onto the chair behind him.

“Does that mean you’ll go out with me?” He crosses to sit on the futon beside me, summoning a groan from the frame and a flutter from my chest.

I can’t help but be very aware that he’s less than a foot away and looking pretty damned adorable with a little morning stubble. Why is stubble so sexy? I have no idea, but I have to fight the urge to run my fingertips over it.

“I don’t know,” I say with a breathy laugh. “Are you sure you still want to go out? After seeing me at my grossest?”

“You weren’t gross,” he says, shrugging when I arch a skeptical brow. “Okay, maybe a little gross. But…cute too.”

I wrinkle my nose. “Nope. I call bullshit. I’m not a cute kind of girl. Especially when I’m puking.”

“Yes, you are,” he says, laughing when I roll my eyes. “I find being asked if I think you’re the Mayor of Loserville ten times in a row pretty fucking cute.”

“Yeah, well…I’m not usually cute. Or drunk,” I insist, wanting Mick to know exactly what he’s signing up for. “I’m direct. So direct sometimes I end up being rude without meaning to be. I think acting like a lady is overrated, I cuss like a sailor when I’m pissed off, I only wear sparkly shit like this on rare occasions, and I haven’t been out on a date in so long I probably won’t remember how to do it.”

“Oh, you’ll remember.” His head drifts closer to mine, sending a rush of adrenaline dumping into my bloodstream. “I hear it’s like falling off a bike.”

“Like riding a bike, you mean?” I murmur, my heart pounding in my ears.

“Yeah, like that,” he says. “Sorry, I get distracted when I’m this close to your lips.”

“Yeah, me—” My words end in a soft moan as his lips brush across mine.

His fingers thread into my hair and his tongue slips into my mouth—tasting of mint and salt and a hint of something sweeter—and my skin ignites. It feels like I’m blushing all over, from the roots of my hair to the tips of my toes. It’s such a wild, delicious sensation I’m still trying to name it as I wrap my arms around Mick and draw him back onto the pillows.

Apparently, my body doesn’t care what my brain decides to call this feeling—it just wants more of it.

“Incredible,” he murmurs as he lengthens himself on top of me, his chest pressed to mine and our legs tangling as our tongues dance and spar.

And he’s right. It is incredible.

So incredible I don’t even think about pumping the brakes as his hand trails up the side of my ribs and he parts my legs with a gentle nudge of his knee. And then he settles between my thighs, dragging a moan from low in my throat as I feel the way I affect him.

He’s thick and hard, so hard I can feel him through our jeans, and it is electric and dizzying and terrifying all at the same time.

“Wait,” I whisper as I force my lips from his.

I’m blushing all over and dying to get even closer to this man, but I have to put a stop to this before it goes way too far, way too fast.

Chapter Five

Faith

Mick sucks in a breath as he pulls back, propping up on his elbows. He looks as lust-dazed as I feel, which is simultaneously flattering and a little scary.

One of us needs to take the wheel before we’re both swept out to sea.

“Sure. Yeah.” He blinks. Smiles. Dazzles me a little, as usual. “You okay?”

“Very okay, but…I think we should stop.” I bite my lip and swallow, gaze darting to the movie posters on the walls, suddenly shy again. “I’m not…I don’t usually jump right in like this. At least not on the first date.”