That Thing You Do (Whispering Bay Romance 1)

“Sorry,” she teased. “But I think you should know that I intend to go very slow.”

He closed his eyes and groaned and Allie didn’t know whether she was more turned on, or just simply…happy. Or maybe both.

She unbuttoned his jeans, freeing his erection. He raised his hips and pushed both his jeans and boxer shorts off in one frenzied motion. She kept her promise. This wasn’t a race. It was the exact opposite. She took him into her mouth then proceeded to lick and suck

like she had all the time in the world, and he took it like a champ. Until he couldn’t anymore.

“My turn,” he said. Then he flipped her over and now she was the one in the vulnerable position. Only she didn’t feel vulnerable. She felt the exact opposite. A power she’d never imagined before surged through her veins, making her bold. She laughed and stretched her arms over her head. “Go ahead. But I bet I can last longer than you did.”

He chuckled softly. “You’re on.” His warm breath left goose bumps over her skin. He hooked his thumbs in the side of her panties and slid them down, studied them a moment with a mixture of confusion and appreciation, then tossed them somewhere over his shoulder. Then he lowered his mouth between her thighs.

Oh. My. God.

The bastard. She should have known he’d try to show her up. If she’d gone slow, then he was going slower. And in between that delicious thing he was doing with his tongue she could hear him whisper against her skin. All the things he’d begun to say to her last night that she hadn’t wanted to hear. How beautiful she was. How much he’d always wanted her.

After what seemed like both forever and not long enough, he paused to pull a condom from the nightstand. They laughed as he struggled to roll it over his erection. “Let me do that,” she said, taking over the job. She pushed him onto his back. He watched from beneath hooded lids, and her mind couldn’t help but flash back to last night. But this wasn’t anything like that other encounter.

Last night had been hot and furious and incredibly exciting. This was hot and exciting, too. But in a different way. She straddled him once again and took him deep inside and began to move. After a minute or so, he gripped her hips, guiding her with his hands to slow down the pace, their gazes locked. Neither of them said anything. But they didn’t look away, either. Not until the very end, when Allie had to close her eyes as she shattered into a thousand tiny pieces. He owned her body, no doubt about that. But that was all she was willing to give up to him.

Allie searched the floor for her panties. They had to be here somewhere. Underwear didn’t just get up and fly away by itself. Tom lay on the bed, naked, with his arms crossed behind his head, looking more than a little pleased with himself. “So I was thinking of going up to Tampa next weekend.”

She froze for a second. “Yeah?”

“I’m taking you out.”

“Like on a date?”

“That’s usually what taking you out means.”

“Well, it could also mean putting a hit on someone.” Oh no. She was going to start babbling. She found her panties beneath one of her cowboy boots and quickly began to dress.

He frowned. “What’s wrong?”

“Wrong? Nothing’s wrong. Everything was perfect. Better than perfect.”

He sat up. “Then come back to bed.”

She carefully sat next to him and pulled her knees up to her chest. He didn’t try to pull her into his arms and for that she was grateful. Last night had been epic. But she hadn’t anticipated what they’d say to one another this morning.

“I owe you an apology. For the other night. I…” she shook her head, “I don’t know what got into me. I should never have told you to shut up.”

“It’s all right. I understand.”

This nice guy routine of his was well and fine but no one was this nice. There was a chink in his armor. She just hadn’t found it yet.

“The other night, when we picked Henry up for soccer and you went to Panama City. You said you went to the hardware store.”

He slowly nodded. “Yeah.”

“But that’s not the whole story. I mean, I know it’s none of my business and you don’t have to tell me—”

“I went to the library,” he said. “To check out the periodical section where they keep old copies of Florida! magazine. I wanted to read your Perky the Duck article.”

He’d driven all the way to Panama City to read her article? “That’s…the sexiest thing anyone has ever said to me,” she blurted.

He grinned. “Yeah? Because I thought last night—”

She threw a pillow at him. “I said it’s the sexiest thing anyone has ever said, not done.”