“A sexual escapade in the parking lot of the Faunder’s Market.” A sexy smirk covered his lips. “Scandalous.”
“You’re trouble.” I felt his hand snake around my waist and rest upon my ass, flexing his fingers ever so slightly. “So much trouble.”
“You haven’t seen nothing yet.” Kissing me with a little more heat than needed in public, he pulled back, leaving me a bit breathless. “I should go.”
“Such an ass.” Laughing, I fought off the lust I felt for this man.
“You’re a bit flushed, Kitten.” Taking a few steps back, he scanned over me from head to toe. “You should go home and maybe take a cool shower.”
“Actually, I think I’ll take a bath.” If he wanted to taunt me, I could play that game, too. I wasn’t as shy and quiet as he thought, well, not always. There was still a lot he didn’t know about me. When he paused and arched a brow, I knew I had gained his attention. “It provides much better stability when my legs grow weak from release.”
He narrowed his eyes.
“A girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do when she doesn’t have a man to help her out.” With a little wave, I rounded my truck and left him staring after me. Backing out of my parking space, I heard my phone chirp and looked up into my rearview mirror, seeing him holding his phone tightly in his hand.
Instead of looking, I drove off, letting him wait as I took the long way home.
But when I got there and finally took that chance to glance at the message that was waiting, I felt my nipples harden beneath the thin material of my shirt with a neediness that swallowed me. Pressing my legs tightly together, I knew without a doubt I would be taking that bath I’d taunted Landon with.
Landon: Think of me when you’re touching yourself, Kitten. Imagine it’s me. Close your eyes and picture me between your thighs, tasting you, feeling you.
I found myself wondering if it were possible for a woman to combust from built-up sexual frustration. He did not play fair.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Landon
“It’s not as tidy as your place.” Somehow telling her that I generally lived like a caveman felt like the wrong thing to do. I’d spent hours, and I did mean hours, cleaning my apartment when I’d decided to invite her over. I even called my mother to ask her what I could place around the apartment that would help it smell better.
As we rounded the corner and I began leading her toward my door, I smelled something baking, and generally, that would please me. It’d give me that sense of home, like walking into the kitchen of my parents’ home. Then it hit me, and my stomach tightened, and I swore the air from my lungs was sucked dry.
“You bake?” I didn’t even turn to look at Chloe, only shook my head in response and stared at my apartment door like it was about to melt away to a puddle on the floor. I knew what lay behind it. I didn’t even have to open it to confirm.
“Well, someone baked something, because it smells amazing out here.”
Holding out my hand, I began to back away and take her with me, only it was too late. My door opened, and there, fully decked out in her baking gear, apron, and a bun, was my mother.
“Why are you making this pretty girl wait out in the hallway?” Stepping forward, she grabbed Chloe’s hand and with a little tug began to pull her inside. With each inch they took, I felt like I was suffocating more. Not because my mother and Chloe were so close. This had nothing to do with Chloe, and everything to do with my mother. I imagined Chloe running out of my apartment with her eyes widened in shock to find the nearest escape. My mother was relentless, and this was her chance to drill Chloe for answers. Answers she didn’t have, because I didn’t even know them.
This was all new. She and I were still so new.
“I was just baking you a little dessert.” I could hear my mother talking to Chloe as I entered with caution and took a glance around. Everything still appeared to be in place, only it smelled nothing like my place. It smelled amazing, actually.
“He asked what he could set around the place to make it smell warm and inviting, and I knew. It hit me after I hung up that he’d be inviting a girl over.”
“So you came rushing over?”
I thought I’d said it under my breath, but when both of them gave me that look, I froze. The “that was rude” look, it was frightening that Chloe possessed it, too, but from my mother, it was normal, and I had seen it plenty growing up.
“I just knew there was no amount of fragrance refreshers that would hide the smell of a young bachelor’s place.” It was my turn to give her a wide eye stare, but it didn’t faze her a bit. “This is months and months of fast food, dirty dishes, and an uncleaned bathroom.”
Love my mother, truly love her to death, but right now I wanted to throw her over my shoulder and carry her off to her car that was somewhere hidden in my apartment parking lot. This night was not going as planned. “Baking would seep into the fibers, conquer the man smell.”
“Man smell?”
“Oh, sweetie, I’m not saying that you smell bad.” Chloe snickered and hurried to cover her mouth, only I caught her. Arching my
