Riley gulped his beer.
“Funny how life turns out, I’m thinking. Here I am, in a place where I know not a soul, trying to forge a new life for myself doing what comes natural-like. And here you are with me.”
She lifted their joined hands and ran her thumb over the back of his fingers. “I mean what I say, R.P. I want to go to bed with you, but I’m not looking for anything more. Life’s too short to tie myself down with a man again. Not yet anyway, especially after my last effort. I hope you understand.”
“Most definitely I do. I can sympathize with you. Not that I’ve been duped by a women or anything, nothing like that. It’s just that I’m not interested in a serious relationship yet either. No problem being exclusive, but with no strings attached.”
“Exclusive. Hmm, I suppose that makes sense. Not sure I’d like to see you in bed with someone else while we’re having friendly sex.” Casual sex and exclusive had never been in the same sentence before, but it made sense.
He grinned, and she melted under his gaze. “So I guess we’re agreed then. Casual but only the two of us in this relationship?”
“Yes, R.P., just the two of us. Now hurry up and feed me so we can go and scratch this itch.”
Chapter 7
Riley slung his arm around her shoulders as they walked out of the restaurant. She had a gleam in her eyes he hoped had more to do with being with him than the beer she’d consumed with dinner. When they got to his truck, he nudged her back against the door, his hands firmly on the vehicle either side of her.
He watched the rise and fall of her chest, the open shirt giving him a fairly good glance at her bra and the soft skin it shadowed. Riley licked his dry lips and lifted his gaze to meet hers.
“So, your place or mine?” The small, heart-shaped curve fascinated him. Dipping his head, he opened his mouth and let his tongue tease the bow of her lip.
Sassie’s eyes flickered, the green looking more black in the evening glow. “I don’t mind either way. I have to warn you though…” She reached out and slid her hands around his backside, pulling him closer. “I don’t have a proper bed yet, but I’ve always had a yen to make love under the stars. I have a picnic blanket we can take out to the garden. What do you say to that idea then?”
With her hands cupping his butt, Riley found it hard to concentrate with her so close. If she wanted sex outside in the garden, fine, he would oblige. So long as she made it soon. Watching her over dinner, the way she ate with the fork lingering in her mouth, the way her tongue curled around the spoon as she finished off dessert…he’d have gladly thrown her over his shoulder and carried her out to strap her into his vehicle and take her home. Having sex once or twice on the hood of his truck seemed like a pretty good idea.
But that was a surefire way to get his mother to try to work her matchmaking magic. Since Grady had married Lara, he’d seen the speculative looks Mom gave him, the whispers to his brother and sister. He wasn’t in the mood to encourage her. Not that she needed his help. The grapevine in town was bad enough. The gorgeous Irish lady had made it quite plain—she didn’t want a relationship, and neither did he. Just sex.
“Fine. Let’s find that blanket before my brother decides to book us for making out in the parking lot. Heaven forbid we should shock the locals, because as God is my witness, if we don’t move now, you will be naked on the hood with me balls-deep inside you before you know what’s happened.”
She tilted her head and looked at the hood, and the laugh springing from her throat made his cock throb against his jeans.
Sassie pushed his chest with the palm of her hand, opened the door, and slid into the truck. Her gaze on him, she clicked in her seat belt. “So, what are you waiting for?” The amount of promise in that sentence had him all but bursting out of his pants. Never before had a date made him feel like a teenager about to lose control.
Riley slid his hand down to rearrange himself and, with stilted steps, walked around to his side of the vehicle. He angled his body into his seat, inserting the key into the ignition to the sound of soft, bubbling laughter.
“Glad you find it amusing.”
“Forgive me, but I can’t help it. You look so very uncomfortable when you’re aroused, which bodes well for me, I’m thinking. Best you get me home, eh, and we can sort that out for you.” She put her bandaged hand over her mouth, stifling a giggle, and reached over to touch his arm as he started the truck. She kept it there as he drove out of the parking lot.
Riley kept to the speed limit, knowing full well that his brother or one of his colleagues would be out patrolling the streets of Cooper’s Crossing, and the last thing he needed was to get picked up in his present condition. Bad enough it had happened more than once when he was a teenager; getting caught as an adult was pushing the limits as
