She blushed and dropped her gaze, and they moved on to other things, talking about everything from travel to cooking to football teams. She was a Baltimore fan. He was a San Francisco fan.
Angie paid the check—Colt tried to get it but she insisted it was her turn—before they walked out into the cold, late January night. The restaurant sat near the waterfront in a quaint little town and sailboats bobbed on the water. There were street lamps lining a walkway that followed the curve of the bay. The air was fresh and cool with the briny scent of the bay.
“Can we walk a little way?” Angie asked.
Colt looked down at her. She had on a scarf and a rust-colored wool coat with her hands thrust deep in the pockets, but she shivered. “Will you be warm enough?”
“I’m fine.”
They walked toward the water, then meandered down the path. There wasn’t anyone out there but Colt kept a wary eye on their surroundings anyway. It was ingrained in him to look for trouble. He didn’t question the impulse since it’d saved his life more than once.
It struck him that he was walking with a beautiful woman by his side, yet he couldn’t stop doing the job long enough to just enjoy himself. He was positive she wasn’t in danger at that moment, but it didn’t matter to the part of him that was always on alert.
They stopped when they cleared the trees and stared at the fat white moon as it perched above the horizon. Angie’s teeth chattered and Colt put his arm around her to offer some warmth. She didn’t pull away. Instead, she leaned into him and he rubbed her arm.
“You’re freezing.”
“I’m cold, yes,” she said. “But that’s not the only reason I’m shaking.”
He glanced down at her, puzzled. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong. It’s you, Colt. I’m nervous.”
“Shit, sorry,” Colt said, dropping his arm from around her. “I wasn’t thinking.”
Angie blinked. And then she realized he thought she was upset because he’d had his arm around her. That it unnerved her because of Tom Walls and the way he’d tried to force himself on her in his garage.
But Tom Walls was the farthest thing from her mind.
“You’ve got it wrong, Colt. I like your arm around me.”
He frowned. “You do?”
“I do.”
He put his arm around her shoulders again. Only this time she turned to face him instead of staying where she was. He looked down at her, his expression wary. She smiled even though the adrenaline rushing through her made the corners of her mouth tremble. And her teeth wanted very desperately to chatter. Part of it was cold, that’s for sure.
But the biggest part was Colt. His nearness. His rugged masculinity. The fact she wanted to kiss him for real and see what it felt like. She’d spent the entire dinner thinking more and more about what it would be like to have sex with this man.
And she didn’t hate the idea. At all.
No, it excited her. Made her shiver and shake with anticipation. She hadn’t been with anyone since Dan. She was ready. Not that she intended to take him home and get naked with him tonight, but she could see a future in which it happened.
But first she had to kiss him. Or get him to kiss her.
Best way to do that was ask even though it terrified her. What if he said no?
“Would you kiss me, Colt?” she blurted.
His eyes widened. And then they blazed with heat as his gaze dropped to her mouth. “You want me to kiss you? Now?”
She burrowed into his side. “I definitely do.”
He drew her against him. He was solid. Big and hard and lean and beautiful. She’d never seen anyone so beautiful as him.
He put his fingers beneath her chin. They were cold, but she didn’t mind. The sharpness of the cold against her heated skin felt good. Maybe it would cool this flame inside her body.
“You tell me if you want to stop,” he said, looking at her very seriously.
She couldn’t help but grin. “How am I going to do that with your tongue in my mouth?”
He snorted. “Ang, you know what I mean.”
“I do. I’m just trying to cover the nerves here.”
“There’s nothing to be nervous about, baby.”
A shiver rocked her. “There you go calling me baby again. Making me tremble.”
“Hush, baby,” he murmured before dropping his mouth to hers.
Angie gasped at the wave of sheer pleasure cascading through her. Colt slipped his tongue inside her mouth and she thought her knees might buckle. Her heart raced and she clutched his jacket with both hands as her spine turned to jelly.
It was cold outside, but inside she was as hot as if she’d walked into a sauna. Colt stroked his tongue against hers carefully, as if he worried about going too far too fast. She’d never been kissed with such care in her life. Not even by Dan, and she’d been planning to marry him once upon a time.
Colt was gentle and cautious—and he made her utterly crazy by being so sweet. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pushed up on tiptoe, and kissed him back with everything she had. His grip on her tightened—and then he groaned and kissed her a little harder, and with a little less control.
When she pressed herself tighter to him, the bulge of his crotch was unmistakable. He didn’t thrust it against her though. He was very careful not to.
The bitch of it was that she wanted him to do it. She wanted to feel the pressure of his cock against her mound, wanted to feel the tingles of excitement race through her, feel the anticipation of an orgasm.
It wasn’t fair to him though. She couldn’t ask for that and not want the rest of it. She did want the rest of it, but she was also worried about going too fast. Spending the night together and then watching him walk away because he’d gotten what
