He let his gaze drift over her, admiring the bare skin he wanted to lick.
Mandy made a low noise of pleasure at the first bite into her sandwich, and a shiver raced up his spine.
He really had to stop connecting everything she did with sex. It was tough, because everything about her appealed to him on a completely animal level as well as fascinating his mind.
She daintily held her sandwich out. "You have to try this."
He wrapped his fingers over hers and took a bite, overlapping where she'd already tried it, and he swore, as good as the sandwich was, the only thing he could taste was her.
"Delicious," he said with a nod.
She offered a beautiful smile before turning to her phone to check messages and sipping her coffee quietly.
The trip to the art studio took barely ten minutes, and Justin found himself at the throwing wheel next to hers as he struggled to turn his clay into something less lump-like.
Mandy listened intently to the instructor, hands slipping over the rugged clay block, effortlessly smoothing the solid piece into a tall thick rod, her wet fingers working the clay up and down and up-
Shit. He was hard again.
Justin wiggled uncomfortably, the move knocking his hands too hard into his spinning lump of nothing, setting one edge out of kilter. The messy tower toppled to one side, deflated.
If his friend Tyler were here now, he'd be making comments about limp dicks.
Mandy glanced his direction, not even paying attention to the vase rapidly forming under her hands. Talented hands. Hands he really wanted all over him …
He bit back a groan as his clay folded in on itself again.
"You need a lighter touch," she teased.
Do not say it. Do not say it.
His mouth wasn't as smart as his brain. "I'm used to stroking a little rougher," he growled, his throat tight with lust.
Her eyes widened briefly before she snapped her head back to her pottery wheel, but she was still smiling.
By the time they put their projects on the side table to be left for firing, he'd gotten control of his body, willingly following Mandy to the sinks to wash their fingers clean.
"That was fun." Her satisfied sigh ended with amusement. "Although, I'm not quite sure what you're going to do with an ashtray. You don't smoke."
"I'll give it to Tyler and Caroline as a wedding gift. He'll have to keep it in some prominent place in their house."
She laughed. "You should paint pink daisies on it before it gets fired."
"Pink daisies?"
"With tiny blue forget-me-nots, or a giant sunflower in the bottom."
They grinned at each other like conspirators. The mood between them fun and lighthearted. Then she changed the moment by clicking her tongue.
"Stand still. You've got clay on you."
She took a wad of napkins and wet one corner. Slipping next to him and catching hold of his shirt front, she tugged until he leaned over, his head on level with hers. Then she proceeded to carefully swab the mud from his cheek and temple.
"You were getting into your work," she teased.
"Anything worth doing is worth doing right." He caught her fingers loosely in his, bringing her knuckles close enough he could press a kiss to them. "Thank you."
Mandy blinked rapidly before clearing her throat and all but running from the room. Justin grinned hard as he followed her.
They sat in comfortable silence on the journey back into Whitehorse until he pulled her Jeep to a stop into the parking space where she was staying.
Comfortable, but the silence had given him plenty of time to run through ideas for what came next.
Justin was out his door and around to her side of the jeep before she could protest. Helping her down and keeping hold of her hand.
"I don't want to overstay my welcome, but would you like to sit for a while?"
Mandy's heart rate increased, then increased again. They'd spent nearly the entire day together, which meant if she was going to take the space and time she'd promised herself, the next move should be saying good night.
He spoke again before she could tell him that. "You have a lot of things on your list, and I thought it might be fun if we mix them up a little. Unless you're determined to start at number one and work your way straight through."
Oh boy. "No, I'm not a purist. I even read series out of order," she confided.
What the heck. Mandy caught him by the fingers, tugging him down the path outside the apartment. She hadn't had time to explore the entire place yet, but she'd seen this while looking out her window that morning.
A pretty park bench sat on the top of a rise overlooking the Yukon River. The trees and bushes arranged around the solid wooden structure formed a partially secluded oasis. They would still be in public, and people could see them from the walking path just below, but unless someone wanted to make their way up the hill, it was a lovely, isolated location.
She settled on the bench, eyes fixed forward as she pretended to admire the view.
Justin sat beside her, a soft chuckle rumbling up from his big bear-chest. "That was a contented sigh."
Mandy blinked, glancing up in surprise. "Did I sigh? It wasn't a bad thing-I'm very content. It's been a good day, and your company has been wonderful."
"I'm yours to command."
It was said so seriously, but for some reason her brain jumped back to the kids' movie from years earlier, and all she could think of was Justin as a big blue genie, offering to fulfill her every wish.
"About my list … "
Justin stretched an arm along the back of the bench, his biceps brushing her shoulder. "Yes?"
It was fun to know she could tease this big man. She felt completely safe around him, although building that trust was why it had taken until now for her to make a move. "You didn't really think I wanted to do everything in exactly the order it was written?"
He shrugged. "You're the boss, but no. I figured you kinda compartmentalized things and wrote them down as they came to you. All sorts of crafts, all sorts of sports … "
" … all sorts of sex."
Justin grinned.
"It's taken me a while to work up my courage." Maybe this confession would help him understand. "I wasn't just waiting for the divorce to go through. It's taken two months to decide I deserved to find myself. And I have all sorts of big ideas, but even then I might have times where something seems like a good idea, but I'll have to back off or slow down." She laid a hand on his thigh, the thick muscles quivering under her fingers. "But I trust you," she said softly. "I hope you know that means an awful lot."
His expression changed as she spoke. His initial amusement and sexual interest turned, and what she witnessed on his face now was far more serious and solemn and completely filled with what she desperately needed to see-respect.
"I don't ever want to break that trust," he assured her.
So perfect, and so enticing, and suddenly she'd had enough talking.
Very clearly stated on her list was the desire to make out somewhere not completely private, and there was no better time than now. The arm he'd placed on the back of the bench curled around her cautiously as if he were cradling a priceless work of art. She lifted her chin and leaned toward him as he leaned toward her and their lips met.
A kiss. Their first.
As a first kiss it was pretty perfect-tender and sweet. His lips moved over hers slowly as she considered what he tasted like. What it felt like.
What it did to her insides …
For the record-surprisingly earth-shattering, considering they had less than two inches of body contact going on.
Inside, a mixer was churning on high speed. A red-hot brand heated in her belly, and lower. Her sex tingled and tightened as he took the kiss deeper, teasing her lips with his tongue until she opened to him and breathed a sigh.
He captured the sound, the arm around her body sliding downward until his hand rested on her hip. His grip tightened for a moment before relaxing, but she was the one who leaned into him farther, letting the heart-fluttering impact of his mouth do its job.
She moaned as he kissed her harder, not stopping as he lifted her into his lap in one swoop. Mandy was airborne for a second before settling against the heat of his body, his legs solid under hers. His erection a rock against her hip.
She lifted her hands to his chest and pressed back gently.
Justin instantly opened space between them, smiling down at her. "Oops. How did you get there?"
A laugh escaped. "I can't imagine. Maybe kissing pixies live by this bench, and they magically lifted me."
He tilted his head from side to side for a moment before agreeing. "Seems the only logical explanation to me."
Mandy slid her palms up his chest, over the wall of muscle until she could drape her hands over his shoulders, staring into his face. "That was nice. The kissing."
One brow shot upward. "Nope."
She hesitated. "It wasn't nice?"
"Hell, no," he said with a determined shake of his head. "If that's how you're going to go around describing my kissing skills, my reputation with the wolves will end up in shreds."