Country Roads(40)

He flicked the ball into play. Dave got control and slammed it into their goal so fast and hard Julia flinched.

“My fault,” Paul said, putting his hand over hers where she clutched the rod with white knuckles. “There was no way to stop that one.”

He walloped two goals past his opponent in short order and the game was over.

“Yessss!” she said, pumping her fists in the air. Paul was being pounded on the back by enthusiastic supporters. He winked at her with a wry smile, although his eyes blazed with triumph.

The heat from his gaze spread over her skin and flashed deep inside her. Focusing on him as he played the game—feeling the shift of his body beside hers—made her feel intensely attuned to him.

On the other side of the table, Dave crowed, “I got three goals off him! First time he hasn’t shut me out.”

“So who’s your pretty goalie?” someone shouted to Paul.

“That’s our cue to exit,” he said, seizing her hand.

She gasped at the touch of his palm against hers. That was all it was, yet she felt a vibration through her entire body.

The crowd began to chant, “Hail, the king of foos! Hail, the king of foos!”

Paul plowed forward, pulling her close in behind him to shelter her. He kept going until they burst out into the cool night air, where the sudden silence seemed almost deafening.

“I should have known better than to go there,” he said.

“Are you kidding? We won!” She danced a triumphant jig.

He laughed and pulled her into his arms to dip her in a continuation of the dance. She could feel the waves of energy rolling off him.

“I want to learn how to play foosball,” she said, as he set her upright. “Not that I could ever be as amazing as you are.”

“If you tell me again I have good hands, I can’t answer for the consequences,” he said, still holding on to her.

Her eyes flew to his as a flush washed up her cheeks. Watching the swift flex and release of his long fingers on the foosball handles had set her to wondering what it would be like to have all that skill focused on touching her.

“Looking at me like that is even worse than telling me I have good hands,” he said. He pulled her around the corner of the building so they were standing in a shadowy alley. Then he slid his fingers along her jaw and into her hair, tilting her face upward as he bent to brush her lips with his.

She closed her eyes to concentrate on the texture of his mouth on her skin as he skimmed over her cheek to nuzzle a sensitive place just below her earlobe. “Oh yes, Paul,” she breathed, the ripples of pleasure widening from where he touched to skitter down her neck to her breasts, making her nipples tighten. His contact was featherlight, yet heat bloomed all over her body. “God, yes.”

“What are you saying yes to?” he asked, pulling back and looking down at her. His face was in shadows, but she knew what caused the rasp in his voice because she was feeling it too.

“To you. To—” She hesitated, hoping she wasn’t misinterpreting what he meant. She swallowed. “To us doing what we both want to…together.”

He huffed out a laugh. “I think I understood that. But I’m a lawyer, so I want to spell it out.” He moved them both forward a step into the yellowish light cast by the street lamp. He framed her face with his hands and locked his eyes on hers. “I want to make love to you, Julia. Is that what you’re agreeing to?”

She nodded, making his hands move with her head.

“Say it again,” he grated, the lines of his face taut with controlled desire. “Say yes.”

“Yes, I—” She had no chance to finish before he spun her back into the shadows and sandwiched her body between his and the shingles of the Black Bear’s wall. His mouth came down on hers as he thrust his hands into the mass of her hair. There was nothing gentle about his touch this time, and instead of a delicate blossom of heat, she felt a bonfire roar to life deep inside her. The pressure of his thighs on hers, the compression of her already aching breasts against his chest, and the feel of his obvious arousal in the vee of her legs made her moan and writhe.

His fingers slid out of her hair and down to her hips, holding her still as he broke from the kiss. She could feel the expansion and contraction of his chest as he dragged in a deep breath. “I didn’t mean here,” he said with a flash of a smile. “Let’s go find a nice comfortable bed.”





Chapter 12




HE WRAPPED AN arm around her waist and led her to the Corvette where it sat gleaming under a streetlight. As she slid into the leather seat, she gasped out loud. She was so aroused that even that bit of friction made her squirm. He accelerated into a tire-squealing U-turn and sent the sports car hurtling down the country highway back toward town.