Down for the Count(33)
“According to the state of Rhode Island, you’re not married.”
“What do you mean? Reverend Maclan performed the service.” Blood rushed to her ears and her legs felt like wet noodles. She sank to the vanity chair and tried not to let hope overtake common sense. “Marty and I both signed the certificate. And I saw the reverend sign it, too.”
“Right on both counts. But…”
The dramatic pause made Lacey want to jump through the phone and strangle him. She dragged a hand over her face. “You’re killing me right now. Killing. Me. Please, just spit it out.”
“Bu-ut, Reverend Maclan hadn’t filed the paperwork yet. There will be a fee involved, which I agreed on your behalf to pay, but I have the unfiled certificate here. We tear it up and voilà! It never happened.”
She doubled over, suddenly swamped with dizziness. “Are you one hundred percent sure?” she croaked. Please say yes. She couldn’t take it if this turned out to be some terrible mistake.
“No doubt about it. Once we get off the phone, I’m going to call Marty’s lawyer and let him know. You, my dear, are a single woman.”
She disconnected and stood. A single woman. Relief sent a cocktail of emotions racing through her, and she started to shake. Hysterical laughter bubbled over and tears sprang to her eyes. Something had finally broken her way, and now there was nothing stopping her from spending the next couple weeks doing the one thing she’d wanted more than anything else. It would hurt when it was over, and she wasn’t about to fool herself into thinking it was anything more than a fling, but suddenly it didn’t matter.
She made her way to the hall and faced the bedroom door, behind which Whalin’ Galen Thomas lay, shirtless and waiting. Like a present, half unwrapped, just for her. She might not be able to satisfy a man like him, but she was going to try her damnedest.
…
Galen propped up the pillows and picked up the remote, trying to forget the feel of Lacey’s hot little hand wrapped around his cock, pumping away. Jesus, it had been so good, though. Artless but enthusiastic, her grip firm and sure.
He clicked on the TV, desperate for something to distract him from the throbbing in his cock, which showed no signs of abating anytime soon. Commercial in Spanish, commercial in English, The Weather Channel. He stopped there. They’d planned to go hiking in the El Yunque rain forest later that morning, but if the temperature was going to climb above ninety-five, maybe they’d skip it for a day at the casino. Unless she wanted to go back to the beach.#p#分页标题#e#
His balls grew tight at the memory of her in her bikini bottoms and he groaned. No, not the beach. Someplace else, where she would be entirely clothed. He was cursing the fact that she hadn’t planned to honeymoon in Alaska when the bedroom door swung open again.
“Hey, everything okay?” he asked as Lacey made her way toward the bed. Something about the look on her face made his heart kick, hard. The determined set of her jaw, the gleam in her eye. His instincts were dead-on. One moment she was at the foot of the bed, the next she was airborne. He dropped the remote on the floor just in time to brace himself as she landed on top of him. Air left his lungs in a whoosh, but before he could refill them, she smashed her mouth into his. Their teeth clacked together hard and she drew back, pressing her fingers to her lips.
“Sorry. That was stupid. I could’ve chipped your tooth or something.” Twin red flags bloomed on her cheeks. “Did I chip your tooth?” She pried his mouth open with her thumb and forefinger to inspect his intact enamel.
“My teeth are fine,” he said, hoping he sounded less confused than he felt. What could her lawyer have possibly said that would make her jump his bones like that? He was never one to look gift sexual aggression in the mouth, but these ups and downs were wreaking havoc on his libido. “What’s going on, Lacey?”
“You don’t know?” She flopped off him and onto her back, draping an arm over her face. “God, I can’t do anything right. I was trying to seduce you.”
He smiled and rolled to face her. “I knew that part, but why? Not that I’m complaining. I want this. Damn, you have no idea how bad I want this, but not if you’re going to feel guilty about it in a few hours.” He traced her full bottom lip with his thumb, the need to sink his teeth into it almost overwhelming. “Now’s the time to decide, though, because I’m about to make it impossible for you to form a coherent thought.”
She dropped her arm to her side and turned her head to face him, the interest in his declaration plain on her face. “I want that. Everybody is always telling me what’s best for me, but for the first time, I know what I want. And it’s you.”