Good with His Hands(33)

She perched on his lap. "There's definitely a time for thinking." Her  fingers threaded through his hair, and she nipped at his lower lip. "But  this feels like a time for doing."

That sounded like a philosophy he could support. Abandoning his awkward  attempt at conversation, he lost himself in the pure, perfect pleasure  of kissing her. Her tongue clashed with his, and lust shot through him.  What was it about this woman that always had him teetering on the brink  of need? A look, a touch, a kiss and suddenly getting his hands on her  was as crucial as breathing.

He bunched up the material of her loose skirt, sliding his hands  beneath the silky material, across her even silkier thighs. She squirmed  atop him as if she weren't sure whether she wanted him to slow down or  move faster.

He traced the outer edge of her ear with his tongue, loving how she melted against him. "Everything okay?"

"Everything's wonderful." She rocked against him for emphasis, and he  sucked in a breath at the exquisite sensation. "It's just...when you  touch me like that, I get distracted."

"Distracted from what? If you tell me you're trying to calculate mortgage rates, I'm going to stick my head in the oven."

She laughed. Then she braced her hands on the arms of the chair and  pushed, unexpectedly getting to her feet. He immediately missed the  contact.

"Wait, I take back the smart-ass comment," he said. "I-"

"Shush," she scolded playfully. "Do you want to know what you distracted me from or not?"                       
       
           



       

What he wanted was to haul her into the bedroom, but the wicked glint  in her eyes was intriguing, so he kept quiet and let her continue.

"I have these thoughts. Actually, it's more accurate to call them  fantasies." Her voice was velvet-wrapped sin, and he grew harder simply  listening to her.

"Fantasies are good," he said hoarsely. Yay fantasies.

At the interruption, she shot him a stern look, but amusement danced in  her gaze. "I think about things I want to do to you, things I plan to  do, but then I get too caught up in how it feels when you touch me  here." She slid her hand past the strap of her halter top, stopping when  she reached the swell of her breast. Then her hand skated lower,  temporarily disappearing between the loose folds of her skirt. "And  here."

He forgot to breathe. Fully dressed, she was still the most erotic  thing he'd ever seen. His voice was so strained it was barely  recognizable in his own ears. "So if I promise not to, um, distract  you..."

She gave him a grin of such devilish intent he doubted he would ever  recover. "Well, that would leave me free to concentrate on other  things." She hooked a finger through the belt loops on his jeans and  tugged.

He scooted closer, to the edge of the chair, and she reached for the  button. He was practically panting by the time she worked the zipper  down and pulled him free. With the grace of a ballerina, she dropped to  her knees between his legs. She raked her fingers over him, scraping  lightly with her nails just enough to make him hiss in conflicted  pleasure.

Then she leaned down and closed her lips over him, drawing him into the  indescribable bliss of her mouth. An almost brutal ecstasy sizzled  through him, incinerating coherent thought.

Within minutes, he'd forgotten his own name. But hers rolled off his lips over and over like a mantra.

* * *

DANI SHIFTED IN her seat, trying to focus on what Renee was saying  about lending limits for homebuyers. But Dani was having a difficult  time with mind over body today. Last night, Sean had made love to her  with a pounding ferocity, as if he couldn't get close enough, as if he  needed to make himself part of her. She wasn't exactly sore this  morning, but there were enough physical twinges to keep him at the  forefront of her mind.

"Did I lose you?" Renee asked, sounding surprised. Dani had never been one for daydreaming.

"Sorry. I was just making a mental note that I need to call Sean  Andersen today." When her employer's eyebrows shot upward, Dani realized  her mistake. "Ross! Ross Andersen."

Renee rose from the chair on the other side of Dani's desk. "Well, make sure you get your head together before you call him."

"Yes. Absolutely. Will do." Dani couldn't have been more mortified if  she'd been caught doodling little hearts with Sean's name in them. So  they'd had an intensely passionate night-it hadn't been the first one  they'd shared. Nor did it change the effort she owed her clients. And  myself.

When her phone rang, she reached for it eagerly, determined to sound  her most professional. But it was Sean's number on the screen. It  annoyed her how happy she was to see it there. "Hello?"

There was a pause, no doubt due to her irritated tone. "Rough day?" he asked carefully.

"Sorry. You caught me at a bad time."

"Want to talk about it?" he offered, making her feel even worse for the way she'd snapped her greeting.

"Thanks, but no. I'm just a little behind and need to kick it into gear."

"Then I'll make this quick. Some of us are planning to go bowling  tonight. I remembered that you used to bowl and thought you might like  to join us. At least one of the other guys is bringing his wife."

"Tonight?" They'd seen each other as recently as that morning. And she  hadn't gone an hour without thinking about him since driving away from  his place. Spending a second consecutive night with him didn't seem  conducive to her plan of moving slow and not getting overly attached.

When her silence began stretching into awkwardness, he added, "I just  thought I'd toss it out there in case you weren't busy tonight. No big  deal. If you decide you want to join us, text me later." Something about  the way he tried to make the invitation sound casual made it even less  so.

"Okay." Her innate sense of honesty prompted her to add, "But I don't  think I'll make it." The bigger question was, what about the next time  he called?

How long was an appropriate amount of time to go between seeing him so  that she could reassure herself that the relationship wasn't getting  serious? And what would happen when she could no longer believe that?                       
       
           



       

* * *

THE CRASH OF bowling balls thundering into pins had become white noise,  a distant background to Sean's thoughts as he awaited his turn. Jacob  and his wife stood by the ball return, affectionately heckling each  other. Alex had gone for a pitcher of soda and, with any luck, the  bartender's phone number. Sean was lost in mental replays of his phone  conversation with Dani today. She'd sounded...strained.

He'd never been a paranoid person. With the exception of his  competitive streak, he was fairly easygoing. But first there'd been the  weird distance at her cookout, which he had tried to chalk up to his  overactive imagination and feeling out of place among her  college-educated friends. Then today-

"When I told you the cheerful whistling was getting creepy," Alex said,  setting a pitcher and a stack of plastic glasses on the table, "I  didn't mean you should take up brooding. Find some middle ground, dude."

"Sorry." He poured himself a soda. "How'd it go with the bartender?"

"She remembered me from last time I was here and seemed glad to see me. Victory is imminent."

Sean made a skeptical noise.

"You doubt my skills with the ladies?"

"No. But 'the ladies' can be unpredictable."

"No kidding. I have sisters, remember?" Alex nodded toward the lane. "You're up."

Sean knocked down eight pins but missed the split. Alex got nine, then  threw a gutter ball trying to pick up the spare. Jacob's wife got the  first strike of the game and smirked at the men. It was a shame Dani  hadn't come-she'd like Maria.

"Okay, seriously." Alex slugged him in the arm. "What the hell? You're  depressing me. What zapped your good mood? I thought you won the girl."

So did I.

"Are you two fighting?" Alex asked.

"No." They'd had one hell of an intense night last night, but it hadn't  included any arguing. "I just think something's on her mind."

"Try asking her about it. According to my sisters, 'communication is  key.'" He punctuated this advice with air-quotes and a falsetto voice.  "It sucks, but if you like her, you might actually have to talk about  the Relationship."

Sean would have chuckled at his friend's ominous tone if he weren't so  perplexed. "Actually, I tried to talk to her about the relationship last  night. But we, um, got distracted."

"You dog." Alex looked impressed. When Sean didn't return his smile, he  shook his head. "Hold up-you're unhappy because your girl would rather  do the mattress mambo than discuss her feelings? That's like the holy  grail of relationships right there!"