He rotated away from the sink, and she knocked into his arm. “I’m sorry,” she said, feeling heat crawl up her chest.
“I’m not.”
His dark eyes stole her breath, and when he brushed her hair from her cheek, she shivered.
“Bree,” he whispered.
She was rooted to the floor by his sensuous gaze. Her pulse sped up. When he ran his hands up her arms and then took a long, slow stroke back down, Brianna threw caution to the wind. She lifted up on her tiptoes, but the distance to his lips was still too great. Hugh slipped his hands beneath her arms and lifted her onto the counter, then pushed himself between her knees and took her face in his hands. Oh, how I love the feel of your hands on my face. Leave them there forever. Please.
“Bree,” he said between heavy breaths. “May I kiss you?”
She reached behind his neck and pulled his mouth to hers. His lips were warm and tender. Every caress of his tongue sent a pulse of heat between her legs. And when he slipped his hand beneath her hair and cupped the back of her head, then deepened the kiss, all the scary thoughts about his job fell away. His hand found her waist, and in one swift and gentle move, he pulled her to the edge of the counter, his chest pressed against hers, the bulge beneath his zipper against her center. He tasted so sweet, like syrup and something more—a taste that was all his own. A taste she’d never forget. When they drew apart, they were both breathing heavily.
Come back. Please come back and kiss me again. She slid her hands to his chest, feeling the hammering of his heart against her palms.
He leaned his forehead against hers. A touch she’d already come to relish.
“Bree,” he whispered. “I’m sorry.” He looked down at his formidable erection.
She could barely think past her own thundering heart.
He pressed a soft kiss to her lips. “I love kissing you, but I gotta stop or I’m not going to be able to.”
Then don’t. Her brain told her he was right, but her body craved his touch. She desperately wanted to feel the muscles that teased her from behind his soft cotton shirt and—Oh God!—it had been so long since she’d been with a man. Her private parts were aching to remember the sensation of having a man’s hard length buried inside her.
He wrapped her in his arms and pressed his chest to hers again; then he gathered her hair in one hand and kissed her cheek. “How about I drive you to Claude’s?” He kissed her neck. “Then we can shop for Layla’s gift together.”
His hot breath sent a shiver down her back. She didn’t want to be away from him for a second. “Yes,” she whispered, and looked at him with what she hoped was a seductive expression and not some failed attempt that made her look stupid. He still held her hair in his hand, and Brianna’s visceral need took over. She pressed her lips to his and buried her hands in his thick hair, pulling him into a rougher, hungrier kiss and savoring every hard swipe of his tongue. The sting of his fist clutching her hair heightened her desire, and when he reached one hand beneath her bottom and the other around her waist and lifted her up with his powerful arms, Brianna instinctively wrapped her legs around his body. His mouth left hers and found her chin, as he licked and nipped his way down her neck. She arched back, wanting to feel his mouth on every part of her. He licked a sensual line across her collarbone, and Brianna thought she was going to lose her mind. He carried her to the couch and lay down on top of her, tasting her shoulder, her breastbone, and stopping just shy of her bra.
His hand slipped beneath her sweater, and he rubbed across her rib cage with a slow, deep caress. She arched her back, urging him to touch her breast. His hand grazed the underside of her bra, and he pulled his lips from hers.
“Bree, I could make out with you forever.”
She felt like she was dying of thirst and he was a river of fresh water. She couldn’t get her fill. Brianna kissed him again—harder, deeper, hungrier—then took his lower lip in her teeth and drew back slowly, before releasing it and dragging her tongue across the ache she knew she’d left. His eyes narrowed, and impossibly, became even darker. They were both breathing so hard she thought their breath would fill the room.
He pressed another kiss to her lips and shook his head. “You’re not that girl, Bree. I want you more than I’ve wanted any woman, but…”
“Not what girl?” She couldn’t think straight. What the hell?
He wrapped his arms beneath her shoulders and looked into her eyes. She loved being in his arms, pressed beneath his body.
“You have a twelve-year-plan,” he said in a serious voice. “We can’t do this. We have to think about Layla.”
“We?” Her voice cracked.
He nodded. “Of course. Layla owns half of your heart. Anyone in your life has to think of both you and Layla.”
Why do I love that you didn’t say, Your daughter? She hated that he was right. She couldn’t throw away her plan and Layla’s stability for a quick lay. But if he was a quick lay, would he have stopped? As she looked into his eyes, she knew he was anything but a quick lay. He looked at her like somehow during the past fifteen hours she’d become his whole life. I’ve lost my mind. I’m thinking with a sex-starved brain. Shit.
He lifted himself off of her and sat down as she righted herself beside him on the opulent sofa. He rubbed his hands over his face. “I’m sorry, Brianna. I don’t know what came over me. I just…Every time I kiss you, I want to kiss you more, but you're such a loving mother. I don’t want to get in the way of that.”
That should have been me. What kind of a mother am I if I was ready to fall into bed with him after one night? Of all people, I know the risks. She didn’t know how to respond. Thank you? You’re right? Forget my plan and take me, please? Even though he was doing the right thing for both of them, his rejection still stung.
“It’s my fault. Gosh, Hugh. I haven’t even kissed a man since Layla was born, and here I was ready to…well, you know. I’m sorry. You were so kind to arrange to have my car fixed and to allow me to sleep last night—which I still feel really bad about—and then to stop me from making a big mistake.” She shook her head, and when she looked up, she recognized the hurt in his eyes. “I don’t mean a big mistake like sleeping with you would be a big mistake. I can only imagine…well…never mind. What I meant was that…” She sighed. “I suck at this. I’m a bartender and a mother, and you’re a gorgeous, famous, race car driver. The mistake would have been yours, not mine.”
He cupped her cheeks again and guided her face to his. “Is that what you think? That I stopped us because I didn’t want to get tangled up with you because you’re a bartender and a mother?”
She shrugged.
“Brianna.” He narrowed his eyes. “Bree, what’s your last name?”
“My last name?”
He nodded. “I just realized that I don’t know it.”
“Heart.”
Hugh smiled, and his eyes lit up. “Heart? Brianna Heart?”
She nodded.
“I love that,” he said. His smile faded, and when he spoke, his serious tone had returned. “Brianna Heart, I stopped kissing you because I do want to get tangled up with you, and because of that, we need to consider your twelve-year-plan and, of course, Layla.”
He moved his hand from her cheeks, and she wished he’d put them right back. “Hugh, you’re a great guy, but…” Don’t say it. Just shut up and don’t ruin this.
“But?” He sat up straighter.
The life you lead isn’t conducive to raising a child. But then again, you didn’t say you wanted to raise my child. You just wanted to get tangled up with me. What does that mean? Sex? Just sex? If so, why consider Layla? Ugh! She’d been out of the dating scene for too long. She needed Kat to interpret for her.
“Brianna, but what?” he asked again.
She saw the worry in his eyes, but she had no idea how to tell him what she was thinking. “But my life is complicated. It’s busy, and I barely get time to breathe—or sleep, as you saw last night. I don’t want to bring you down.”
He took her hand in his. “You light me up, Bree, not bring me down. Can’t you see that? Let’s just see how things go. We’ll take it day by day. I’m here through next weekend, so we have plenty of time.”
“Next weekend?” She felt the pit of her stomach drop. Plenty of time? “Where are you going?” What am I doing? Stop liking him!
“Daytona. Then I have time off again.”
Daytona. This can never work. Ugh! Why do I want this to work so badly?
“Hey, Bree. You okay?”
No. I suck. I really like you. “Yeah, fine.” She pushed to her feet. If she was going to create distance, she had to do it now. “We should probably go. I need to go home and shower before work.”
“Hey.” He went to her and took her hand in his. “I’m a really good listener. Please tell me why you look sad.”
She looked away. “Can you please stop being romantic…and sweet…and looking at me like that?”
He laughed. “Like what?”
I can’t do this. I just got carried away. She pulled back her shoulders and feigned a smile, hoping Hugh wouldn’t realize it was nothing more than false bravado as she weeded through her hormones and convinced herself that she had to stick to her original plan. Twelve years isn’t so long—is it? Oh God! It never was until I met Hugh. “Never mind.” She sighed loudly. “I’ve really enjoyed spending time with you. I like you. I haven’t let myself even think about liking a guy in—”