And weirdly, she wanted him to be happy.
“What you can do,” she said, “is get some glasses out of the cupboard for the milk.”
He shook his head, lips pressed together, eyes alight. Good. He wasn’t angry.
“Did I tell you I almost had drinks with your ex-girlfriend a while back?”
His head snapped around as he reached into the cupboard. “What? Who?”
“Melissa.”
“Uh…”
“Ran into her at Easton’s studio.” She made a face. “She and her friends invited me to go out with them, but I didn’t. Obviously.”
“Christ. He was taking pictures of her?”
“Yes. In skimpy underwear.”
She watched him and he just shrugged. “Whatever.”
“I’m kind of jealous of her,” she confessed, and then wanted to smack herself.
Duncan frowned. “Why? Because she was modeling skimpy underwear?”
She burst out laughing. “Oh. My. God.” She moved closer to him and wound her arms around his neck. Emotion swelled in her, big and soft and warm. And then she went very still because, good God, she’d almost told him she loved him.
He was so clueless about how attractive he was and that her jealousy had been because he cared about Melissa. She was falling hard for this big farm boy hockey player, and that was just so, so bad. And yet, he was here, with her, in her kitchen right there, smiling at her with raised eyebrows, and all she wanted to do was kiss him.
So she did. Going on her toes, she laid her palms on his stubbled cheeks and held his face while she kissed him, long and slow and sweet.
His hands landed on her hips, fingertips brushing over her butt. “Mmm. Thank you.” He took control of the kiss then, deepening it, his tongue licking inside her mouth, his hands pulling her tighter to him.
She moaned and melted into him.
“Know what?” he murmured. “I like it that you were jealous of her.”
She smiled against his lips. “Now you get it.”
He grinned. “Amber.” He kissed her again, and things got hotter, his kisses setting her on fire, making her ache, stealing her breath. “I…I…I’m so glad you’re here.”
For a moment she thought he’d been about to say what she’d almost said. But the words he said were lovely and she knew exactly what he meant. “I’m glad you’re here too.”
She slid her fingers through his thick hair and arched into him, and they kissed again, mouths devouring each other. Flames licked up around them and then he was moving her out of the kitchen, edging her toward her bedroom.
“What about the cookies?” She smiled at him.
“They need to cool.”
“True.”
He grabbed her hand and tugged her down the hall. “You can bring me cookies and milk in bed later.”
“That sounds really sexy.”
He chuckled. “If you have a can of whipped cream, we could use that.”
“Ha-ha. Whipped cream in a can is gross.”
“Oh baby.” He gave her a gentle shove that landed her flat on her back on her bed, then straddled her on his knees. His hands slid under her long-sleeved tee, warm and rough, up over her ribs. She shivered. “I am so going to have to buy some and prove you wrong on that.”
He cupped her breasts through her bra. Heat and pressure built low inside her.
“I don’t usually like to be wrong.” Her words came out all breathy. “But in this case, I’d be open to influence.”
His boyish grin was so hot and sexy, her panties nearly caught fire. She tightened her thighs at the ache of need there.
“That’s very big of you.” He leaned over her and melted her with an extensive, wet kiss, his tongue sliding into her mouth with dominant, erotic intent. She held on to his big shoulders as he kissed her until her head spun.
“Let’s get these clothes off you.” He moved back and quickly had her T-shirt and jeans off. The bra went next, and he played with her breasts for a long time, cupping them, tugging her nipples with his mouth until she was writhing with need, then gently biting at her curves. Damn, that was hot.
She couldn’t breathe. Her lungs were burning. Her skin was on fire. His tongue slid over the spot he’d bitten, then between her breasts. He laid a string of openmouthed kisses down her stomach, nipped at her lower belly, then shifted lower on the bed.
“Fuck, you smell good.”
He kissed her pussy through her panties, bit at the tendons of her wide-spread thighs, licked the crease of her groin. Sensation shimmered over her. “Holy geez, that’s hot.”
He chuckled and kissed her panties again, then tugged them aside so he could lick her bare skin. Her body jolted. Her fingers dug into the bedcovers. She lifted her head to look down her body.