At least it was taking her mind off her fear.
He yanked hard, and the metal finally pulled free from her thigh. The immediate relief prompted a reaction. It allowed her body to totally focus on how hard his body felt against hers. She wanted to run her free arm up his side and tangle it in his hair. She thought about pressing her mouth to his neck and tasting his skin.
“Meredith, you can take your leg back.”
She didn’t want to, but he sounded pained. Her leg shook as she slid it off him. When her thighs met, her insides clenched at the locked heat. She bit her lip, but a shallow moan bubbled out. Get a grip.
“Meredith?” he said in a silky voice. “Are you getting hot back there?”
Had he heard? Oh, God. Locked in the trunk after breaking and entering, aroused beyond belief. Her mother would be so proud.
“N-no.” Her voice squeaked as he shifted.
“Dammit, I can’t turn over. Christ, I want to touch you. Which is insane. They could be out there.”
Her skin tightened. “I know.”
She felt his head lift. “Stop breathing on my neck.”
“I need to breathe.”
“Fine. Let’s pretend we’re somewhere else. Like alone on a life raft in the middle of the Indian Ocean, where our very survival is precarious.” He grew silent. “Great, now I sound like a moron. Look, try and fall asleep. Please. I’ll wake you when enough time has passed.”
Fall asleep? Was he crazy?
“Meredith, please stop wiggling.”
“I’m not,” she protested, wanting to rustle her legs.
“I can feel every movement of that gorgeous body of yours. Stop moving.”
“I’m not!”
“Try and relax then.” He took deep breaths, slowly letting them out. His back rose against her breasts as he inhaled. Her nipples clenched again.
“Now, you’re moving.”
The breathing stopped. “This gives a whole new meaning to being in the backseat.”
She snorted. “We’re in a trunk.” She’d never been in the backseat with a man before.
“Stop reminding me. I’m afraid I won’t be able to get out.”
“Why not?”
“Because I’m so hard, I’ve likely turned to stone. People will come from all around to buy tickets to see the male with the stone hard-on in the trunk of a Lincoln town car.”
Hearing him talk about his hard-on was beyond arousing. It made her feel powerful, and she felt like her La Perla underwear were glowing under her clothes like armor.
She still had it.
Jill had told her, but until this moment, she hadn’t believed it. She was still attractive. She could still arouse a man to the point of insanity. She smiled in the darkness.
“I’d buy an all-season pass to see you like that,” she responded in a sultry voice.
“You’d better watch that talk. You damn well know where it will lead.”
Armed with her La Perla, she felt emboldened. Unafraid. It was time to take back her womanhood. Tanner was just the man to be with when she did.
“I know where it will lead. I want it.”
Silence yawned. Her heart pounded. The sheen of her armor dimmed.
“You shouldn’t say that to me in a damn trunk when you know I can’t do anything about it.”
“We won’t always be in here.” She basked in his body heat, her fantasies running wild.
“Dammit, Meredith. You have the worst timing. Stop talking! I can’t take it anymore.”
Divorcée Woman wouldn’t care. And neither did she.
She shifted even closer and lifted her head. Feeling her way in the dark, she found his neck and pressed an open kiss to the hot skin there.
He jerked, banging something against the frame of the car. “I’m not kidding, Meredith. You have me so hot, I can barely stand it. Chinese water torture sounds less painful right now. Wait until we get out of the goddamn trunk! Christ, I can’t believe this.”
She inhaled his musky scent before resting her head on the coarse carpeted floor.
When he reached back for her arm and pressed her hand against his chest, she snuggled closer, smiling.
They waited in the darkness for what seemed like hours until Tanner finally released her hand, fumbling around. She heard the trunk pop. The light blinked on, harsh to her eyes. Tanner uncurled like an old man as he got out. When he pulled at the front of his jeans, she fought a smile. She had to be nuts for smiling in a situation like this, but she couldn’t help herself.
He helped her out. Every muscle ached, and her left arm was numb from lying on it. She stretched beside him.
He shut the trunk softly. “Stay here, and keep watch. I’m going to plant the bugs.”
His feet were as quiet as Cary Grant on that roof in To Catch A Thief. He was really much too good at this. She wrapped her arms around her middle, trying not to fidget and jump at every sound.