But how the hell could he resist her?
Chapter Six
"Are we going to talk about the elephant in the room?" Nick asked, steering the rental sedan into the left lane on Georgia's I-16 to pass a slow-moving truck. Pine trees passed in a blur on either side of the road.
Her heart leaping into her throat, Emily glanced aside at him. Did he have to bring that up? She wasn't proud that she'd melted at the touch of his hands that morning in the hotel bed. But at the time, she'd been unable to stop him…and unable to stop herself from enjoying how his hands had sensually stroked over her body, how his skilled fingers had teased and tormented her beyond bearing, playing into the erotic fantasies she'd had for three years.
"That's kind of an odd expression since we're in a car and there are no elephants for miles." Emily hoped to change the subject to anything else.
Nick held back a grin, but she saw it in his eyes. "You know what I mean."
His playful, mischievous expression made her heart race with excitement. Why did he have to be so gorgeous and tempting?
"I'd rather we didn't." She forced herself to stare out the car's side window at the passing pines, hoping he'd drop the subject. Talking about this morning's incident would only arouse her again. And she didn't want to be aroused, dammit. Besides, he'd rejected her. What was he trying to do now, rub it in?
All through breakfast back at the hotel earlier that morning, in between wolfing down his bacon, eggs and a stack of pancakes, he'd sent a few potent glances her way, as if he was still thinking about the erotic episode. Her stomach had knotted so badly she could hardly eat a bite. Obviously, he'd been trying not to look at her, so when he did it was like triple the intensity.
Her body still burned from his hands stroking her all over. Earlier, she'd taken a hot shower to try to erase the memory of his touch. But she couldn't. It was almost as if he was branded into her skin.
His fingers lightly gripping the steering wheel now as he drove caught her attention. He had big strong hands, and beautiful forearms with a light sprinkling of blondish-brown hair. And his muscular, tattooed biceps made her fingers itch with the need to stroke them. Why did she find his arms so sexy? Who was she kidding? Nick was a total sex package. Everything about him looked delectable.
"Don't worry about it, okay? It was no big deal." His tone was casual, relaxed.
"No big deal?" Of course, the most extraordinary orgasm of her life was no big deal to him. It was only a few strokes of his fingers, after all. He had no clue about the powerful sensations he'd propelled through her or how close she'd been to begging him to slide his gorgeous cock deep inside her. She almost moaned imagining how amazing that would feel.
"You want it to be a big deal?" he asked, lifting a brow and glancing at her curiously.
"No. No, of course not." Wizen up, Emily, and stop sending him mixed signals. And most of all, stop thinking about his cock.
She couldn't get involved with him for many reasons. One, he likely went through women like he did boxes of condoms. Two, he was too much like Jared. She definitely didn't want a repeat of that disastrous relationship. Sullivans sucked at commitment.
Why was she thinking of commitment anyway? If she were to have anything with him it would only be a quick fling. Fierce sex against the wall or on a counter. He'd have forgotten her by the next day.
She could go for the fierce sex, but she didn't want to be forgotten.
"Okay," he said, glancing into the rearview. "I don't want you to worry about it. I won't tell anyone. And I won't do it again." He paused. "Hell, that's a lie. I'll try my damnedest not to do it again."
Heat rushed over her. Did he have to be so honest? Did that mean he wanted to do it again? Hope and renewed excitement surged through her. Her heart palpitated. Her crotch grew wet and tingly, craving the stroke of his indulgent fingers. Or his impressive cock.
Stupid! I'm just being stupid, eating up his bad boy charm.
That morning in bed, he'd gotten up and walked away from her, proving he could easily resist her. Clearly, she couldn't resist him. She'd exploded within seconds. Now, he probably thought she was slutty. But that wasn't the case at all. She hadn't had sex in so long she'd practically forgotten what it felt like. If anything, she was pathetically deprived. Sure, she had a vibrator, but that cold piece of plastic could never measure up to a hot, flesh-and-blood man like Nick, and she'd only used the toy once.
Nick had been so unbelievably hard this morning. Because of her? Or did he simply have morning-wood every day when he woke up? Probably the later; he was an oversexed horn-dog. At least he'd proved he could control himself, much to her embarrassment.