“But we’ve been friends for years,” Cash said. “I still can’t decide whether to be angry with you for lying to me about being married, but you bought the rings before you had even properly met me.”
He had probably screwed other women over the hoods of their cars, probably a lot of them, and then called them lieveke. “Your reputation preceded you. A lot.”
“Is it that bad?”
She nodded. “It pushed some buttons.”
“Let’s talk about it later.” He smoothed one hand down over her ass, slid his arm under her knees, and lifted her in his arms.
“Cash! You shouldn’t! Your stitches or something!”
“I’m healed. I’ve been bench-pressing more than you weigh for a week.”
“How do you know how much I weigh!” A little too much sharpness crept in there, but damn.
He curled her closer to his chest. “Estimating.”
“Well, all right, then.”
He carried her through the garage and then stopped and stared at the closed door to the house. “This works so much better in the movies.”
She laughed. “Put me down.”
He chased her through the dining room, pretending to try to grab her. She dodged his hands, giggling.
“Come here,” he said, reaching out again. His big hand closed on the air beside her.
She ducked and trotted a few feet down the hallway.
He grinned. “At least you’re running in the right direction.”
They played all the way down his long hallway. He slapped the wall where she had been just an instant before, and both of them nearly tripped over the complaining cats. The cats darted around the hallway, somehow knowing that Arthur and Maxence weren’t with them.
Near his own room, Cash feinted and went low, grabbing her around her waist with his arm and dancing her around until he shoved her back against a wall. He snagged her wrists and pinned her arms above her head. “Got you.”
“Yeah,” she said, breathless. “You do.”
His eyes were so bright green that she saw them darken just as he swooped down to kiss her.
In a quick minute, his rough kiss seared through her, and her arms went limp as he opened his mouth against her lips. She took a breath in through her mouth, and his tongue stroked hers. Oh, God, she was lost in him, and he held her unmoving arms with one hand as he reached over and opened the door to his bedroom.
This time, when he scooped her up in his arms, she grabbed his neck and kept kissing him as he carried her to the bed and dropped her on the mattress. She bounced, laughing, but even her laugh was airy.
Cash climbed on top of her. The warmth of his body melted through her clothes as he hovered over her, trapping her between his elbows and thighs, not that she was the least bit interested in getting away. The bed sank under their weight. She tightened her arms around his neck, holding him close while his lips caressed hers and then drifted over her jaw and down her neck.
Rox kicked her shoes off the edge of the bed, and they thumped on the floor.
The tape holding the bandage on his cheek itched against her neck, but his hot mouth lipped at her, drawing at her skin over her racing pulse.
He moved one hand down, smoothing his palm over her curves to her waist, and his fingers slipped under the hem of her shirt to touch her.
She gasped at the warmth of his hand on her waist and arched her back, which drove her throat against his mouth. Cash opened his lips wider, barely scraping his teeth over the side of her neck.
Rox started pulling at her shirt, trying to get all her clothes off right that very instant. He held his palm against her ribs and chuckled, but he wouldn’t rise up so she could get them off. His faint cologne and male scent drifted out of his clothes, and Rox buried her face in the crook of his shoulder, pressing her lips to his skin.
He went slowly, so slowly, kissing her and then moving on, finally lifting her blouse over her head.
“Ah.” He tugged at her pink lace bra strap with his teeth, his breath warming her shoulder. “So beautiful.”
“Thanks.” Her voice was so breathless that she squeaked. The bra set was new, of course.
He chuckled, his breath feathering her skin.
His hands reached lower, tugging her jeans off of her and revealing the matching panties, rose pink silk triangles and lace that stretched around her hips.
Cash stood up on his knees and trailed his fingers over her skin and the lace on her sides, breathing hard through parted, smiling lips. “Very nice.”
He pulled her panties down and off her legs.
“You’re still dressed,” she said.
He grabbed his shirt and undershirt, stripping them off over his head, and threw them on the floor. The white bandage still clung to his cheek. His chest was smooth, hairless, and she reached up to run her palms over his skin, silky smooth. Even the happy trail that had led from his navel down to underwear a couple days ago was gone.