The grass stopped growing. The ants stopped moving. I think my heart even stopped beating.
But the rain still fell. It slid over my hot skin like a frantic caress and I groaned, so incredibly confused and turned on. I was chasing that shooting star that held him so far above me and right now, in this moment, I would do anything to catch it.
I held my breath because something was about to change.
Ben ran a hand through his hair, pushed it off his face.
A heartbeat passed—then he stepped off the deck.
And everything changed.
Chapter Seventeen
Ben
I had to hold myself back when I first saw her so I shoved my hands into my pockets and hunched my shoulders in an effort to deflect whatever the hell it was she had that pulled me in.
She was wet from the rain, her white tank top transparent so I had no problems seeing the black bra she wore underneath it. Riding low on her hips was a pale blue skirt and I don’t know if it was because it was weighed down with water or if I was just fucking lucky, because a lot of skin showed above it. And because it was short, those sexy legs were bare from mid-thigh down.
Her hair was wild, curling around her shoulders in long, dark, wet ropes, and my gut tightened when she took a step forward. I was wound so tight it felt like I was going to break apart, something I’d never felt before, not like this. No fucking way.
And I was hard. Instantly, painfully, hard. I wasn’t used to wanting something and not getting it. And I hadn’t been laid in a few weeks—not since I’d met Georgia—so the situation between my legs was pretty damn intense.
I don’t know what happened between us the day before but I sure as hell didn’t believe she was fucking some guy named Seamus. Not anymore. I’d stopped by Matt’s this morning hoping to see Georgia but she was gone. She was already here.
And while Matt tried like hell to get rid of his hookup, I’d grilled him about this Seamus guy. Though he’d been vague, the one detail he was willing to give up was that this guy was old—like in his forties—and there was no way she was into him.
It had been the best feeling in the world—knowing that—and then Matt had gone quiet. He’d told me that if I hurt her he would break my fucking legs.
Hurt her? I wanted to do a lot of things to Georgia King and hurting wasn’t even close to any one of them.
I wanted her. I wanted to make her scream my name while I was inside her. I wanted to look into her eyes while she came and know that it was because of me. I wanted to touch her face. Steal her kisses and share her breath.
She was turning me inside out and I was fucking done.
I stepped off the deck and put one foot in front of the other until I was inches from her. Until I could smell the summer that clung to her skin and see the raindrops on the edges of her eyelashes.
Her eyes were almost opaque, the hint of green so light they looked like mirrors. I could fall into them if I wasn’t careful. Her lips trembled and her chest heaved. A smudge of brown paint marred her cheek and she froze when I reached for it.
I froze when I touched her.
She was the most beautiful girl I’d ever seen. Hands down.
Slowly, I wiped the paint off her face and then both of my hands crept into her hair, holding her hostage as my eyes memorized everything about her. Her eyes fluttered shut and she leaned into my touch, moaning softly.
I was done for. Totally fucking wrecked and I’d barely begun.
I bent forward bypassing that amazing mouth, my lips caressing along her jaw until I rested against her neck, just below her ear, and whispered.
“I’m sorry I was such an asshole yesterday.”
She shuddered in my hands and pitched forward, her forehead on my chest. “Where were you last night?” Her words were hesitant and I stilled, a little confused and not really sure where she was headed.
“I was here.”
“Were you alone?”
What the hell?
I moved and lifted her chin so that I could see her. So that she could see me and know I wasn’t fucking around.
“What do you want to know, Georgia? Just ask. I’ve got nothing to hide.”
She blinked slowly as if thinking of the right words and then with a small breath she spoke. “Your truck wasn’t here this morning and I thought…” She paused, her eyes widening, her mouth open. “I thought you might have spent the night with someone. I know what it’s like for you guys, girls are all over you and I…we haven’t…”