~ PURCHASE ~
~ EXCERPT ~
From Joey's POV:
I
didn’t even notice Tucker until I was only three feet away. Her hair was tied
back into one of those severe-looking buns again, and she was dressed in what
appeared to be oversized workout gear.
What
the hell is she wearing? I
wondered.
Then
I clued in.
The loose t-shirt, tied in a knot at her waist, and
the baggy pants, hanging enticingly off her hips – were mine. My mouth
went uncharacteristically dry. Just the thought of her skin on the inside
of my clothes was enough to drive away my headache.
I watched her as she struggled to hoist a heavy bag
over the back of her van. The bag landed with a thud, the back end
hanging from something I couldn’t see. Tucker leaned forward to shove it
further in, and the t-shirt slid up, exposing the smoothness of her back.
She made a frustrated noise and tried again. The bag was clearly just out
of her grip.
I should’ve been helping her.
But damn.
I’d never been so turned on by so little skin before.
Tucker stood on her tiptoes and strained against the back of the van. Her
pants slipped down, revealing an inch of hip. She still couldn’t get the
bag to budge. Even though her face was red from the day’s work, and even
though there was a bit of sweat on her forehead, she kept trying. I liked
her determination.
I needed to make the space between us smaller. As small as possible, in
fact.
I stepped up behind her, and murmured, “Looks like you
could use hand.”
She jumped back with a startled yelp. I steadied her
by placing one hand on that exposed spot on her back that I’d been
admiring. It was as soft as I hoped.
“Easy there,” I said. “Wouldn’t want you to fall and
rip my favourite clothes.”
I reached easily over her shoulder, and gave the bag a
solid tap with my palm. It slid into the van with a thump.
With a red face, Tucker pulled away from me and
straightened my t-shirt over her stomach.
“These are your favourite clothes?”
“Well,” I teased. “They are now.”
“I wasn’t expecting to see you,” she told me.
I raised an eyebrow. “So you thought you’d just help
yourself to an outfit? Should I check your purse for silverware, too?”
“I didn’t steal them!” she protested. “Your
house manager gave them to me.”
I tapped my chin with mock thoughtfulness. “So you
weren’t rifling through my underwear drawer?”
I didn’t think her face could get any redder, but
somehow it did.
“Of course not. And I have to go,” she said stiffly.
“I left the bill with your house manager.”
She dug her keys from her purse and took a step toward
the driver’s side door.
“Tucker, can I ask you one thing before you leave?”
She paused. “What?”
I grinned. “Did you subtract the cost of my
clothes from your bill?”
“Right after I tacked on the cost of driving you to
the hospital,” she retorted. “Speaking of which…Shouldn’t you be off somewhere
with Amber?”
I frowned. “With Amber? Why would I be somewhere with
Amber?”
“Because she’s your girlfriend. Or one of them,
anyway. And she did call you. I just figured she’d pick you up.”
“I didn’t want her to pick me up, and she’s not my –“
I cut myself off as I connected the dots. “Oh. You’re jealous.”
“I’m not jealous!”
She tried to sneak by me, and I put a casual hand
against her van, blocking her path. She tried to go around, but I brought
the other arm up too, so that Tucker was between them. She could’ve
ducked down and gone under. She could’ve shoved me away and I would’ve
yielded. Instead, she brought those brown eyes up to meet my gaze.
“I want you to get it into your head that I'm
not going to wind up as one of your trophies,” Tucker stated.
“People like trophies,” I pointed out in a low voice.
“Maybe. But there’s a difference between liking one and being one.”
The tilt of her head brought her lips almost close
enough to kiss. I bent my elbows, inching closer. She didn’t shy
away.
“Remind me…Why are we in a fight?” I asked.
“We’re not in a fight.”
“Seems like we are.”
“We have nothing to fight about. We don’t know each other well enough to
fight.”
"Then why do I feel like you're punishing me for something?”
“What would I be punishing you for?"
In reply, I leaned forward and dragged my mouth across hers slowly. I
teased her lips open with my teeth and darted my tongue across her teeth.
Her back arched in response, bringing her body flush against mine.
Through the fabric of her shirt, I could feel the hardness of her nipples and
the increase in her breathing.
Her hands found their way to my waist, and she held on
tightly as I dug my fingers into her hair and tugged it free. The tumble
of red across her shoulders, soft, shiny, and lightly scented, drove a wave of
heat straight to my groin.
I grabbed a hold of her knee with one hand and her
rear end with the other, and lifted her from the ground. My lips sought
her throat, then her chin, and at last her lips again. I kissed her hard
enough to make her moan, revelling in the desperate way she clung to my
shoulders.
Instinctively I knew that if I didn’t stop right that
second, I wouldn’t be able to.
~ ABOUT THE AUTHOR ~
Melinda Di Lorenzo
Creating happily-ever-afters, one page at a time!
