exactly convenient, but it was a damned sight more safe than getting lassoed by a disillusioned Juliet who thought he was the answer to all of her romantic prayers.
He wasn’t. He was just a man. Selfish on occasion. Egotistical most of the time. Hardheaded all of the time. And too friggin’ lusty—thanks to the McGraw blood-line—to commit himself to one female for the rest of his born days.
Josh liked his freedom and he liked playing the field.
Even more, he wasn’t of a mind to hurt anyone.
He’d done that once before and he’d lived with the guilt ever since.
His gaze slid to the woman who stood beside him. She wasn’t tall, but she wasn’t small, either, with a pair of two-inch black stiletto heels that made her legs seem endless before they reached the short black skirt that molded to her round ass. A white silk tank hugged her luscious breasts. Her soft red hair hung down around her shoulders and framed her heart-shaped face. Her lips were full and pink, her green eyes hot and bright, and his cock twitched in anticipation.
Holly with her high heels and expensive clothes and fancy SUV wasn’t one of the women in town. She was a stranger. She was single. And judging by the way she licked her lips, she wanted the same thing from him that he wanted from her—sex.
He pushed open the door, stepped back and let her precede him inside. He expected more of an exotic fragrance from her given her big-city appearance. Instead, the warm scent of sugar and vanilla filled his nostrils as she eased past him. She smelled like sweet, fresh-from-the-oven cupcakes and his nostrils flared. A warning sounded somewhere in the back of his brain, but it wasn’t loud enough to push past the sudden hammering of his heart. A bolt of need shot through his body and his muscles bunched. He barely resisted the urge to haul her into his arms, back her up against the wall and take her hard and fast right there under the bare porch light, the june bugs bumping overhead.
As appealing as the notion, the thought of laying her down on a soft mattress and peeling away her clothes one piece at a time suddenly made him even hotter. Harder.
He followed her inside, closing the door behind them. A click sounded as she turned on a nearby lamp. A pale yellow glow pushed back the shadows and illuminated the interior. The room was far from fancy, but it was neat and clean. An unfinished pine dresser sat in the far corner, an ancient-looking television rested on top. A king-size bed took up the rest of the space. Beige curtains patterned with silver spurs covered the one window near a window air-conditioning unit. A matching comforter covered the bed. The slightly scarred hardwood floor gleamed from a recent polishing.
“I don’t see a minibar,” he said as his gaze swept the interior. “But if you’re hungry there’s a vending machine around the corner near the ice machine. I could get you something.”
She eyed him. “It was just a figure of speech. I wasn’t really in the mood to raid the minibar.”
“Then what are you in the mood for?”
“I…” She licked her lips and he had the gut feeling that she’d never done this sort of thing before. And then his gaze caught hers and he knew deep down that this was, indeed, a first for her.
His blood rushed even faster at the notion. A crazy reaction because Josh wasn’t in the habit of being the first anything when it came to women. Be it a first lover or a first one-night stand or the first man to actually cause an orgasm. Rather, he steered clear of any situation that might set him apart in a woman’s mind and make him more than just a really good lay.
He stiffened, his fingers tightening on the room key. “Maybe this isn’t such a good idea.”
“You’re right about that.” The hesitant light in her gaze faded into a wave of bright green heat as she stepped closer. “It’s not good at all.” Another step and her nipples kissed his chest.
The one touch shifted him into high speed. He pulled her close and thrust his tongue into the heated depths of her mouth, kissing her, devouring her.
His hands massaged her soft, round ass and he rubbed his throbbing erection against the cradle of her pelvis. His fingers bunched material until he reached the hem of the skirt and felt her bare flesh beneath. Her thighs were hot to the touch. Soft. Quivering.
Holy hell.
Urging her backward, he eased her down onto the bed. He captured her mouth in a deep, intense kiss that lasted several heartbeats before he pulled away and stepped back. He worked the buttons free on his shirt and let the material slide from his shoulders. He unfastened the button on his jeans and pushed the zipper down. The pressure eased and the edges gaped and he could actually breathe for a few seconds.
Until she pushed to a sitting position and leaned forward.
Her fingers touched the dark purple head of his erection where it pushed up above the waistband of his briefs. The air lodged in his throat and he ground his teeth against a burst of white-hot pleasure. Her touch was so damned soft and he was so hard and…
He needed to touch her. To see her.
He reached for the hem of her tank top and pulled it up and over her head. One dark red nipple pushed through the lace-patterned cup of her white bra. He leaned over and flicked his tongue over the rock-hard tip. She gasped and he drew the nub deeper into his mouth, sucking her hard through the flimsy covering.
Her fingers threaded through his hair and held him close. He relished the taste of her flesh for several heart-pounding moments before he pulled away. He gripped the cups of her bra and pulled them down and under the fullness of her breasts. The bra plumped her and her ripe nipples raised in invitation. When he didn’t lower his head and suckle her again, she reached for him.
“Please.”
“Easy, darlin’. We’ll get to it.” But not yet. He wasn’t a man to take his good fortune for granted. It was a rare occasion when a man found a woman like her at a hole-in-the-wall in such a desperately small town.
He meant to take his time and enjoy the looking and the touching and the anticipation.
He unzipped her skirt and peeled it from her body in a slow, tantalizing motion that stirred goose bumps on her soft flesh. Trailing his fingers back up the way they’d come, he hooked his fingers at the thin straps of her panties and followed the same path down her long legs.
When he had her naked with the exception of the bra pulled beneath her luscious breasts, he leaned up and let his gaze sweep the length of her.
She was definitely not from around here, he realized when his attention settled on the barely there strip of pubic hair that told him she’d been pampered and waxed at some fine salon rather than Miss Millie’s Hair Barn. As advertised on the marquee outside of her shop, Miss Millie’s waxing services didn’t extend any farther south than unruly chin hairs for which she ran a weekly special.
“Did you get this in Houston, too?” He trailed a finger down the barely there strip of hair and watched her tremble.
“Yes.”
“It’s nice.” He traced the slit that separated her lush pink lips and she caught her bottom lip as a groan trembled from her mouth. Her legs fell open and the soft pink flesh parted for him.
He dipped his fingertip into her steamy heat and watched her pupils dilate. Her
