closed over her neck.
And that totally hadn’t come out the way it had been supposed to. But before she could even think about where she’d gone wrong with that one single critical word, the sensual, disorienting fog was descending again. Rolling in thicker with each flick of his tongue, every rock of his hips and brush of his thumb against the straining peak of her nipple.
Because, yes, this guy was plenty strong enough to hold her against the wall with one hand. And, God, wasn’t that the hottest thing? Next to all the other billion hot things about him. She was a little ashamed to admit his being so worked up enough to do her against the back wall of a public place was one of them.
But it had to stop.
She needed to check her libido and her ego and—
“Garrrrett …”
What … how … that was … would he do it again?
Then his mouth was back at her ear. His breath a hot rush against the tender tissue. His low growl a rough stroke against all the places where she ached for him. “Are you wet, Nichole?”
She opened her mouth, trying to form words—only her mind had blanked of coherent thought. And apparently Garrett didn’t need an answer anyway, because somewhere along the way he’d gotten her fly undone, loosened the denim enough to skim his hand down the back.
“Aww, baby, you’re so—”
“Stop.”
She didn’t know where she’d found the resolve to say it, or how Garrett had even heard, the word was so small. So not at all what she wanted. But there it was. And he had heard, because that marauding hand of his was working a steady retreat back to her hip, where he continued to hold her against him.
So maybe unlocking her ankles from the small of his back and letting go of his shirt and hair should be her next step.
Reluctantly, she did so. And, sure enough, Garrett eased her down to her feet from there. Let his forehead rest against hers and, with a pained groan, refastened her jeans. Because he was just that kind of guy.
Which made her want him all the more.
And that was a problem. Because Nichole wasn’t ready for this.
Thanks to her deadbeat dad’s underwhelming commitment to fatherhood she’d always been skittish about getting involved. The two guys she’d risked her heart with in the past had been more about building relationships than scoring bases. She’d known them for years, trusted them and made plans with them. With Paul … they’d been so young. When he’d ended things, she’d understood and recovered with only a few scars. But with Joel she’d been so hurt. So humiliated by what had happened it had taken her three years to brave up enough to dip just her toe back in.
Okay, fine. She’d done the full-on skinny-dip. But still … What she’d done she’d done believing it would be a one-time isolated incident with a guy who wouldn’t be around twenty-four-seven, tempting her to invest more of her heart than she should.
Garrett murmured, “Nichole, this thing between us isn’t going away.”
No, it wasn’t. “I’m not sure we’re giving it much of a chance to.”
“Maybe not.” Pulling back, Garrett looked around them, as if just realizing exactly where they were, and swore. “I’m sorry about this. I don’t know what I was—”
“Yeah, neither do I.” With a quiet laugh, Nichole added, “You are really going to get the wrong idea about what kind of girl I am.”
Garrett caught her chin with his finger and brought her gaze to his. “No, I won’t.”
Then, leading her down the flight, he stopped at the bottom stair and pulled her down to sit beside him. The guitarist had moved on to a new piece—something slow and soulful. Each pluck of the strings seemed weighted with a melancholy that resonated inside her.
Forearms resting over his widespread knees, Garrett scrubbed a palm over his face. “I know I’m the one who said this wouldn’t work. That I didn’t want it. But it sort of feels like we already have it, whether we meant to or not … Nichole, I can handle the part about Maeve.”
“But I’m not sure I can.” Maeve was her best friend. Her rock. The person she couldn’t live without. The person she’d need to turn to if her heart ever got trampled again. “Let’s just say you aren’t the only one with a protective streak when it comes to your family.”
Garrett’s brows shot skyward, as though the thought had never occurred to him. “Are you worried you’re going to break my heart and Maeve’s going to hold it against you?”
“Well, no.” While something told her Garrett’s heart was immune to breaking, there were no guarantees when it came to hard feelings. “But she didn’t take too kindly to an off-the-cuff remark I made last month. And that was before I’d actually even met you.”
His expression closed down as he asked, “What kind of remark?”
Why had she brought it up? She didn’t want to tell him what she’d said. Didn’t want to risk his feelings or insult him. But he was staring at her, waiting. “Something about antibiotics. It was stupid and totally off-base and I apologize.”
A nod. “The Panty Whisperer garbage. I get it. I’ve earned it.”
Something about those last words and the weary resignation in them cut at her.
“Garrett, I didn’t know anything about you. But I do now—”
At that, his mouth curved into a wry smile. “Yeah, and I’m betting what just happened at the top of these stairs pretty well backs up every rumor you’ve ever heard.”
It might have if this connection she’d somehow formed with Garrett hadn’t given her a deeper insight into who he was. Into what he valued. But he seemed as genuinely undone by the attraction between them as she was. Fighting it and trying to push it aside so they could enjoy a friendship regardless.
She didn’t want her careless words to hurt him or undermine all there was to respect.
If ever she needed a lifeline it was now. She wanted Maeve to tell her what to say. Although now that she thought about it …
“I do have to admit I’m pretty impressed. I always sort of assumed the rumors were exaggerated. But, damn, Garrett.”
He was a Carter, after all. And teasing was their foremost means of affection.
His sudden stunned bark of laughter was everything she’d wanted to hear. And then he leaned back and studied her, his gaze tracking from her eyes to her mouth and back. “Okay, Red. Tell me again why this isn’t going to work.”
“Because neither of us wants to risk jeopardizing our relationship with Maeve over … anything. We both know better than to think we could keep our relationship with each other separate from our relationship with her. And I’ve lost people after relationships ended before—people I really cared about.”
She’d never forget what it had been like to go from being
