Which was why this bride and the feelings she inspired shocked him. Though Kendall wasn’t his bride, that didn’t change the proprietary way she made him feel. The notion didn’t worry him as much as it would have if she was sticking around town.
Refocusing on his task, he released first one tiny button and then the next, revealing porcelainlike skin. She had a long graceful neck and an incredibly smooth back, one he wanted to kiss, as he trailed his tongue down her spine and tasted her, inch by delectable inch.
“Oh, that feels better already,” she said on a long exhale that bordered on orgasmic in tone.
If he wasn’t already damp from the heat, he’d have broken into a sweat. He leaned down, inches from acting out his fantasy, when she reached up and unwittingly swept some strands of hair off the back of her neck. Rick couldn’t resist temptation further. As he inhaled her fragrant scent, his lips whispered across her silken skin that was warm from the heat, damp from the humidity.
She trembled and let out a soft sigh, but she didn’t pull away nor did she deck him. All, Rick figured, a good sign that got even better when she turned her head and let her lips touch his.
His eyes closed as she answered his unspoken request, letting him taste her for the first time. Her mouth was warm, soft, and giving, feeding a hunger so strong it threatened to consume him. His heart hammered hard in his chest and his palms began to sweat, ridiculous for a nearly thirty-five-year-old man who’d kissed his share of women, but his reaction to this one had been intense from the start. He touched his tongue to her lips and fire leapt between them, the flames engulfing him from inside and out, but before he could seek entrance to her moist mouth, she broke the kiss.
She hung her head down and didn’t meet his gaze. “Sorry but it’s awkward.”
And here he thought she’d been willing. “You didn’t exactly say no,” he said, feeling as though he’d been punched in the gut.
She sat up straight, looked at him, and blinked in surprise. “I didn’t.” Her eyes opened wide as understanding dawned. “You thought I meant the kiss was awkward? Oh, no.
The kiss was amazing.” An uneasy smile flirted across those lips. “But my position was awkward. Uncomfortable. Sort of like this conversation.” She shook her head and a flush rose to her cheeks. Then she grabbed the back of her neck and began a steady massaging of muscles that had obviously been twisted during the kiss.
Ridiculously relieved, he laughed before realizing how much he’d cared if she rejected him. “I’d offer to massage the kinks but I think we’d get in more trouble.”
“And as an officer of the law you need to stay clear of that kind of trouble ?” Her eyes twinkled with mischief, her subtle meaning clear.
“Not during my off hours.” The words escaped before he could stop them.
She let out a laugh. “I do like you, Rick Chandler.”
“Feeling’s mutual, Ms. Sutton.” He grinned. Damn but he could get in deep with this woman. And wouldn’t that solve his current problem?
A relationship with Kendall would force his mother and the myriad women she sent after him to back off. Kendall’s unusual arrival would definitely spark gossip. The more wary women in town would steer clear until they knew whether Rick was involved with the newcomer, while the more brazen ones, like Lisa, needed a blatant, can’t-miss message.
A message like Kendall, her pink hair, and wedding dress.
Not that he thought for one minute Kendall would go along with his insane idea to pretend they were involved in order to keep the women from Rick’s door. He didn’t even intend to suggest it, but he had to admit the plan had been a fun one while it lasted. “We still haven’t gotten you out of that dress,” he said at last.
“I’m right here waiting.”
He gritted his teeth and finished the buttons on the dress with minimal fuss and conversation, focusing solely on his task and not the increasingly bared skin on her back.
He paused when his fingertips finally reached her waist. “How about I give you some privacy and you take things from here?” Because the next step would mean he’d be pulling down the top of the dress and revealing her bare br**sts for view. It would mean he’d work the material lower, over her legs and then—
“That would probably be best.” Her voice stopped his daydream just in time.
“I’ll leave the door open.” He stepped toward the exit. “Yell if you need anything.”
“Will do.” She shot him a grateful smile.
“Good. Good.” Rick slipped out, escaping before he could indulge further in any need, be it his or hers.
The wedding gown hung from her waist as Kendall stared at her flushed reflection in the mirror. She wished she could blame the heat but knew her response to Rick’s lips on her flesh, his strong hands on her bare skin, was responsible.
She hadn’t expected him to kiss her, but the sexual tension humming between them couldn’t be missed. Neither could the bond created over understood grief. Add to that he’d been stripping her out of her gown, for God’s sake. How much more of an intimate act could there be? When his lips had touched her skin . . . her body shook now with the memory, her ni**les puckering at the remembered sensation.
Kendall didn’t normally “do” brazen. But she’d needed to see his face and so she’d turned her head—and met his lips with hers. The kiss had rocked her world. He was so sexy he melted her insides with one look. So strong and sure he projected with a touch.
He made her feel wanted. And in doing so, he answered a need she hadn’t known still existed.
She’d always been the displaced child that no one wanted. And though Brian had desired her, he’d never given back emotionally. Their relationship had been a bargain. He’d gotten her the modeling jobs she needed to pay for her aunt’s care and she’d pretended to be his girlfriend to help him through a transition period after a breakup. Though their fake relationship had turned into a real one, she’d never connected with Brian.
Not like she had with Rick. One kiss and she’d felt more than a physical pull. Enclosed in the small bathroom with Rick had been a confinement of a different kind. A sensual kind.
The kind she’d like to explore further. Why not? The surprising thought flashed through her mind.
So did the answers. She’d ended her engagement to Brian and a huge phase of her life just a few short hours ago. Though she hadn’t been in love with him, the whole ordeal had been traumatic. Though the dizziness had already passed, she splashed cold water on her face, then she shook her head and wrapped her icy, wet hands around the back of her neck for shock value.