Colt said nothing, simply watched her, his fingertip still smoothing stray hairs back on her hairline.
“Do you know,” she said with a wry twist of her mouth, “that when I broke up with Allan for the last time, people in town kept coming up to me to give me advice. At first I thought it was sweet that they were so concerned with my happiness. And then I realized that they were giving me advice because they’d felt I’d done something wrong. That I’d been the one that somehow screwed up. And that with their guidance, they were sure they could make him love me again.” The laugh that escaped her throat was bitter.
“Does it help much if I say I always hated everyone in town, too?”
A tiny laugh escaped her, and she smothered it with a hand. “No. Well, a little. I’m sorry to unload on you about Allan.”
“Don’t be,” he said, his voice a low, soft drawl. “I always thought he was a jackass, but I didn’t realize how much of one.”
She smiled and shook her head. “It’s not his fault. Or I should say, it’s only half his fault. He made me half a person because I let him. After we broke up, I decided I was going to be Beth Ann from now on. I was going to do things that people didn’t expect Allan’s fiancée to do. I was going to say what I thought, and do what I wanted.”
A tiny flash of dimple appeared in his cheek. “And have you?”
“I opened my salon,” she admitted. “Everyone thought I should go to college, but I didn’t want to spend four years waiting for my life to start again. I wanted to start it right away, and I’d been taking beautician classes on the side. Hair and makeup has always been something I was good at, and I loved making other people feel special. It just seemed like the right move for me—to open a salon and run my own business, doing my own thing. Not dependent on anyone for anything. My father didn’t approve of his oldest daughter being something as common as a hair-dresser. He thinks ‘trophy wife’ is an acceptable occupation. And I thought Allan was going to have a fit over that. He didn’t think I could do it. But I am, and I’m doing just fine,” she said proudly. “And I dress how I want, not how I thought Allan’s fiancée should dress.”
His fingers slid to the strap of her dress. His T-shirt was hanging on a hastily erected frame, drying near the fire. She was wearing her dress, of course, but for the first time today, she was acutely aware of how much skin it exposed. And it was exciting.
“This?” he asked, and tugged on the strap.
She could have sworn his voice dropped a husky note that made her pulse flutter with longing. “This,” she agreed. “I’m going to be me, and if it takes twenty years, I’m going to do all kinds of things that no one would expect from me.”
His fingertip lightly traced the skin under the thin strap of her dress. “Such as?” he said huskily.
Her entire world now seemed to be focused on that graze of his finger over her skin. It felt wonderful and ticklish and exciting and utterly alarming all at once. Beth Ann suddenly felt like a teenager on her first date again.
And she rather liked the feeling. “All kinds of things,” she whispered.
“Like what?” He grinned down at her. “What does Bluebonnet not expect sweet Beth Ann Williamson to do?”
She looked up at him leaning over her, beautiful and hard in the shadows, his face all angles. Her body was aching with need—need that hopefully wasn’t one-sided. She gathered her courage—she’d never know unless she asked. “I’ve never had a one-night stand.”
FIVE
Colt stared down at her, surprised. His erection was rock hard in his pants, yet he paused. What the hell was she thinking? Beth Ann was beautiful, and funny, and so incredibly sweet she made his entire body ache with need.
And here she was propositioning him?
Below him, she licked her lips and looked suddenly uncertain. “I’m guessing that request was not a flattering one?”
What, was she crazy? “Ain’t that,” he said softly. “Just trying to figure out what’s going through this thing right about now.” He tapped a fingertip to her temple.
He liked her. He liked her a lot. But he sure as hell didn’t want to be part of some revenge plot to get even with her ex-boyfriend.
Even if he did hate the guy.
Beth Ann suddenly looked chagrined. “You can tell me no, you know. You won’t hurt my feelings.”
God, she thought he was turning her down?
“I mean, I don’t normally proposition men,” she began in a rush.
He put a finger over her lips, silencing her. “I just want to make sure…” Well, hell. How to put it delicately. “That this isn’t something you’re going to regret.”
She gave him a wide-eyed look. “I’ll regret it if you’re lousy at it.”
He snorted, amused. “You know what I mean. Didn’t you say you didn’t want a relationship without trust?”
“This is a one-night stand. That’s different.”
So she wanted no-strings sex with him? Avoid the relationship thing entirely? He stared at her dubiously.
“I know what you’re trying to ask me,” she said, and reached for him. Her fingers danced along his shoulder, and slid down his arm, tracing a vein in his biceps, and he was effectively distracted once more. “You want to make sure I’m not doing this to get back at Allan.”
“The thought did cross my mind,” he admitted. He wanted to touch her back, explore her the way she was exploring him. But until she told him what he wanted to hear, it was a no-go. He wasn’t that big of a dick.
“It’s not about Allan,” she said softly. “It’s about me, wanting things and actually going after them instead of caring what others think.”
“And you want a one-night stand?” Damn, if his dick got any harder, he was going to lose his mind.
“I want you,” she admitted. “We can start with one night and see how it turns out. But if you’re not interested, let me know.”
“You slept curled up against my hard-on last night, and you’re going to sit here and tell me that you’re not sure if I’m interested?” He could feel the smile stretching his mouth. “Platonic, not dead, remember?”
Her hand slid to his tattoo, and she brushed her fingertips over it. “So is that a yes?”
Of course it was a yes. Hell, he wasn’t stupid. A beautiful woman that he found himself intensely attracted to was offering him no-strings-attached sex. Of course he was interested. He’d been thinking about her mouth all day, or how it’d feel to have her legs wrap around his h*ps and sink deep into her warmth. Feel her p**sy tighten around him as she came.
He’d been thinking about that sort of shit all night, even as she talked about peas and carrots and things like that.
But she looked flustered, and he had to admit that he liked seeing her a little off guard. “We haven’t even kissed yet,” he teased her. “Don’t you want to try before you buy?”
“We can start with a kiss,” she said, almost eagerly. Her hands went to the sides of his neck and she pulled him down toward her slowly, not wasting any time. But just before she pulled him in for the kiss, she hesitated, her nose brushing against his lightly, as if trying to make sure this was, in fact, what he wanted.
He’d just have to show her, then. He leaned in, closing the distance between the two of them, and brushed his lips against hers. They were warm and soft, just barely slick from when she’d licked them in her nervousness.
At the feel of his lips against hers, he felt her body tense slightly, and he liked that. He kissed her gently, simply pressing his lips against hers in small, polite kisses. Because that wasn’t what she’d expect from him, and he liked surprising her. Her lips began to part a little more under each kiss, and on the last one, he grazed his tongue against the parted seam of her mouth. He felt her intake of breath, felt her fingers tighten against his neck. And he leaned in to press another soft kiss against her mouth.
This time it was her tongue that stroked against his lips. It shot a bolt of heat straight to his cock, and he suddenly wanted to push her back in the dirt and f**k the living daylights out of her, until she was crying out his name, and she’d lost track of everything but his c*ck thrusting inside her.
His tongue found hers, and he stroked into her mouth. When she made a small noise of pleasure in her throat, he slanted his head slightly and began to kiss her even more fiercely. If they were going to be together tonight, she wasn’t going to think of anyone but him.
He was going to f**king ruin her for Allan and any other man, he decided. And he realized that was a dumbass territorial thing to be thinking, and he didn’t give a shit. He thrust his tongue into her mouth, mimicking the thrust he wanted to do into her sweet warmth, and he felt a full-body tremble sweep over her.
That was more like it.
He broke off the kiss and noted with pleasure that she’d been reluctant to do so. Her mouth lingered on his even as he pulled away, as if she craved his mouth on her own. He liked that. Her eyes opened and she had a glazed, almost sleepy look that was incredibly sexy. Her mouth was full and pouting and wet with his kiss, too.
“How was that for a test drive?”
Beth Ann gave a small sigh of pleasure and smiled up at him. “I’m pretty convinced, but I might need another round before I decide for sure.”
And her gaze fell back to his mouth.
He didn’t need to be told twice. He kissed her again, this time lingering on her full lips. He tugged at her lower one, teasing the plumpness with his mouth until he’d had enough, and licked deep into her mouth again. This time, she whimpered, and he could have sworn her h*ps rose up off the ground. Nice. She was responsive. He liked that about her.
“And now?” he murmured against her mouth.
“Sold.”
“Good,” he replied, and placed his hand back on her shoulder. That thin, slinky strap to her dress was tormenting him—had been tormenting him all day. He slid his fingers under it, feeling the softness of her skin even as he dipped low for another kiss. She arched under his touch.
He kissed her until she was breathless and panting, making small little noises of excitement every time his tongue thrust against her own. He moved down to her chin, tasting her there, then traveled along her jaw. He moved to the shell of her ear, and heard her gratifying intake of breath when his tongue traced it.
“Oh, that feels good,” she murmured, her fingers finding his hair and rubbing the short, stubbled hair on the back of his head, where his hair was closely shaved.
His hand slid down, skimming along her thigh. Not heading straight for her p**sy, but exploring her legs, the smooth feel of them, the curve of her knee. He lifted his head as he touched her, watching her face.
Her eyes had fluttered shut, but she was incredibly expressive, and he loved observing every flicker of desire flash across her face. Loved watching that flush sweep over her cheeks when his fingertips grazed the inside of her thigh. That flick of disappointment when he moved back to her knee again.