Flirting with Love (16 page)

“It’s okay. I never knew him. I was only two when he left, and you really can’t miss a person who you never knew.” Her tone was solemn, but her eyes weren’t filled with sadness or longing. She looked just as peaceful as she had a moment before. “Why do you think Jake is messed up as far as relationships go?”

“He’s just a big player. I don’t think that my father leaving really had anything to do with it. It was probably Fiona, his first love. He thought they were a forever thing, and she broke up with him out of the blue. He’s never let anyone get close to him since.”

“That’s really sad. Maybe he will, eventually.”

“Hey, Ross.” Charlotte Wellington and her husband ran a hay farm on the outskirts of town. She patted him on the shoulder as she walked past and smiled at Elisabeth.

“Hi, Charlotte. How’s Taylor?” Taylor was her two-year-old dog.

Charlotte barely slowed on her way to the front of the restaurant. “Great. His paw healed fine.” She waved, then turned to leave.

They left the restaurant a little while later, and Ross drove in the direction of his mother’s house, but instead of turning onto her road, he continued up the narrow mountain road to Pike’s Peak and backed his truck up to the overlook.

“Where are we?” It was pitch-black, save for the stars above and the lights of the town below.

“You wanted to experience Trusty, so I brought you to make-out point.”

Her eyes widened.

“Relax.” He laughed a little under his breath. “Come on.”

He stepped from the truck and helped Elisabeth out. While she gazed at what Ross considered the most spectacular view in all of Colorado, overlooking his favorite town, he gathered the blankets and the gift he’d brought for her. He spread one blanket out in the bed of the truck, then reached for Elisabeth’s hand.

“What exactly are your intentions, Mr. Braden?” She eyed the blankets.

“Don’t worry. I’m not going to try to get to home base.”
But I won’t be disappointed if we end up there.
“I thought you might like to stargaze.” He helped her into the truck, and they sat on one of the blankets. He draped the other over her legs so she wouldn’t be cold. He wanted to take her in his arms and slide his thigh over hers to keep her warm, but he also wanted to talk to her, get to know more about her. He pushed away the thoughts of touching her and tried to focus on what she was saying instead.

“This is so beautiful. Is this where you used to come and make out with girls in high school?”

“No. That’s what the woods were for.”

She laughed.

“I’m only half kidding. I’ve never taken a woman here, well, except for Emily. I brought her here when she graduated from high school, before she went away to college. We sat up half the night and talked about how her life would change, and her hopes, her fears, you know, that kind of stuff.”

Elisabeth rested her head on his shoulder, and again that simple touch made him feel like she belonged there. Like she was
his
.

“You seem like such a good big brother. I wish I’d had someone to look out for me like that.”

“Em’s a smart aleck, but she’s also sensitive, and as brave as she is, she was scared to go away to school. She was used to having a house full of boys to protect her, and she was worried about being out there all alone. She did fine, of course. I guess I’ve always looked after her, and I guess I still do.” He wanted to know more about Elisabeth, not talk about Emily. He inhaled the flowery scent of her shampoo, and she shifted her position beside him. He felt the brush of her breast against his side, and it was all he could do to form a sentence. “Lis, how old are you?”

“Twenty-seven.”

She gazed up at him, her lips slightly parted, a smile that reached her eyes, and he was a second away from lowering his lips to hers.
Focus. Talk
. Jesus, it had never been this hard to restrain his desires before. He tried to process what she’d just said. She was three years younger than Luke, his youngest brother.

“Were you nervous when you went to school? For that matter, did you go away to school?”

“I wasn’t nervous. I went to UCLA, so it wasn’t a big change for me.” She ran her finger along the ridge of his kneecap. “How old are you, Ross?”

He pulled her closer and had to feel her skin against his lips. He kissed her temple to tamp down the urgency of his desire. “Probably too old to be with you.”

She looked up at him again, this time with her brows pinched together.

“I’m old enough to know what I want in life and young enough to still have time to get it. I’m thirty-five.”

She whistled. “You
are
old.”

He laughed. “Thanks.” He remembered the picture he’d seen in Elisabeth’s kitchen of her and a guy. He’d put it out of his mind until now. “Lis, did moving here have anything to do with the guy I saw with you in the picture in your kitchen?”

She dropped her eyes to the blanket across her legs.

His chest tightened as he waited for her to answer.

“I thought you saw that,” she said softly.

“Sorry. You don’t have to tell me.” He couldn’t tell if he’d struck a fresh or distant nerve.

“It’s okay. No, moving had nothing to do with him. His name is Robbie, and we broke up more than a year ago.” She drew in a deep breath and laid her hand on his thigh.

Her fingers moved lightly over his muscles, sending streams of heat straight to his groin. He wanted her hand to move north, to stroke his body, to dig her nails into him while he was buried deep inside her. When she spoke again, he nearly groaned aloud as he tore his eyes from her hand and forced himself to try to focus.

 “He’s a really nice guy, and we dated for a long time. We were just in different places in our lives.” She shrugged and licked her lips.

Jesus, was she trying to drive him insane?

“I thought he was
the one
, and he ended our relationship to focus on getting his PhD.”

The one
. That pulled him from his fantasy. He processed the information, feeling a little jealous that she’d been in love with someone else.

“I’m sorry.” She looked so solemn that he did feel sorry for her, but if she and Robbie hadn’t broken up, he might never have met her.

“It’s a good thing he ended it. I realized afterward that what we had was this really comfortable relationship. Comfortable, like great friends, but I always dreamed that love was much bigger than that, you know?”

He nodded, knowing exactly what she meant but unable to form a response.

“Well, you’re a guy, so maybe you don’t know, but like with you…You take my breath away when we’re close. He never did.”

His pulse ratcheted up a notch. “I take your breath away?” He leaned closer, holding her gaze.

“Uh-huh.”

He kissed her, wanting desperately to touch her, taste every inch of her, feel her hard nipples in his mouth, her body beneath him. He deepened the kiss, then forced himself to draw back.

Eyes still closed, she whispered, “See? Breathless.” When she finally opened her eyes, her lids were heavy. She smiled with a lust-laden, faraway look in her beautiful eyes.

“You said you believed in fate, marriage, and all things warm and fuzzy. You’re on the cusp of so many changes. I thought you might want a little magic to help you make the more important decisions.” He reached behind him and retrieved the gift he’d brought for her.

“Ross. You didn’t have to bring me anything. Thank you.”

She pressed her lips to his, and he wrapped an arm around her and deepened the kiss, wanting it to go on forever. He’d been with women other men would die for, but not one of them made him feel the way Elisabeth did when they were together.

“Go ahead. Open it.”

She opened the box with an excited grin and smiled as she lifted the Magic 8 Ball out of the box. “I haven’t seen one of these in years.”

“Go ahead. Ask it a question. There are ten positive answers, five negative, and five neutral.” He loved the way her eyes lit up.

“Okay.” She drew in a deep breath. “Will I ever really fit in in Trusty?” She shook the black plastic ball in both hands and then held it against her chest with her eyes clenched shut. “I can’t look.”

“Want me to look?”

With her eyes still shut, she held the ball out to him. Ross wrapped his hands around hers.
Please say yes. Please say yes
.

“Lis, let’s look together.”

She opened her eyes and nodded. “Okay. I’m nervous.”

“That’s what makes you so incredible. Don’t be nervous. If it gives the wrong answer, I’ll heave it over the mountain and smash it to bits.”

“No, you will not.” She pulled it back toward her chest, but he held on tight. “You gave me this. You can’t toss it away.”

“Then it sure as hell better give you the right answer, or there’ll be hell to pay.”

She thrust it out toward him again. “You look first. I can’t. I want to, but I can’t.”

“Okay, here goes.” He made a scene of shielding the flat edge of the ball while he read it.
It is decidedly so
. Why on earth a plastic ball made him breathe easier was beyond him, but it did.

“It’s safe. You can look.” He turned the ball toward her and watched as her eyes widened and she drew in an excited breath.

“Yeah!” She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him again. “Thank you! This is the best gift ever.”

“You wouldn’t be saying that if the answer was
Don’t count on it
.”

“Nope, but it wasn’t, and fate and all things sparkly were shining down on me.” She looked down at the ball. “Do you believe in fate?”

“I do.” He always had, though his brothers would scoff if they heard him admit it.

“Do you believe in all things warm and fuzzy?”

Ross moved closer, so their bodies touched from chest to knee. “I do.”

“Ask it a question,” she said just above a whisper.

Ross looked out over the town that had never done him wrong. The town that had accepted and saved his family after his father had left them. The town where he felt he belonged and where he hoped to one day raise his own children. The town that he hoped would one day give Elisabeth all that it had given him.

He laced their fingers together, and in the other hand he held the plastic ball.

“Will my wish come true?” He shook the ball and handed it to Elisabeth. “Okay, Lis. Are we tossing it over the ledge or keeping it?”

She peeked at the ball. “As I see it, yes.”

“Yes, we toss it?”

“No. That’s the answer to your question, but what was your wish?”

“That all your dreams would come true.”

When their eyes met, Ross couldn’t hold back any longer. He folded her into his arms and gazed into her wanting eyes. “I’m going to kiss you, and if you want me to stop, you need to tell me, because if you don’t, I make no promises.”

NOTHING COULD COMPARE to being in Ross’s arms, their hearts beating against each other faster than a hummingbird’s wings, their tongues dancing together in perfect rhythm. She’d dreamed her whole life of feeling like this, feeling safe and cherished, her heart and mind being in sync. Wanting a man with her entire being. The air was cool, but her body was hot. When Ross rolled her onto her back and lay beside her, one strong leg pulled up over her thighs, his chest against hers, his hand cradling her head, their lips sealed together, she thought she’d died and gone to heaven. He was crazy if he thought she’d tell him to stop, because she could barely think past the hope that their kiss would never end.

Ross drew back, kissed the edges of her lips, then made his way across the center and ran his tongue along her upper lip.

More. Kiss me more
.

Her eyes were closed, and she focused on his breathing, the feel of his hand as it slid down her hip to the hem of her dress, then beneath, and he gripped the outside of her thigh. Her breathing came faster at the feel of his strong hand on her bare skin.

He kissed her jaw, the tender spot beneath her earlobe, and then he pressed his scruffy cheek to hers and whispered, “Lissa, you make my mouth water for more of you.”

She shivered with anticipation.

“Do you want me to stop?”

Even with her eyes closed, she felt the heat of his stare, heard the desire in his voice. “God no.” She reached up and drew his mouth to hers again.

Their mouths came together in a heady mix of want and need. The kiss was hard and rough, spurring sexy noises of desire from them both. Ross’s hand slid up her thigh and gripped her hip. He pressed his hard length against her side as he deepened the kiss, and everything intensified. The air grew hotter, her breathing came faster, and her hips had a mind of their own, arching upward, aching for him. His lips slid down her chin, kissing a path to her collarbone. He licked the dip in the center, and she drew in a breath. He dragged his tongue up her neck and settled his teeth on the skin just below her ear, sucking hard enough to make her entire body go white-hot. She was damp with desire. His hand slid from her hip higher, creeping up her ribs, then stopping just below her breasts. She clawed at his back, pulled up the back of his shirt in search of skin.

Oh yes, hard muscles, hot skin.
Heaven
.

His hand moved higher. Finally, his thumb brushed over her breast, sending a shock of need through her.

“Ross, touch me.”

He brushed his thumb over her taut nipple, and oh God, she wanted more. So much more. She didn’t try to understand the unfamiliar rush of desire and emotions driving her forward, forming words she’d only dreamed of using in this context. She let her mind go blank and opened herself to the moment.

“Please.” A heated plea.

He moved down her body, kissing the skin between her breasts.
Yes. Oh, yes
. His hand slid south again, and she held her breath as he hooked his finger into the edge of her lace panties and gazed up into her eyes. She was panting with need as he slid his finger along the seam and swept over her damp center. The pit of her stomach tightened.

“Lissa,” he whispered, then lowered his forehead to her belly and stilled. When he lifted his eyes, they were filled with conflict—lust and hesitation.