One Night with her Bachelor (18 page)

Gabriel bit back
a moan. Damn but this woman was going to kill him. He was already so hard he thought he’d explode any minute. From the second she’d walked into her living room, all dressed up in that tight shirt and frilly skirt, all he could think about was getting inside her. But they had to have a serious talk first, and his truck wasn’t the place to do that.

“Gabriel?” Her voice was tentative, and he realized how insulting his silence might seem after such an offer.

He cleared his throat. “I’d love that, Molly. Really. But—”

But what? Why the hell couldn’t he say the words out loud? Why couldn’t he tell her?

Because not-so-deep-down he was a chicken shit. He was an unemployed airman who’d spent the past year avoiding people so he wouldn’t see his own reflection in the way they looked at him. Molly was holding down a job, holding together a family, and carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders. How could he add his own dead weight to that?

He was here to give her a good time, to help her relax and feel sane after all the insanity fate had heaped on her. He knew those feelings all too well. He still struggled with them constantly, and being with her soothed them like nothing else.

He wanted the fantasy. He wanted to pretend for a while longer that he was whole and she might choose him as her man to lean on. He wanted to pretend he could bring more comfort to her life than stress, even though the reality was he had so many of his own issues to figure out.

Molly shifted away from him, taking her hand off his leg and curling it in her lap. She stared out the window on her side of the truck, her shoulders hunching with that extra weight of his silence. He’d done it again. He’d hurt her by trying not to hurt her. He felt like the world’s biggest dick. But he just didn’t know what to say. He wasn’t a smooth-talker.

Hell, he wasn’t even a talker.

This was why he shouldn’t have gotten mixed up with her in the first place.

They pulled into Bozeman, and he turned the truck down a side street and into a parking lot. As soon as he turned the ignition off, he unhooked his seat belt and turned to face her. “Give me your hands.”

She blinked, as though she were startled, but she tentatively reached out. He took her hands in his. They were warm and soft. Neither of those qualities should’ve created electricity, but it pulsed up his arm to his heart as he met her gaze. “I haven’t been with anyone since the accident. My hesitation has nothing to do with you, other than the fact that I want to make things good for you, and I don’t want to hurt you.”

Her jaw worked from side to side as if she chewed on the insides of her cheeks.

“I wanted to take you out tonight and do the things we didn’t get to do last time. I want you to have a night that’s all about you and the things you like—not the things Josh thinks you like.”

“What if the night I want to have is about
us
, not just me?”

His breath caught in his throat. He slowly released it. “I like the sound of that.”

“And I like
you
, Gabriel. I feel good when we’re talking. I feel bad when we aren’t.”

He clamped his jaw shut and nodded. “Talking’s not always easy for me, sweetheart. Never has been, and it’s only gotten worse since I started living on my own.”

She squeezed his hands. “Good thing I’m a patient person. All I ask is that you be honest with me. If the truth is you don’t find me attractive or—”

“Oh, Jesus.” He tugged her forward, slid his hands into her hair and kissed her.

All the hormones he’d been trying to control jumped to life as soon as his lips touched hers. So soft. So,
so
damn soft. Warm and sweet and comforting and sexy as hell. She was all those things and more. He couldn’t get enough of her. He groaned as she pressed closer, her beautiful breasts hot against his chest as he swept his hands down her back. He needed so much more.

When she pulled back to catch her breath, her pupils had dilated and she looked high. He’d mussed up her hair, and her lipstick had smeared.

She gave him a smile that was drunk on passion and swiped at his lower lip with her thumb. “I think you’re wearing more of my lipstick than I am.”

“Do you think it’s my color?” he joked, and his spirit lightened when she laughed and nodded. He gently kissed the tip of her nose. “I have some napkins in the glove compartment there. Could you grab them for me?”

She did and he wiped the lipstick off. Jerking his head toward the restaurant they’d parked in front of, he said, “I don’t know about you, but I’m hungry.”

She looked out the window and gasped. “A Thai restaurant?”

“Yep.”

She shocked the hell out of him by throwing her arms around his neck and giving him a huge hug. “How did you get so perfect?”

A little of his enthusiasm died, but no way would he kill hers by admitting all the ways he wasn’t perfect. “Do me a favor and say that in front of my mom and sister sometime. They’d get a real kick out of it.”

She was momentarily quiet, and he realized he’d just implied that he would introduce her to his family. “I’d like that, Gabriel. Now let’s go get some spring rolls.”

They ate and laughed and talked about a million things except the one thing Gabriel grew more and more conflicted about. The longer he kept silent, the harder it became to start the conversation. After dinner, they held hands and crossed the street to Moose’s Country, a bar and honky tonk that boasted Wednesday night as Wild West Night, with live bands and line-dancing lessons. When they walked in, the dance floor already was packed, the music was thumping and the instructor was up on stage calling out instructions as a couple of dancers in western gear demonstrated the moves.

Molly pulled him straight to the center of the dance floor, and his heart kicked up speed as he saw the exuberance on her face. Years fell away from her. The sweet kindergarten teacher who hid her curves under long skirts and shirts decorated with kids’ handprints morphed into a sexy, sensual woman. She never dropped his hand as they followed the instructions. Soon he forgot all about his limitations and was filled with the most incredible gratitude simply that he was here. He was here and alive and healthy and enjoying a night out in a bar full of people and music and noise—all because he was with a woman who’d shown him not to be afraid of life’s challenges. Not to be defined by them as he struggled to overcome them.

I could fall so hard for you.

Almost as if she heard his thoughts, she twirled to face him and slung her arms around his neck. Her whole body pressed against his, and he had a moment of fear that she would feel his leg when she rubbed against him. But her face was too full of joy and excitement as they swayed against each other. Her mind clearly wasn’t on his body but on
him
. He could tell with just one look that she was falling as hard as he was, and the thought filled him with terror and hope in equal measure.

A new band came on the stage, and the tempo of the music changed. Everyone around them started two-stepping, clapping and spinning, but he couldn’t bear to let her go, not even for a second. She seemed to feel the same. She pressed closer, and they swayed together to their own rhythm. Lowering his head, he whispered in her ear. “The answer is yes.”

She gave him a confused look, and he nuzzled her nose, kissed the apple of her cheek before returning to her ear and murmuring, “Just before we left your house, you asked Lily if she thought I wanted you. The answer is
hell yes
. I want you so badly my whole body aches. Every single bit of me wants every single bit of you. You’re the sexiest, most beautiful woman I’ve ever met, Molly Dekker, and I would do just about anything to make you happy.”

Her breasts brushed against him with every deepening breath. Her eyes shimmered as she said, “Then let’s go for a drive.”

‡

A
pparently she didn’t
have to tell him where to go. He bundled her into the truck, got in, and started the drive back toward Marietta. Halfway there, he turned onto a side road that she would’ve pointed out if he hadn’t already started slowing for the turn. The side road turned into a dirt road, and after a few more turns they came to a bluff overlooking a lake. She remembered this make-out spot from her teenage years, but Gabriel put his four-wheel drive to good use and took them off-roading to a spot she’d never known existed. The truck’s tires crunched over snow until they came to a clearing surrounded by trees. Unable to go any further, he parked but kept the engine—and the heater—running.

“I guess I wasn’t the only one who used to come up here,” she joked.

“I wasn’t sure this was what you had in mind when you said you wanted to go for a drive.”

“This is exactly what I had in mind.” She unbuckled her seat belt. “Can we turn on the radio?”

A twinge of curiosity crossed his face, but he didn’t ask questions as he flicked the radio on. He had it on a rock station, so she changed the frequency to her favorite country station and cranked up the volume. “I’m not done dancing.”

She threw open the truck’s door and slid down. Her boots hit the snow and sank, but she barely felt the cold. Leaving the door open, she stomped through the snow to the front of the truck, letting the headlights spotlight her. Unless she was acting silly in front of five-year-olds, she’d never liked putting herself on display. But tonight she was ready to discover new parts of herself—and share them with Gabriel.

She could barely see his silhouette through the headlights, but she knew he was watching her. Fate turned out to be kind because one of her favorite songs came on. As the opening beats of
“Country Girl (Shake It For Me)”
buzzed through the wintry air, her body unconsciously pulsed to the upbeat anthem urging women to let loose and dance. She closed her eyes, clapped her hands above her head and stomped her feet in the snow, letting the music move her. She loved rocking out to this song alone in her truck, or as she vacuumed or washed dishes. She loved escaping the mundane tasks of her life and pretending she was a wild woman.

And now her fantasies had come to life. She was in the wilderness, snuggly warm in her bulky coat as she danced for herself and the sexiest man she’d ever met. Snowflakes fell on her cheeks and sizzled. She was smokin’ hot. Opening her eyes, she stared at Gabriel’s shadow and unzipped her coat. When she let it drop to the ground, she spun around and wriggled suggestively.

The music was so loud she didn’t hear his truck door open, but suddenly her hand was in his and she was twirling around and around. She let her head drop back as she laughed. Tonight was every dream come true. Tonight was all she ever needed.

His arm snaked around her waist and tugged her against his hard body. His lips covered hers, his tongue sweeping inside to tease the sensitive ridge of her mouth. His hands cupped her bottom, lifting her until she wrapped her legs around his waist.

Need pulsed hard at her core. She rubbed against the ridge of his erection, and he moaned in her mouth. He turned and braced her against the hood of his truck, circling his hips in a way that made her crazy with desperation. She was wet and throbbing and so very empty. Flexing her legs, she drew him even closer and moaned against his lips. “Do you have condoms?”

He shook his head.

“Good thing I brought some, then.”

He drew back a little, his breathing erratic. “Where are they?”

“Pocket of my jacket.” She’d slipped them in there earlier today.

He helped her slide down to her feet and then fetched her jacket from the snow. Without his body heat, she began to feel the cold, so she rubbed her bare arms. Jerking his head toward the driver’s side, he ordered, “Get in the truck.”

She scrambled inside. Gabriel followed her in, slammed the door shut and cranked up the heat. Before she had a chance to think, he tossed the condom on the dash, threw her coat behind the seat and tugged her onto his lap. She straddled him, and the feel of his hard erection against her ever-more-sensitive skin made her breath catch. He cradled her face as he kissed her with growing ferocity. She burrowed closer, sharing his heat until she no longer felt the chill.

“Warm?” he murmured.

She nodded.

“Good. I’ve wanted to do this all night.” He slipped open the top few buttons on her shirt and slid his thumbs under the edges, pushing them to the sides. Her breasts tumbled free, and he cursed. “Goddamn you’re beautiful.”

He cupped her, rubbed her nipples with his work-roughened thumbs and made shivers of lust run down her spine. “Kiss me, Gabriel.”

She didn’t need to specify where. He lowered his head and took her nipple in his mouth, sucking and licking and gently biting until she went crazy, jerking and rubbing against him through their layers of clothes. His hands slid down her body to the place she ached so badly. His thumbs pressed against her tights, yanking them apart. The sound of ripping nylon was drowned out by the pulsing music, but she felt them give way. His fingers slipped under her panties, and she jerked as his cool flesh touched her hot lips. The contrast of his callouses against her softest skin, his light touch where she needed his hardness, made her hips buck. He kept loving on her breasts, kissing and murmuring encouragement as an orgasm built deep inside her.