Someone Like You (12 page)

‘Thanks for the walk home. You’re quite the gentlemen.’ Her hands were on his strong arms to give her purchase and she could feel his muscles bunch and quake beneath her touch. Lizzie was halfway to giving him a goodbye peck on the cheek – it’s what she did with everybody – before she realised the boundary she was about to cross.

There was no going back now. His arms enveloped her, squeezed the air out of her lungs as he pulled her in tight, his mouth on her jaw before she knew what was happening. Her nipples reacted faster than her brain, budding with the feel of him pressed against her, so hard. His heat sparked a fire in her belly and robbed her of any sensible thing to say.

‘What did you call me?’

‘A gentlemen,’ she managed.

‘You got the wrong guy,’ he said roughly as his lips found hers, soft at first, teasing and coaxing. When Lizzie lifted her arms around his shoulders, she searched for the warm skin at the back of his neck and then tangled her fingers up through his hair, black and silky and long on his collar, and gripped hard.

‘Dan,’ she whispered, and that was his trigger to take her, lift her off her feet and tangle his tongue with hers, caressing, kissing and claiming her. His beard was soft against her cheek where she expected rough. Lizzie savoured every move, every sensation, felt alive where every inch of his body pressed against hers, including his erection poking into her belly. God, it had been too long since she’d come across one of those.

Well, hello sailor
.

Oh no. The thought bubble inside her head lingered. She tried to burst it, to kick it to the kerb.
Think about the way his lips feel, how strong his arms are, how hard that chest is, how sexy that dishevelled hair looks. The eyes that pin you to the spot. Yes, think about his eyes. Think about how long it’s been since someone held you like this. Think about how much he wants you
.

Nothing worked. It was there. It was too late to un-think it.

Lizzie giggled.

More than that, she laughed, with his tongue in her mouth and her hands grabbing at his hair. Dan stopped kissing her but didn’t move his lips from hers or let her go.

‘You all right?’ he murmured. The movement of his soft lips against hers felt ticklish and set her nerves jangling in all kinds of new places.

Lizzie laughed again. ‘Yeah…’

He kissed her three times, quickly. ‘I don’t normally get laughs.’

And that made Lizzie giggle even more. ‘Oh, I bet you don’t.’

Dan pulled his mouth from hers but kept one strong arm around her waist, while the other hand slipped down to cup her butt, pull her close.

‘You want me to stop?’ His voice was low and sexy and damn it if she didn’t feel it throb right through her body.

Hell no, she didn’t want him to stop. She’d just realised how long it had been since a man had kissed her. Oh, who was she kidding. She’d
never
been kissed like that by a man. Or by a man like that. This was knee-trembling, nipple-tightening, heart-pounding, good old-fashioned pashing. With a man who was more than six kinds of handsome. And she didn’t want her nerves to get in the way. She wanted more, so she nudged her hips closer to him so he’d be left in no confusion about exactly how much more she wanted. His erection dug into her and she realised with a hopeful awareness that Dan McSwaine might be getting his mojo back.

‘Dan,’ she whispered. ‘I most definitely don’t want you to stop.’

But he loosened his grip, pulled back even more, then dropped his arms to his sides. He swore under his breath and scratched his beard.

Maybe he hadn’t heard her right. ‘Dan,’ Lizzie whispered, ‘I said
don’t
stop.’

‘I know. I heard you. But I reckon I should.’

She blew out a big, frustrated sigh and crossed her arms angrily in front of her.

‘Shit, Elizabeth—’ Dan reached over and played with the little wisp of hair that sat in front of her ears, pushing it gently behind.

She batted his hand away. ‘Forget it. Just forget it.’

‘Elizabeth…’

‘Look, I get the hint, okay? You don’t have to do this…this. Whatever this is. Or isn’t.’

‘You’re right. I don’t
have
to do anything.’

‘Exactly. And I ruined the big moment, so let’s just let bygones be bygones and agree that this—’ Lizzie waved her hand back and forth between them, ‘This is a bad idea.’

Dan rubbed both hands over his eyes and up into his hair, linking his fingers together on top of his unruly mop. ‘If you had the smallest clue about what I’m thinking right now…’

‘What would that be? “Oops? I accidently fell on Lizzie’s face and lucky her lips were there to cushion the blow?”’ She was irritated and tired, frustrated and aching from his touch. Furious at herself for wanting it in the first place. Furious at him for taking it away.

‘For someone so smart you haven’t got a fucking clue.’ Even though they were angry words, there was softness in his voice and in his eyes.

‘Oh yeah? I know exactly what you’re thinking, Dan McSwaine. Something like “lucky” and “escape” probably figure in there somewhere.’

He moved closer, dropped his arms, pushed his body against her. ‘You’re wrong.’

Lizzie didn’t budge. Her lips felt raw, parched from his kisses, and she ran her tongue over them. Dan watched her do it and let out a loud exhale.

She tried again to guess what he was thinking. ‘What about “get me out of here”? Am I getting close?’

‘Nowhere near close. Why don’t you try: You. Me. Naked.’

Dan turned away, stepped outside and called back to her.

‘Oh, I left out a word. Soon.’

Dan felt like a million bucks. He was a man, after all, and his mojo was pretty damn important to him. And he was pretty sure it had returned with a vengeance.

That had to be a sign. When he reached home, his face ached from grinning. And his dick ached too. Also a good sign he decided. Dan junior clearly thought there was going to be a party. But Dan senior had overruled him. For tonight. He wanted Lizzie. Hell, he really wanted her. But there was no way he was going to treat her as if she was someone he’d picked up in a bar. This wasn’t a pick-up in a nightclub. This was different. She was different and he needed time to prepare and plan and get it right because he had a feeling she’d be worth it.

And for fuck’s sake, he really needed a shave.

‘Lizzie! You
have
been holding out on me. When did all this happen?’ Julia peered over her sunglasses, careful to take her eyes off the road for only half a second.

Lizzie sat in the passenger seat of the sports utility her best friend was manoeuvring through the undulating southern Adelaide Hills, taking in the view to the distant ocean. The further away they got from Middle Point, the less relaxed Lizzie felt. And reminiscing about her night-time escapade with Dan only added unhealthily to the mix of tension in her stomach.

‘I told you, last night. There I am, locking lips with the totally shaggable Dan McSwaine, right there in my living room, his hands on me like he wants to rip all my clothes off. He’s being all handsome and deep and sexy and doing that thing with his eyes.’

‘And?’ Julia demanded.

‘And I screwed it up. The big moment.’

‘Oh no. What on earth did you do?’

‘I laughed.’

Julia giggled, then let loose into a full guffaw. ‘You
laughed
?’

Lizzie closed her eyes, mortified not only by the fact that she’d had one of the most embarrassing moments of her romantic career, but that she was now reliving it for her best friend. ‘You think I’m making this up? I was trying so hard to be “sex kitten” but I ended up with “girl from Middle Point”.’

‘Who says we can’t be both, huh?’ Julia chuckled, checked her rear-vision mirror.

‘Me. I’m living proof, obviously.’ Lizzie buried her face in her hands. ‘I can’t believe I did that.’

‘What exactly was so funny about it? And don’t you dare try and tell me he’s a dud in the smooching department.’

‘Hell, no. He was good. Better than good. He was…’ Lizzie’s voice trailed off as she remembered what if felt like to be in his orbit, with his mouth on hers, smelling him, feeling his strength and his tenderness.

‘That good, huh?’

‘Yeah.’

‘Look at you. Even thinking about it makes you speechless.’

Lizzie sighed. ‘The problem with a kiss like that is that I didn’t realise what I’d been missing until that moment, you know? When he looked at me and wrapped me up in his arms, with his entire body…’

Julia let out a contented moan. ‘Oh, I know exactly what you mean.’

‘Is that what you have with Ry?’

Julia snorted. ‘Why the hell do you think I’m marrying him? You’ve gotta hold on to that, Lizzie. Wait however long it takes until you have that feeling with someone. That’s the real thing.’

‘It’s not like I didn’t want to have sex with him. I really
did
want to have sex with him. I don’t know what happened.’

Julia glanced over her shoulder before changing lanes to overtake a four-wheel drive towing a caravan. ‘So what happened then? After you shattered his manly ego with the whole laughing thing?’

‘He said it wasn’t me, it was him. Haven’t I heard that one before? I got shitty, accused him of looking for a way out and then he told me…basically…he told me,’ Lizzie swallowed at the memory of what his voice sounded like when he’d said it. ‘He said he wanted to get me naked.’

Julia whistled. ‘Oh, that’s hot.’

‘Soon.’ Lizzie added.

‘He said “soon”?’

‘Just not last night.’

‘He’ll be
so
worth the wait.’

Lizzie gazed out the window as they headed north past McLaren Vale, the plains on each side of the highway sliced into neat lines by thousands of rows of grapevines in full, apple-green leaf. She wondered if those maturing grapes would make up any of the wine on the Middle Point pub’s wine list. She should get on to that. And thinking about the pub made her think of the car park renovation and that made her think about Dan and she was right back to where she started. Anxious. Aching with sexual tension. Frustrated as hell.

‘I don’t know, Jools.’

‘What’s so problematical about two single, gorgeous people with a thing for each other?’

Lizzie didn’t elaborate about exactly how complicated she thought it actually was, what she suspected was going on beneath Dan’s handsome surliness. That would only make Julia and Ry worry more about him.

‘When did I say I had a thing for him? I’d quite like to have sex with him, but that’s not a
thing
. He’s so not a
thing
kind of guy.’

Julia’s eyebrows shot up. ‘You sure about that?’

‘I’m sure. And who says I want a thing, either?’

‘Lizzie, all I know is that it’s fantastic he’s helping with the pub and that he’s kissing you. Two things he most definitely wasn’t doing a month ago. They’re all good signs, don’t you think? That he’s on the road to getting back to who he used to be?’ Julia glanced at Lizzie for confirmation before returning her eyes to the road.

‘Yes. Maybe. I don’t know.’

‘So, enough about you and your love life. Here’s how the day is going to work. We’ll head straight to King William Road, have a real coffee, and then hit the bridal shops. After three or four hours of me trying on dresses and you telling me how stunning I look, I’ll buy you lunch.’

Lizzie winced. ‘Three or four hours?’

‘That was a joke. I just threw it in there to see if you were listening or if your head was back in Middle Point with Dan.’

‘I’m totally scrubbing Dan from my mind. Not thinking about him at all. Today we are going to have that girly shopping day. Thank you for asking me to be your bridesmaid.’

‘I wouldn’t have anyone else, you know that. I don’t know if you need the full bridesmaid duties rundown but your most important responsibility is to not look hotter than me on my wedding day.’

‘That would be impossible. And if you’re in any doubt, I’d be happy to draw a mono-brow on my forehead so people will recoil in horror during the ceremony.’ They laughed, back in comfortable familiarity, and watched the scenery of the southern vales whizz past.

When Lizzie’s phone rang, she dipped her fingers into her handbag that was nestled on the floor between her feet. ‘Damn it, it’s supposed to be my day off,’ she muttered. When she checked the screen, she turned to Julia.

‘It’s him.’

‘What? No text message this time?’ Julia teased. When Lizzie hesitated, she said, ‘Go on, answer it, girlfriend.’

Lizzie pressed the keypad to connect the call and squeezed her eyes shut.

‘Hi Dan.’ There was no point answering with a more efficient ‘Lizzie Blake speaking’ since she knew that he knew his number was in her phone.

‘Elizabeth. You at work?’ His voice, direct and deep, shot sparks right through her and started a rumble in her stomach that she had to tamp down with her palm. This was his idea of
soon
? The next freaking night?

‘No, I’m not.’ She turned to look at Julia with wide eyes. ‘It’s my day off and I’m heading up to Adelaide with Jools for some quality girl time.’

‘Will you be back tonight? I’d like to cook you dinner.’

Lizzie swallowed hard, squeezed her eyes closed. ‘Sure. Yes, I’d like that.’ And by dinner, she wondered, did he mean that thing about getting naked as well?

‘Eight o’clock? My place.’

‘That works for me. See you at eight.’

‘See you tonight,’ Dan ended the call.

Lizzie clutched her phone, stared straight ahead at the white line and the shimmering bitumen.

‘Well?’ Julia asked, grinning.

‘Dan’s cooking me dinner.’

Julia smiled. ‘Oh
my
.’

Lizzie slapped her hands to her cheeks. ‘Shit a brick. Can we get home by six? I need to shave my legs and wash my hair and think about what to wear. What
am
I going to wear?’

Julia laughed. ‘I will make the ultimate sacrifice and make a detour to a boutique or two. Just for you. Because I am the best friend ever. Let’s make it a totally girly day for you as well.’

‘Do you think you can help me choose something that subtly straddles the fine line between gagging for it and demure?’