All she would have needed to do right then to push him over the edge of reason was lean in to kiss him again. One more kiss, and he would have been done for in twenty-four seconds rather than twenty-four hours.
He was more disappointed than he wanted to admit to himself when she simply nodded.
"Okay, I’ll accept your invitation to dinner, but I’ve got to take a shower first." She gave him the most beautifully wicked smile he’d ever seen. "A really long shower."
On that shockingly seductive note, she slid her fingers from his and began a slow walk up to her house.
He knew exactly what she was doing, that she was purposely taunting him with visions of her touching herself in the shower while he waited to take her to dinner. He had no doubt whatsoever that sweet little Brooke Jansen was going to keep pushing him closer to the edge during every one of the next twenty-four hours, and that she’d continue to laugh and smile through each and every one of them.
And hot damn if it didn’t make him want her even more, knowing that the good girl next door not only had such a well-hidden naughty streak...but also that it seemed nothing could dim the naturally bright light inside her.
Chapter Eight
Brooke dried and braided her hair before choosing a pair of skinny jeans and a blue and white long-sleeved striped top to wear for their motorcycle ride and night on the town. After she’d made her suggestive comment to Rafe about the shower, her legs had just about given out on the way back into the house. She’d never been so bold before, but the rush that had moved through her at his reaction was easily worth the butterflies in her stomach.
He’d looked stunned...and also like he wanted to throw her over his shoulder and drag her back to the nearest bedroom to do dirty things to her.
She had hoped a few minutes by herself would help calm her enough to make it through dinner with him. Instead, the warm water rushing over her overly sensitized skin had only heightened her need. One kiss was all it had taken to arouse her beyond reason. She was no stranger to self-pleasure, but something told her that instead of taking the edge off, touching herself would only make her crave his touch more.
Anticipation and heightened pleasure, she also suspected, were quite closely linked. And when she and Rafe finally came together—if the two kisses they’d shared so far had been anything to go by—it would be explosive.
She should have guessed that just kissing Rafe would be better than any other sexual experience she’d had. He’d tasted so delicious—a little salty from the hard physical work he’d been doing all day, and fresh and wet from the lake at the same time.
She was heading into the living room when her phone rang. She could see Rafe waiting for her on the front porch—hopefully wallowing in all the things she might have been doing in the shower for the past thirty minutes—and would have just let it ring until she saw her new business partner’s number on the small screen.
"Hi, Cord. I’m just walking out the door for dinner."
She listened with one eye on Rafe as Cord quickly told her that he’d found the perfect Seattle storefront and had emailed her several pictures of the space. "That’s great. I promise to log on and look at the photos before I go to bed tonight. I’ll give you a call back in the morning." He told her they’d need to make a deposit as soon as possible, before one of the half-dozen new cupcake makers in Seattle decided to snap up the space. "I’ll transfer the money into your account tomorrow. That way, we’re ready to jump when we need to." She felt bad about cutting the call short, but for one night, chocolate could wait. After disconnecting, she put a couple small boxes of chocolates into her bag.
Despite the fact that Rafe was staring out at a truly serene and peaceful lake view, he looked tense.
"Good shower?"
Brooke didn’t bother to stifle her delighted laughter at his rather growly question. "Amazing." She grabbed a coat and was already heading down the steps and out toward his bike when she took a deep breath, then boldly added, "But it would have been even better with you."
She didn’t turn back again to see how her sexy comment affected him, but she was pretty sure she heard him stumble on the gravel. If he wanted to mess around with her by forcing a twenty-four-hour waiting period on them, then she was more than happy to mess with him right back, she thought with a wide grin.
Especially when the good girl inside her had just learned how truly satisfying it was to be bad.
Back on the beach, his desire for her had been obvious enough that she doubted it would have taken much more than stripping off her wet clothes for him to forget about the stupid waiting period and just take her. But despite how badly she’d wanted that, she also understood that while seducing Rafe was bound to be amazing, both of them as equal partners in seduction would be so much better.
She wouldn’t ever regret being with him or second-guess it.
She didn’t want him to regret or second-guess, either.
His motorcycle was a sleek black Ducati. She barely knew anything about motorcycles, but even she’d heard of this brand. Brooke ran an appreciative hand over the smooth, shiny finish.
Rafe reached into the saddlebag and pulled out two helmets, one big and one a little smaller. She hadn’t thought about whether or not he’d have a second helmet with him, but even though she was glad he did—she wanted to be wild, but there was a big difference between wild and stupid—she couldn’t help but wonder why.
"You get a little line right here—" He reached out to stroke the tip of one finger between her eyes. "—when you’ve got a question you want to ask me."
That one little touch was all it took for her breath to go. "I’m just surprised you have a second helmet." One clearly sized for a woman.
"Mia’s got a thing for my bike. When I realized I wasn’t going to win the battle to keep her off of it, I bought her the helmet so she’ll always be safe when I take her for a ride."
Rafe was great for so many reasons, but right at the top of the list was how much he cared about his family. A moment later, he reached out to push a lock of hair that had fallen out of her braid behind her ear, then slid the helmet onto her head and did up the chin strap for her.
At last, the grin she’d been dying to see came as he looked at her. "Damn, you’re cute."
For so many years, she’d hated that word. Cute. But when Rafe said it, it didn’t sound bad at all.