Best of Three (Counting on Love) by Erin Nicholas Page A

this guy had nerves—or hormones—of steel. She’d never had to work this hard before. This was not fun. She was going to have to go all out.
    “Fine, vertical will have to do.”
    She wanted his hands on her. It was crazy. Nate made her crazy. She’d known she was attracted and would have gotten naked with him in a closet long ago given the chance, but now that she’d kissed him, now that he’d been up against her, his hand on her ass and his tongue against hers, she wasn’t going to rest until she’d had him. All of him.
    “Vertical will have to do for what?” he asked.
    It was completely dark in the closet, but Emma could hear that he was amused from his tone. “Will do for getting naked and nasty.”
    “Nasty?” Nate repeated. “Not an appealing term, is it?”
    Smug. And superior. And…sexy as hell. He seemed so uptight and that was exactly what pushed her buttons and made her want to show him how wonderful nasty could be. She’d love to see Nate get dirty. She wondered if he had it in him. He had the sexy, bossy thing going on, but maybe he acted so overbearing to cover up some nerves about what he could offer a girl.
    That was kind of sweet. And she’d love to be the one to show him how to get down and dirty.
    “I promise it will be appealing. It will be better than that. I’ll talk you through the whole thing.”
    There was a heartbeat of silence and then he gave a low chuckle that seemed to cascade over her spine and send tantalizing waves of sensation out to her whole body.
    “You’re thinking that I’m not sure how to do nasty? Is that what you’re saying?” he asked.
    “Maybe our ideas about nasty are different.”
    His voice was rough as he said, “That’s a good possibility.”
    “But I don’t mind, Nate. I like things simple and straight up sometimes. And I promise that I won’t say anything to any of the guys or whatever. I won’t even tell my sisters. Let’s go for it and have some fun. No worries.”
    “Emma.”
    “Yeah?”
    “You have no idea what you’re talking about.”
    Ooh, that sounded promising. And whether or not it was true, she wanted this guy naked and against her now.
    “Show me. Let’s go. Right here, right now. I’m taking my top off, Nate. Then my bra, then my skirt and thong. I will be naked, right here in front of you in T-minus twenty seconds.”
    “I am not taking you up against the door in a closet at a college beer party.”
    “Please.” She said it quietly and let her sincerity seep into the words. Maybe he didn’t think she was serious. And she was. Oh, she was.
    “No.” He cleared his throat. “Dammit, Emma.”
    “We’re both grownups, we want each oth—”
    “Stop it. I’m not doing this. And I’m certainly not doing it while my son is on the other side of the door, planning god-knows-what with his girlfriend tonight.”
    How could she want to screw his brains out and strangle him to death at the same time? Emma huffed out a breath. “You’re killin’ me here.”
    “I’ve got to think of Michael. As long as he’s here, I’m here—with my pants on .”
    “Fine. But this conversation isn’t over.”
    “Do conversations with you ever really end?” he asked, that soft amusement back in his voice.
    “Not when I want something. You better remember that.”
    But she realized that pushing him wasn’t going to work. Tempting him was kind of working, but Nate wasn’t falling in line like guys usually did—big shocker. She was going to have to give her strategy some more thought.
    “Okay, get out of here,” she told him, a plan forming. “Go back to the truck. I’ll handle this.”
    “How?”
    “Don’t worry about it. I’ll get them out of here.” She put her hand flat on his chest. “That’s what you want, right? That’s the objection to going at it like hot teenagers at a frat party—that your kid is outside?”
    “Right.”
    “Then I’ll get them out of here.”
    “Fine.” He paused. “I’m still not