My Best Friend's Baby by Lisa Plumley Page B

heels. Talk of
climaxes and moving slowly was only that—talk—but his touch spoke
of more. Much more.
    And she wanted it all.
    Chloe's hands went to his chest, smoothing
imaginary wrinkles out of his shirt as an excuse to touch him.
Wrinkles—as if anything of Nick's would've dared misbehave. Letting
her hands fall to her sides again, she felt an answering smile lift
her lips. "But that can be a good thing, sometimes," she said.
    He raised his eyebrows.
    "Moving slowly, I mean."
    His smile was wicked, and so was the forward
nudge of his hips against hers. The hard, slow impact of his hips
felt too wonderful for words. The hard, heated meld of their bodies
made everything else slide away. Her heartbeat pulsed faster,
keeping time with the rhythm of his breathing.
    "Mmmm, moving slowly ... ." He trailed his
fingers down her shirt buttons, pretending to consider the idea.
"You mean, in a conversation?"
    She shook her head. Her third and fourth
buttons bumped beneath his fingertips as he made his way downward,
edging between her breasts and lower.
    "In a movie, then."
    His voice teased her, taunted her ...
reminded her of the closeness their banter implied. Chloe bit her
lip, holding in the answer he waited for.
    "Hmmm. Won't talk?" Nick's smile flashed in
the night. "Then I'll just have to guess how this slow-moving thing
comes into play for you," he said, fingering the next button. The
next. His fingers slipped between the buttons to caress her bare
skin beneath, then quickly slipped out and continued to the next
button. The last one. "Maybe you like it when ... everything moves
really slowly?"
    "No," she whispered as his hand followed the
curve of her hip, then captured her wrist. He laced their fingers
together and pushed her hand beneath his against the glass behind
them. The rest of her answer emerged on a gasp. "No, I—I like that
in a man."
    "Mmmm." His fingertips tickled her wrist. "I
thought so."
    Quit talking , Chloe thought. Just
shut up and kiss me . But instead Nick only raised his head,
focused his gaze on her, and for one long, breath-stealing moment,
she thought he'd changed his mind. He studied her, seeing her in a
way she thought he might never have before.
    As a lover.
    He drew in a deep breath and released her
hand. Only his hips touched hers as, casually, he raised the
plastic ice cream bowl he still held in his palm and examined
it.
    "You want a slow-moving man?" he asked.
    She licked her lips and sucked in a breath
for courage. "I—" I want you .
    She couldn't say it aloud. Apparently, the
atmosphere in Saguaro Vista didn't have the magical
bravery-enhancing properties she needed. Maybe Nick could invent a
solution to that.
    "Yes," she whispered instead, trembling so
hard the words emerged on a shiver. "I ... I want that."
    "Too bad," Nick said. "Because I'm not
moving slowly anymore."
    The ice cream bowl tumbled to the patio
tiles. The spoon spun away, whirling silver like a child's top set
into motion. Both his hands came up to cradle her face in his
palms, to raise her gaze to his. Once there, she couldn't look
away.
    "This time," he said, " I'm
taking ."
    His mouth came down hard over hers. And just
as he'd promised, just as he'd warned, Nick took everything. Her
thoughts. Her fears. Every ounce of caution.
    Her heart.
    His hands delved into her hair, his
fingertips rubbing soft against her scalp to hold her still for his
kiss. Moaning, he captured her mouth again and again, now licking
her lips with tiny, fiery strokes of his tongue, now sucking and
retreating and making her crazy with the slanted pressure of his
mouth on hers. Chloe kissed him back with all the love she'd kept
hidden, twining her arms around his neck, burying her fingers in
his hair, pressing hard against him.
    Her breasts crushed against the solid warmth
of his chest. Her legs wobbled, and she blessed the patio door that
held her upright. The muted sounds of wind and burring cicadas and
neighbors talking in the distance receded