Page 74 of Irresistibly Wicked

Now it was his turn to be confused. He tried to make sense of it, but there was no making sense of this. He and Shauna were like a custom home whose unique elements had been forged years before the architect had even conceptualized them.

“Why do you have that tattoo?” she asked.

“It’s a musical abbreviation.” He curled his fingers around hers. “Or maybe it’s another sign that we were meant to be in each other’s lives.”

She held his gaze, her eyes wide and searching, as if he’d become someone new she was seeing for the first time. Only he knew it wasn’t just him who was evolving. Their electrical charge echoing in the silence was inescapable.

“I’m gonna…” She stumbled backward, pointing behind her toward her bedroom. “Yeah. I’m…I’ve got to work in the morning, so…”

He knew whatever this was, was so big and so real, it scared her. It scared him, too, but it intrigued him even more, and he wanted to explore it. Hell, he wanted to dive in headfirst and get lost in it. He gritted his teeth to keep those thoughts from coming out as she took another step backward.

“This was fun…Thanks…for the…Yeah. I’m, um, I’m going to bed.” She turned around, nearly tripping over Kitty, and hurried into her bedroom. Kitty darted in behind her, slipping in before she closed the door.

You can run from this, my sweet bride, but I have a feeling it’s already a part of us.

Chapter Twenty-Four

SHAUNA TRIED TO convince herself she wasn’t tired as she got ready for work Friday morning, though she’d only slept a few hours thanks to her now husband, Mr. Wicked Kisser. Every time she’d closed her eyes she’d seen flashes of him. She looked down at her beautiful rings, still shocked they’d gone through with the wedding. She might have thought she’d dreamed up the whole incredible evening if Conroy hadn’t sent them the pictures shortly after they’d gotten home last night. She’d never seen herself so happy or so pretty, and Zander? Her pulse quickened just thinking about the way he’d looked at her when she’d walked down the aisle, but seeing it in pictures had cemented the image into her memory. She’d forever remember their heart-thundering glances that had stoked the desire brewing between them nearly to the point of combustion. And she’d definitely never forget that toe-curling, soul-rocking kiss. God, that kiss…

The kiss I initiated in front of his entire family.

She still couldn’t believe she’d done that, but it had felt like a now-or-never moment, and she hadn’t wanted there to be a never. The trouble was, she hadn’t known kisses like that existed. How could a single kiss make her knees weaken and her entire body tingle and burn? How could one kiss, a first kiss, leave her loneliest parts begging for more? It wasn’t just the way he looked at her or that smoldering kiss that was turning her into a hot mess. It was everything about him, from the way he made her feel safe enough to let her guard down to how he held nothing back, making her laugh by swooping her off her feet one second and sending her up in flames the next with those piercing blue eyes and a soft-spoken promise. All kidding aside, thank you for trusting me. I’ll try my best to be the kind of husband you deserve.

Zander Wicked possessed the rare and innate ability to ruin a girl for all others with an intimacy that didn’t require physical touch. He needed a neon blinking light on his forehead that read Warning! This man will ruin you for life.

And leave you wanting more.

So much more.

She finished dressing, and as she put on her boots, she thought about the moment she’d seen her initials tattooed on his finger. The sight had stolen her breath, but it was their connection, that buzz of electricity and the bone-deep ache to kiss him again, that had sent her world spinning. She cringed with the memory of being unable to string a sentence together before escaping into her bedroom. Maybe Zander didn’t notice her foray into Flusterville.

Yeah, right.

The man didn’t miss a thing.

She needed to get over it. What’s done was done, and there was no undoing it. She would write off that embarrassing escape as a blip on their radar screen and write off their kiss—the best kiss I’ve ever had—as temporary madness, and move on. At least she’d have the next twenty-four hours to figure out how to do that before she’d see him again.

She slid the rings off her finger and tucked them into her jewelry box, surprised to miss the feel of them. Trying to ignore that sensation, she grabbed her keys and pocketed her phone, thinking about the tattoo on his finger. Last night, when she couldn’t sleep, she’d googled sfz, just to be sure it really was a musical abbreviation. It was, but it still looked like a monogram made just for her. After that revelation, she’d downloaded the book Madigan and the girls were reading for their book club and had begun reading it in hopes of turning her brain off. It hadn’t helped her sleep. The story was steeped with sexual tension…and she couldn’t wait to get back to it.

As she opened her bedroom door, she was surprised to hear the sound of Zander’s guitar. Her pulse spiked. She thought he’d be at work by now.

She followed the scent of something delicious down the hall and found a visual feast. Zander was sitting on the couch in the living room, shirtless, with his broad, muscular back to her, playing the guitar. Her eyes locked on the Family tattoo on his back, with all those roots snaking through the letters, and Madigan’s words came back to her. She’s one of us now, and we’re keeping her after the divorce. Shauna had been so overwhelmed after the way Zander’s family stepped up for him and how they’d accepted her with open arms, even if some were cautious, she hadn’t allowed herself to think Madigan had meant what she’d said. But maybe if she and Zander made it through these next few months unscathed, she could remain friends with him and Madigan and the girls.

“Good morning,” she said. “I thought you’d be at work by now.”

He turned, a warm smile stretching across his face like he was genuinely happy to see her, and boy did that feel good. “Morning, Angel.” He set his guitar on the couch. “I told them I’d be a little late. I wanted to start our new life right and see my gorgeous wife off to work.”

Her thoughts stumbled over what he’d said, and she got even more distracted as he pushed to his feet. His worn jeans hung low on his hips, bringing back the image of him naked, and her traitorous body forgot all about her fatigue, getting wired and restless all over again.

Nonono.

She tried to will those thoughts out of her head. She needed to think of him like one of the guys at the firehouse. How many times had she seen them walking around half-dressed? But they don’t have rock-hard abs I could wash my clothes on, and I’ve never wanted to kiss any of them so badly, I got hot and bothered just thinking about it. As the thought hit, her mind tiptoed back to what he’d said about going into work late for her.

“You didn’t have to do that,” she said. “I can get myself off.”

His smile turned salacious. “Well, I can help with that, too.”

A rush of heat washed through her, and for a brief, tantalizing moment, she allowed herself to toy with the idea. But as her body screamed yes, her rational brain took hold. She had too much riding on this to screw it up. “I’m good, thanks. I need to go to work.”