Page 124 of One Wild Wish

Guiding her so the tree blocked us from the playground, I soaked her in. I touched her eyebrow, traced the smooth arch. She blinked, and her long lashes skimmed my palm. I felt that soft brush everywhere. I wanted to map every inch of her skin. I read her like braille instead, memorizing the curve of her cheek, the cupid’s bow of her lips, the tiny divot under her chin.

She flattened her hands on my stomach and shuddered. “Are we dreaming?”

“If we are, I’d rather not wake up.” Except the absurdity of our misunderstanding had me chuckling. “Can’t believe you thought I was gay.”

“Can’t believe you’re not kissing me right now.”

“Demanding.”

“More like undersexed.”

Ainsley and her bluntness. But like her, I still couldn’t fathom that we were standing here, her hands under my shirt, mine on her gorgeous face. The air snapping between us. We were like Ellie and Peter in It Happened One Night , but instead of a spoiled rich girl, I’d found myself a vegan fashionista with a love of crossword puzzles who’d upended my life. I looped my finger through the pink elastic holding up her hair, dragged it out, and tossed it on the ground.

A dangerous smirk lit her face. “I liked that accessory.”

“You’ll like my hands in your hair better.” Not giving her time to reply, I threaded my fingers through the thick, golden layers, caressing her scalp and giving the strands a gentle tug.

She groaned. “I definitely like that better, but you’re still not kissing me.”

A travesty in need of reform. Noses brushing, I took my time. Barely grazed my lips over hers, mimicking the movement of her lazy fingers—up, down, side to side. I licked the seam of her lips, coaxing them open for me. Languidly, I twirled my tongue around hers, sucked on her bottom lip, teasing us both with light nips. Like I’d fantasized doing. We traded heady moans. Maybe traded promises, too.

We’d spent the past six weeks talking and laughing, both hoping for more. Could be this was the start of something amazing.

Her hands sketched a path over my ribs and up my back, her strokes quickening. Our kiss deepened—wetter, hotter, more tongue and teeth. But we weren’t alone. I couldn’t pop the top button of her jeans and work my fingers into her panties. I couldn’t hoist her legs around my waist.

I kissed her softly on the corner of her mouth. “We should come up for air.”

Cheeks flushed, she blinked before focusing on me. “Sorry, did you say something?”

Honest to God, this woman’s unabashed humor. Every word out of her mouth had me falling harder. “You distracted?”

“I’m not sure I can feel my lips.”

I ran my thumb over those bee-stung beauties. “They feel nice to me.”

She tried to bite me. “What’s this about air?”

Guess she was listening after all. “Unless you want to get arrested for indecent exposure, we need to take a break.”

She removed her hands from under my shirt, then proceeded to smooth the cotton over my abdomen. “Can I touch you over your clothes? Because your body is ridiculous. I mean, I’ve pictured it a lot, like a lot , but you don’t have an ounce of body fat anywhere.”

Laughing again, I sat on the prickly grass and pulled her between my legs—my back against the rough tree trunk, her spine rounding into my chest. Our own slice of heaven. “When we’re alone, you can touch me all you want, wherever you want. The ravaging I promised will happen. But tell me more about you picturing us naked.”

“Aren’t we supposed to be cooling things down?”

Her hair blew into my face, and I inhaled her scent. Chocolate-dipped vanilla ice cream. “Good point. How about telling me why you seemed so sad this morning.” I’d watched her when she’d arrived, couldn’t miss the frown lines sunk into her brow, her uncharacteristic bleakness. Still confused and irked with her behavior, all I’d mustered was a curt wave. Felt like an ass for it.

Turning sideways, she planted her feet on the outside of my thigh, wrapping her arms around her bent knees. “It’s a few things.”

I kissed her temple. Because I could. “I’m a good listener.”

“You are.” She pulled one of my hands into her grasp, traced the dips and curves of my knuckles. Ran her nails over the sparse hairs. I liked the simplicity of it. Ainsley plucking at my skin and calluses.

With my free hand around the back of her shoulders, I pulled her closer and nosed her ear. “Tell me.”

Her shoulder pressed into my chest. “I want to fire ninety percent of my clients, but my folks have unexpected house expenses on top of their usual struggles, so I might be stuck working for assholes for the rest of my life.”

I knew her clients were lawyers and had my own experience with that ego-driven crowd. “Let me guess, they toss their weight around and condescend to you.”