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This was only her fifth day with Mac, and the air was charged with so much blatant sensuality it would melt anyone foolish enough to stumble into its path.
‘But I promised to be gentlemanly, so I won’t, but I’m sick to death of this ridiculous belief of yours that you’re not attractive. You’re a beautiful and very desirable woman.’
It frightened her. He frightened her. Because she wanted to believe him. Yet in her heart she knew it was all lies.
Mac eased away and she tossed her head. ‘I know my worth, Mac, make no mistake. I’m smart and strong and I’m a good friend. But let’s make one thing very clear. Boys like you do not kiss girls like me.’ Not unless it was for a bet or a dare, or they were trying to manipulate them in some way. ‘It’s a fact of life.’ A fact she had no intention of forgetting.
He’d started to turn away, but now he turned back, a flare of anger darkening his face. And then a slow, satisfied gleam lit his eyes, his mouth, even his shoulders—though she couldn’t have explained how.
‘Perfect...’ he crooned.
And then he moved in.
She raised her hands. ‘Don’t you—’
He claimed her lips swiftly, pushing her back against the house, taking his time exploring every inch of her mouth. She tried to turn her head to the side, but he followed her, his hands cupping her face. He crowded her completely, pressing every inch of his rock-hard self against her. His chest flattened her breasts—breasts that strained to get closer. He thrust a leg between her thighs, pressing against her most sensitive spot in the most irresistible way. It made her gasp. With a purr of satisfaction his tongue plundered her mouth.
Stop! Stop! Stop!
But he didn’t stop kissing her, savouring her, pressing against her, making her feel desired, making her feel beautiful, and with a moan scraping from the back of her throat she curled her hands into the soft cotton of his sweater and kissed him back. She wanted to know him, taste him. She wanted to savour him in the same way he savoured her. Her hands explored his shoulders and dived into the thickness of his hair. But she wanted more—so much more.
One of his arms went around her waist—he spanned it effortlessly—and hauled her closer as if she weighed nothing. It sent shivers of delight spiralling through her. Their kisses went from tasting and savouring to a deepening hunger. Held in his arms like this, dwarfed by his height and breadth, Jo felt almost dainty, utterly feminine and beautiful.
When his hand slid beneath her shirt to cup her breast his moan made her shake. He was moaning for her. He wanted her!
His thumb flicked across her nipple through the nylon of her bra. Desire spiked from her nipple to the core deep at the centre of her. She shifted against him, restless for more, seeking relief...seeking release and—
If they kept this up there was only one way it would end. She stilled. So did he. He didn’t remove his hand from her breast and his heat branded her, tormented her. She didn’t remove her arms from around his neck.
They both breathed hard, as if they’d run a race.
‘I beg to differ.’
She blinked up at him blankly.
‘Guys like me most certainly do kiss women like you. And what’s more, Jo, they enjoy every moment of it.’
One kiss couldn’t erase a lifetime of taunts, a lifetime of feeling she’d never measured up. A lifetime of never feeling beautiful.
She swallowed. Mac had kissed her as if he found her beautiful, but she still wasn’t convinced he wasn’t playing some deeper game. She removed her arms from around his neck. With the wall of his house behind her, she had nowhere to move to.
‘Let me go, Mac.’
He did immediately.
Regardless of any of his reasons for kissing her, regardless of how much her body clamoured otherwise, this couldn’t go any further.
‘I’ve known you for five days.’ Not even five full days. ‘I don’t jump into bed with men I’ve known for such a short time.’ Was that his style?
He moved down to the next veranda post, leaving a whole span of veranda railing between them. ‘I’m forty years old, Jo. The days when I thought one-night stands and flings were fun are long behind me.’
She’d never thought one-night stands or flings fun. Sharing her body with a man had always been a fraught experience and not one she’d ever raced into.
And yet today she’d almost...
She bent at the waist to lean her forearms along the railing, unconsciously mimicking Mac’s posture.
‘That kiss became a whole lot more a whole lot quicker than I meant it to,’ he said.
She winced at the apology, glanced at him from the corner of her eye and found him staring stolidly out to sea. She grimaced, shuffled, and finally gave in, huffing out a breath. ‘Yeah, well, it takes two to tango. It was just as much my fault as yours.’
