Chapter 4
“Thanks for the ice cream,”Natalie said when Josh parked his car in front of her house. After leaving Dina’s, he suggested a quick stop at the Dairy Queen for dessert, and she accepted. She’d ended up leaving her Silverado in the parking lot and taken a ride with him. She’d pick up her car tomorrow. What she really wanted now was to see where this would lead.
She didn’t have a lot of experience with men and dating, but Natalie was no fool. She’d read the scornful look on Vincent’s face during dinner. He didn’t have the guts to claim her, but didn’t want anybody else to have her either. Well, tonight he’d make a decision.
I need to make a decision too. What if Josh wasn’t so bad? They had a few things in common, knew the same people, and grew up in the same town. Except she doubted he’d ever want to leave, especially since he worked in his dad’s shop. A shop that would be his one day. Do I have what it takes to leave?
“I’m glad we did this, Natalie.” He angled closer, and she drew in a breath. The lack of recent dating didn’t spare her from this little nugget of knowledge: he wanted to kiss her.
She glanced at her house, the porch lights on. Was Vincent sleeping? The house was otherwise dark. I’m an idiot.
Turning her face to Josh, she smiled. He touched her chin, and leaned within a breath of her, his eyes focusing on her lips. She found herself meeting him halfway, and opening her mouth. What if his kiss surprised her and helped her get over her attraction for Vincent? In her entire life, she’d never cheated on anyone. Now, she was a free woman.
His lips fused to hers, in a nice, steady friction. She didn’t expect the same fireworks she experienced with her sinful father-in-law, but she hoped to feel something. Josh slid his tongue into her mouth, and she sat straighter and broke the contact. His invasion left no sweet aftertaste or sizzling reactions.
“Sorry. Too much?”
“You’re a great guy, Josh. I’m just not ready to date right now and don’t want to lead you on. I’m sorry,” she said. Hell, she had to give him honesty.
Josh returned to his seat, nodding his head to himself. He let out a sigh of disappointment. “Good night.”
She cleared her throat. “Good night,” she said, opened the door and closed it behind her. She walked briskly to her house, and she heard the motor of his Chevy truck roaring before she twisted the door handle.
She entered her house, and turned on the cheap Walmart floor lamp. She felt Vincent’s presence before her gaze found him sitting on the reading chair next to the coffee table. Her heart drummed at the base of her throat. “Vincent?”
“You kissed him.” He stood, striding up to her.
Oh, crap. He saw it. “You said you didn’t want me.”
He inched closer, and her breath came out in small gasps, making her chest rise and fall. “So you picked that kid from whatever redneck nursery he crawled out of, and paraded him in front of me like I’m a cold-blooded snake?” he said gravely.
“I wouldn’t say cold-blooded, but you’ve held back.”
He grabbed her elbow, making her stare into his angry eyes, but she didn’t flinch. A strand of empowerment threaded down her spine, the delicious sensation stoking a fire in her belly. The way he held her close, claiming ownership, turned her on. She’d never been anyone’s, even while married. She’d always felt alone, the oddball who didn’t think Suarez was all that, but who feared leaving and going somewhere else she didn’t belong. Tonight, she wanted to be his.
“You’re not going to see that kid again, do you hear me?” he said in a low voice, his breath within a hair of hers. “I’ll punch his lights out if he tries to kiss you.”
“Why? Why can’t I see him again?” she loved how defiant she sounded.
Vincent crushed her against the wall, and she gasped, then realized he never stopped holding her. “Because of this,” he said, and finally his lips captured hers.
Excited, she held onto his shoulders, her knees too weak to stand upright. He placed his hands under her ass and lifted her, that was all the encouragement she needed to wrap her legs around his torso. His tongue dominated hers, his kiss intense and passionate. She didn’t hold back, desperate to give him all she’d wanted for days.
She squirmed against him, her pussy already throbbing in recognition of a real man who claimed his woman. She stroked his tongue with hers, and he increased the tempo in a kiss that menaced and punished. “Yes. Oh, yes,” she said several minutes later, when he withdrew his lips from her, and they both gasped for air.
“This is what you wanted,” he said, his tone accusatory.
What we both want.“Yes.”
He slammed his fist on the wall. “You’re trouble, Natalie. Fuck, you’re trouble,” he said, and his mouth came down on hers again, claiming her with a savage’s thirst. Her insides vibrated with anticipation.
She touched his broad shoulders, then slid her hands down his thick, hard biceps. He had the body of a man who had exercised a lot in his life, and not in a gym. She’d seen him cutting wood and using the fancy seesaw he’d brought from NY. Vincent was all man.
Vincent groaned, and put her feet back on the floor. He clasped both thin straps of her dress on either side, and with a swift movement, ripped her dress in half. She startled, the swish of the fabric leaving her body adding another notch of arousal. Suddenly, she stood before him wearing nothing but green underwear.
“You’re something else,” he said with a beam of approval.
Her stomach churned, and she chewed her lower lip. A momentary insecurity stabbed at her—it’d been so long since she last had sex. What if her performance left him underwhelmed? A man like Vincent had his share of experience, and she doubted it involved much younger females who’d spent years in a sexual drought.