Banking the Billionaire (Bad Boy Billionaires Book 2)(91)

I spanned the whole of her knee with my hand and gave it a squeeze.

“Okay, honey. I think I can manage that.”

Up and off the bench, I did the same for her, lifting her to standing with ease.

Her breath caught, and my cock jerked awake. “I swear, I never get used to your size.”

I waggled my eyebrows. “I’ve heard it’s the kind of thing that takes a while to acclimate to.”

Mischief sparkled in her eyes, right next to the moonlight. “Put your boner away, Thatcher.”

I smiled and pulled her farther into my arms. My mouth met the skin of her neck, and I inhaled as I spoke. “Not a goddamn chance.”

“At least wait until we’re not in your parents’ backyard,” she said through a laugh.

“We better move fast, then, huh?” I teased, pulling away from the allure of her skin and leading her down and toward the garage at a jog.

“Slow down, you giant!”

I just laughed and pulled her harder, making her legs move at twice the speed.

“What is it with you? Always making me run and shit,” she grumbled, and I shot her a cocky wink.

“Uh oh,” she huffed with a smile. “Not the wink too. I’m gonna be in f*cking trouble tonight, aren’t I?”

“God, I hope so.” Grabbing her hips, I lifted her up, and over my shoulder she went. I ran across the lawn, and she squealed the whole way. I’d had dreams about this—this girl, my Nova, this kind of evening—even if I’d never known it.

The door to the garage slammed behind me, and I put her on her feet so I could get the car ready to go.

She flipped on the light switch for me as I pulled the cover off the Nova and pulled the chain to manually raise the larger garage door.

I folded the cover and tossed it on the tool bench, dumping the keys out of the jar that hung on the cork wall before rounding the car and pulling open the driver’s side door.

“What do you say? You ready to go for a ride?”

Cassie’s eyes flared at the innuendo, and I didn’t think I’d ever get used to a woman who didn’t shy away from being challenged. She loved it, fed off it. Every reactive muscle in her body begged me for more.

“I am.” She raised an eyebrow, and my smile deepened as though the two were physically connected. “Are you?”

“Always, honey.” I winked and she shook her head. Half the time I did it anymore, it was just to see her reaction. I couldn’t get enough of it. “Jump in,” I offered as I folded into the seat.

“Where are we going?” she asked as she climbed in beside me.

I shook my head and laughed as I reached out to tuck a hair behind her tiny ear. “Nope. No way,” I spouted back. “I have to surprise you.”

Her eyes turned heated, but I knew her well enough by now.

“What if I…” she started, leaning over and rubbing a hand slowly up the inside of my thigh.

“Good try,” I replied, and she scoffed. “Save it for later.”

I put the key in the ignition and gave it a turn until the big block under the hood roared to life. The car shook violently, and lucky for me, it wasn’t the only thing.

“Goddamn,” I told Cassie’s tits. “I’m never driving you in anything other than this car ever again.”

Her head flew back in an arc of hilarity, and the line of her throat opened up like she was taking a shot. I wanted to drink from her in that moment, the sweet glow of her skin the only thing brightening the dim cab of my car.

Her laughs echoed and the engine rumbled, and with my ring on her finger, I had an honest moment of wondering if there’d ever been a better instant in my thirty-five years of life.

“Eyes to the windshield and drive,” she demanded with a wave of her hand. But the fact that she thrust it straight out from her chest at tit level didn’t go unnoticed. She secretly wanted me to have what I was after, even if she wouldn’t admit it.

I shoved in the clutch, pushed the shifter into first gear, and revved up the idle as we coasted out of the garage.

Cassie settled into her seat with ease, reaching forward to toggle the radio just as a streak of moonlight forced its way through the large front window.

Soft rock filled the silence, Bob Seger’s “Night Moves” deepening the already curved line of my lips.

Cassie looked from the road to me several times before sliding her way across the bench style seat and settling her entire body into the crook of my arm.

I didn’t waste time pulling her closer and keeping her there as I drove down the gravel line of my parents’ driveway and out onto the mostly deserted road.

I’d made this drive before. In this car, with a girl in exactly this position, but I’d never felt this at ease. Like no matter where the night led, it would be somewhere good.

Cassie hummed along to the music as I drove and listened, and before I knew it, it’d been a full ten minutes and we were pulling down the dark, muddy tracks that led to the lake deep in the woods.

“Is this what I think it is?” she asked, perking up and forcing my arm to fall from her shoulders.

“I don’t know. What do you think it is?”

“It’s either the place of teenage dreams, premature ejaculation, and first-time fondles, or the site of my death.”