Colton Christmas Protector (The Coltons of Texas #12)(46)
Leaning closer, she deepened the kiss, forsaking hesitation for the need that pulsed to life inside her. For a brief time, he let her set the pace, but when she sighed her pleasure and teased the seam of his lips with her tongue, he swept an arm around her and laid her back down on the couch. He took command of the kiss, alternately caressing and plundering. With his lips, teeth and tongue, he elicited sensations from her body that rocketed straight to her marrow. His hands stroked gently, and his fingertips tantalized sensitive spots she’d never known could be so responsive.
Flesh-and-bone Reid surpassed her imagination in every way. Here was heat and skin, raw passion and sensual touch. The embodiment of excitement and temptation. Penelope savored the heat that pulsed through her, the connection and comfort of his embrace, the stir of tender emotions at her core.
But beneath it all, she knew a low drumbeat of fear. Reid was a Colton. He came from a world of power and privilege she couldn’t imagine. Despite all his explanations and justifications, he still wore the stain of having administered the fatal injection that killed Andrew. He had a reputation for going through a string of casual relationships, discarding one woman for another the way one might discard dirty socks.
Would he toss her aside when the danger from the shooter, the investigation into her father was over? Possibly. Probably.
She told herself she could handle whatever happened. She wasn’t naive to Reid’s nature, so she could fortify and protect herself from heartache. She could savor this moment for the sheer pleasure of it and not let it draw her down a false primrose path.
She arched her back, angled her chin up, giving Reid fuller access to the sensitive pulse point at her throat. She silenced the whispers of doubt as she surrendered to sensation, to need and sensual impulses.
Eager to feel Reid’s warm skin against her palms, Penelope wedged her hands between them and began tugging at the buttons of his shirt.
He shifted to the side, giving her room to work, and continued feathering kisses along her chin and cheek. “I have to tell you, Pen,” Reid said in a husky whisper, “I’ve wanted this for a very long time. You’re beautiful. I’ve always thought so.”
She’d only fumbled through about half of his buttons before he grabbed the back of his shirt and pull it over his head. She helped untangle his hands from his sleeves, and he flung the shirt aside.
And knocked over her glass of wine.
Penelope gasped and wiggled free of him so she could sit up. She gaped in horror at the red liquid spread across the coffee table headed for the edge, ready to drip onto his carpet. “Oh, no!”
She lunged off the couch to get paper towels, and he grabbed her wrist. “Pen, it’s okay. Don’t freak.”
“It’s red wine, Reid. It’ll ruin your carpet.” She tugged free of his grasp.
“I don’t care. If the carpet gets stained, I’ll replace it.”
She paused only briefly to send him a look of disbelief. “Don’t be ridiculous.” She snatched the roll of paper towels from the kitchen counter and hurried back, wadding several in her hand. She started mopping wine and gave him a scowl. “Just because you have money to throw away, doesn’t mean you have to.”
His blasé attitude toward a perfectly avoidable expense brought their differences front and center in bold unmistakable strokes.
“What’s with you? I just don’t think you have to panic about a spill.”
“Because you can afford to replace stained carpet.” An uneasy gnawing grew in her belly.
“Yes. That’s part of it.”
“But I can’t. Maybe when I was living with my parents I could have, but even then I wouldn’t have.”
He covered her hands with his, stopping her as she sopped up the merlot. “What’s going on with you? What is this really about?”
She bowed her head, feeling all the doubts she’d just so neatly cast aside for a few moments of bliss come crashing back down on her. “Every now and then, you say or do something that reminds me of all the differences between us. The reasons I always saw your family as arrogantly entitled and maddeningly extravagant. Wasteful, even. ‘Don’t bother cleaning up the wine—I’ll just buy a new carpet.’”
“I was kidding...mostly. I just didn’t want to see you get upset over it.”
“Or the new laptop...or the way I used to see you go through cars when you were Andrew’s partner. You didn’t fix that engine problem with the SUV you had, you just ditched the car and got a new one.” She hated the emotional wobble to her voice.
“The thing was a lemon! It had trouble from day one. Of course I replaced it.”
“And you talked about new TVs, new fancy sports equipment and—”
“You resent that I have money? Is that it?” he said gently.
“—you replaced every girl you ever dated as soon as you decided she wasn’t shiny and new anymore, too!” As soon as she said the words, she wished she could reel them back in.
She closed her eyes, bit her bottom lip and fought back the swell of tears in her throat. Damn!
He didn’t say anything for long, heavy seconds, but eventually, she heard him rip off more paper towels, finish wiping up the spill and take the soiled towels to the kitchen.
Like a coward, she hurried to the guest bedroom before he got back. She’d shown her hand, all but told him she was scared he’d leave her, that he’d use her up then cast her aside. Reid Colton could have any woman he wanted. He had looks, wealth and personality. Why would he want to burden himself with a middle-class single mother, whose father may have been responsible for heinous crimes against Reid and his family?