Hard to Handle (Caine Cousins #2)(66)

“I like that idea,” she admitted.

He didn’t even give her a chance to get out of the truck before he had her tossed over his shoulder, his big arm wrapped firmly over the backs of her legs, holding her against him. To keep from feeling as though she would plunge headfirst into the dirt, she grabbed on to his belt loops.

“Lynx Caine! I’m gonna hurt you if you don’t put me down!”

“I’m lookin’ forward to it, girl. Do your worst.”

Oh, she would.

But pain wouldn’t be involved.

Not the bad kind anyway.





28


__________


Once inside, Lynx paused at the couch momentarily, eyeing it from several different directions.

Nope.

Wouldn’t work.

Too damn short.

He glanced at the kitchen, then continued into the bedroom and tossed Reagan unceremoniously onto the bed.

When her back hit the mattress, he saw she was smiling up at him, her long hair spilled out around her. The woman stole his breath. She was as beautiful now as she had been at sixteen back when he’d first noticed her, back when he’d first fallen in love with her.

But this Reagan was definitely not sixteen. She was older, wiser, and undoubtedly sexier.

And when she crooked her finger at him, signaling him to her, he couldn’t kick his boots off fast enough. Before he joined her, he did the same to hers, yanking them from her feet before crawling over her.

The instant his mouth met hers, Lynx was lost. Settling in beside her so that he didn’t rest his weight on her, Lynx curled one arm around her head and kissed her. Slowly, leisurely. It hadn’t been his original intention, but holy hell, the woman made his blood boil with a simple kiss.

Then again, there was nothing simple about kissing Reagan. He’d wanted this for so damn long. Part of him hadn’t expected it to live up to his memories from so long ago, but shit. It was so much better. And every single kiss was hotter, more intense.

Yeah, he didn’t mind making out like teenagers like this. Hell, he could do it all damn day.

Her soft fingers slipped beneath his T-shirt, moving over his skin, causing his breaths to come more rapidly, his body to heat.

Lynx couldn’t resist copping a feel himself. He slid one hand beneath her tank top, his fingertips grazing the smooth, baby-soft skin of her abdomen. The way Reagan sucked in a breath was a bonus. He wrapped his hand around her waist, his thumb grazing her stomach, fingers gently pressing into her back. He jerked her closer, wanting to touch every part of her with every part of him.

“Is that your phone? Or are you that excited to see me?” Reagan muttered.

It took Lynx a second to realize what she said.

He laughed, lifting his head as his phone buzzed in his pocket.

“I’m not complainin’,” she said with a giggle. “That might be fun.” He nodded toward the side of the bed. “In fact, I’ve got a drawer full of toys we can … experiment with.”

Toys?

Lord have mercy.

His phone buzzed again.

“Ignore it,” he whispered, pressing his lips to hers once more.

Unfortunately, ignoring his phone became impossible when the damn thing wouldn’t stop.

Extricating himself from Reagan’s arms was a difficult feat, but he managed.

“This better fuckin’ be good,” he grumbled into the phone.

“We got a problem,” Wolfe said, his tone rough.

“Talk to me,” Lynx instructed.

“Sounds like RT’s boys lost track of the police chief. They think he’s headed this way.”

“Fuck.”

“The bigger issue is Rhys can’t say anything to the deputies. Travis is on his way to meet Rhys. You wanna head on over to the shop?”

Not really, no. But he didn’t tell his cousin that. Instead, he said, “Of course.”

“Thanks. See ya in a few.”

With a resigned sigh, Lynx turned back to Reagan. She was sitting up, watching him.

“Wolfe said there’s trouble. Need to head over to the shop.” He cocked an eyebrow. “You wanna go with me?”

She nodded almost shyly.

For whatever reason, that hit Lynx in a way that had his breath halting in his lungs. This woman…

Reaching for her, he pulled Reagan closer, his lips finding hers. He kept the kiss gentle although it would be so damn easy to strip those little shorts off her and bury himself inside her sweet, warm depths.

Damn, this woman did crazy things to him. He’d never felt anything like this, and Lord knew he’d tried his damnedest to get her out of his head all these years.

It had been impossible and he even knew why.

He loved this girl. Deeply. In that forever sort of way.

And now, if they could get past this crazy shit taking place in their small town, Lynx might just be able to start focusing on the future with her.

That was his plan anyway.



Reagan couldn’t deny the disappointment of having to leave her house when she’d had Lynx right where she wanted him, but she understood it.

Even now, as she sat in one of the wooden chairs at the Cedar Door shop, she got it.

“What I don’t get is how they could lose one guy,” Lynx groused. “How fuckin’ hard is it to keep him in their sights?”