Merry and Bright(48)

Jesus. Three condoms sounded about right, but damn if he’d rush through this, even for her. Gripping her hips, he pressed her hard to the wall as he kissed his way down her body. The under curve of a breast. A rib. Her belly. A thigh.

Between.

“Again?” she murmured shakily, trembling with excitement.

Oh, yeah, again. “Open for me,” he murmured against her, and when she spread her legs, he stroked his thumb over her. With a soft cry, she slid her fingers into his hair to hold on, so gorgeous standing there on quivering legs, the steaming water running down her tight, toned curves. Her nipples were hard, her chest rising and falling with her quickened breathing. She shifted restlessly, opening her legs even more, and he took her in, all pink and glistening for him. He nearly came from that alone as he leaned in—

“Danny,” she choked out, tightening her fingers in his hair as his tongue made a slow, torturous pass over her flesh. “Please.”

Yeah. He’d most definitely please. He’d please her, and then himself, and then hopefully start all over again until neither of them could move. Opening her a little more, he gently sucked her into his mouth and kept sucking in tune to her breathy sighs, the sounds of which drove him a little crazy as he slid a finger into her and drove her to the very edge, then straight off it.

The sight of her coming again was one he knew would highlight his fantasies for the rest of his life, and as her knees gave out, he caught her against him. Reaching out the shower for her jeans, he found the condoms, then using the wall as leverage, thrust into her.

She revved up fast to join him, which was a good thing because with her mouth racing over his face, his jaw, with his name tumbling from her lips in that sexy breathless little pant of hers, with her fingers embedded into his ass cheeks trying to urge him on faster, harder, more, more, more, he wasn’t going to last. “Hope—”

She burst again. Or still. He didn’t know, but it catapulted him right into an orgasm so intense his toes curled. He completely lost himself as he spent into her, slapping a hand to the wall behind her so that they wouldn’t fall. Instead they sank together in a slow, tangled heap right there on the shower floor, with the now tepid water raining down on them.

“Wow.” That was all she said, in a dazed, dreamy voice that made him smile. “Wow . . .”

They toweled off. Hope bent for the pile of clothes, and several folded up papers fell out of his jacket pocket, papers he’d meant to show her after they shoveled off the roof. She gathered them up for him, going still as her eyes took in his research and the tentative offer he’d drawn up. He’d hoped to try to buy the lot from her, but that hadn’t felt right. This place was hers. So instead he’d planned to lend her the money she needed to pay off Edward.

“What’s this?” she asked, a veil coming down over her face.

“A way out of your problem.”

“I’ve already told you I can handle this.”

“You’re going to lose the B&B, Hope. And it’s wrong. You don’t need to—”

“Did you have this planned all along?” she asked in a very quiet voice. “You and Edward?”

“Of course not.”

“I think you did.” She slapped the papers to his chest. “I think you planned this all along. Maybe you didn’t really quit.”

He stared at her as what she said sank in. “I did quit, Hope. Do you really think I’d—”

“Yes! God, I’m so stupid!” She slapped her own forehead. “Of course you didn’t really give up what must have been a solid six-figure salary to start over.”

“Careful,” he said softly. “You’re sounding a lot like that rat bastard you hate so much.”

“Is that right? And how exactly does Edward sound?”

“Honestly? A bit pig-headed.”

“Pig-headed,” she repeated on a mirthless laugh. “Oh, honey. I haven’t even gotten started.” Buck-ass naked, she walked to the door.

“Where are you going?”

“To call Ben so he can snowmobile you out to your car.”

“Hope—”

“Don’t.” And still buck-ass naked, she walked right out of his life.





10


“You’re a stubborn-ass fool, Hope.”

Hope stared in disbelief at Lori. They stood in the kitchen, squared off at the island. “Um, excuse me,” she said very carefully. “But I don’t think you heard me correctly.”

“Oh, I heard you. Danny came here to—”

“—take my business.”

“To check on his boss’s investment,” Lori corrected. “And instead of being a stubborn-ass fool—like a certain person I know—he adapted. He worked his tail off for us, even going over and beyond to help you research alternatives, including offering you a personal loan to buy you both time and financial freedom. You know what, Hope? You’re right. He’s a bastard.”

Hope let out a breath and turned to Ben, who was suited up in his snow gear, with his snowmobile just out the door ready to take Danny back to his car.

As she’d asked. “Maybe you could talk some sense into your wife, Ben.”

And Ben, sweet, kind, wonderful Ben who always had Hope’s back, shook his head. “Not this time, baby. I’m sorry. But my wife has a point.”