Rush: The Season (Austin Arrows Book 1)(67)

“Finish eating,” I command, keeping my voice low and even.

“See, there’s that bossy thing I was talking about.” She’s rambling. I know it and she knows it.

What she obviously doesn’t realize is that I can see that her nipples are hard through the light gray T-shirt she has on.

“Finish eating,” I repeat.

“And then what?”

Keeping my voice stern, I stand up straight. “And then I’m gonna make you come again.” I pause, waiting until she meets my gaze. “With my mouth.”





24

Ellie

I choke on my bacon, coughing uncontrollably until my eyes are watering. Damn, that hurts like a motherf— It hurts bad. I’ll leave it at that.

When I finally get myself under control, I find Kingston still staring at me. There are a million words hovering on the tip of my tongue, a dozen excuses as to why we shouldn’t do this, but I can’t bring myself to speak them aloud. Truth is, I don’t want to. But it’s hard not to think about them. I’ve managed to get a little perspective when he was out of town. Probably even did a little too much thinking about the breakfast date and how much I enjoyed kissing him. The conclusion I’ve come to is that I can’t get in too deep. No matter how I spin it, we are still friends, and this is supposed to be a way to improve his image, not a way for me to get laid.

Then again, I haven’t had sex in three freaking years.

That’s my selfish side talking. And that side wants Kingston to do as he promised, to make me come. I don’t care if he uses his fingers again or his mouth. I’m not picky. Hell, I’m primed and ready to go and that’s from his words alone.

Pushing my plate away, I down what’s left of my orange juice and try to compose myself.

“Finished?”

If I say yes, will he ravish me with his mouth?

Oh, crap.

“Before we do something rash, don’t you think we should discuss the boundaries of this pretend relationship?” I’m stalling, yes. But it’s better than jumping him, despite how badly I want to.

“We can,” he replies.

“Okay, then let’s discuss.”

“It seems pretty straightforward to me.” Kingston crosses his arms over his chest. I admire the way his muscles flex beneath the soft cotton of his button-down, the way it pulls tight across his chest. “We’ll go about our business as we always have, only I’ll take you out to dinner and movies, you’ll come to the games, we’ll spend time together whenever we can. Just like we’ve been doing for the past couple of weeks.”

“That sounds an awful lot like dating,” I state.

“That’s kind of the point.” He relaxes his stance, putting his hands on the counter behind him.

“No, the point is that it’s pretend.”

I really, really need to remember this is pretend. Even though I’ve made it my mission to help Kingston, to prove to the world that he doesn’t manhandle women the way that one girl said, it is still pretend. Dates or not.

“Only if we want it to be.”

I frown. That wasn’t the deal. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

He cocks his head to the side and once again crosses his arms over his chest, biceps bunching beneath the fabric of his shirt. He is truly a remarkable specimen, even if it’s evident he’s going on the defensive.

“What happened last night wasn’t pretend, Ellie.”

No, it wasn’t. I very much enjoyed that orgasm. I want a million more, in fact. But that doesn’t mean that we should venture down this path.

Staring back at him, I try to come up with something to say, but I don’t have an argument. The dating thing makes sense if we’re going to convince the public that Kingston has settled down. But what happens behind closed doors…

That is completely up to us, and the memory of last night’s orgasm returns, heating my skin.

“I need to shower,” I blurt.

“Good. Me, too.”

Okay. I didn’t expect that.

Glancing around the kitchen, I try to come up with something. Oh, right. I have more than one bathroom in the house. “You can use Bianca’s shower.”

Kingston moves around the bar once more, this time turning me on the stool until I’m facing him. He crooks his finger beneath my chin and tilts my head so that I’m looking up at him. “We’re gonna shower together.”

He really is bossy.

I really like that.

But I’m not going to add any more air to his already overinflated ego.

In fact, I’m not going to say anything, because Kingston’s mouth moves closer to mine until he is hovering a fraction of an inch away, our breaths mingling. He smells like bacon. Probably not a good thing that I find that sexy as hell.

“I’m gonna kiss you, little girl.”

Why do I find it hot that he calls me little girl? He’s been calling me that for years. It isn’t because he’s that much older than I am. And truthfully, I’m not all that little. Five seven qualifies as average. Maybe.

I don’t know.

Nor do I care, because heaven help me…

Kingston’s mouth is on mine and he’s kissing me again.

And just like the other times, I’m helpless against it.