Truly, Madly, Whiskey(14)
“I know you do,” he said, as cocky as ever.
Why is that such a turn-on?
“I didn’t do it to get your attention. Shit, six three, two thirty.” He flexed his biceps and winked. “You’re sitting next to Peaceful Harbor gold, baby. I’ve got your attention.”
She couldn’t suppress a laugh. “That you do, and probably half the women in this town.”
“Only half?”
He kept her laughing the whole way to the fabric store, and it was just what she needed. It really had been a long day. They’d hosted three parties, and one of the mothers was just about the most obnoxious woman on earth. She’d pushed her daughter toward pink frilly outfits for the first half hour, when all the little cutie had wanted was to dress up as a skateboard princess. Gemma realized Crystal was going to strangle the wench, and she’d calmly suggested the woman head down to Jazzy Joe’s for coffee. The rest of her day hadn’t been much better. Plus, she’d spent the morning overthinking everything about her relationship with Bear, which was probably why she’d freaked out when she’d really been dying to kiss him.
She parked in front of the fabric store. There were some things that just didn’t fit in the world as Crystal knew it, and Bear Whiskey clad in a tight black T-shirt that said Whiskey Bro’s across his massive chest, a pair of snug, low-slung black jeans, and leather boots strutting into Jennilyn’s Fabric was on the top of the list.
She pulled her list from her bag as his eyes coasted over the store. What was he thinking, coming with her? That was dedication she could not ignore. The epitome of commitment.
That is Bear.
My Bear?
She toyed with that as he draped his arm over her shoulder. She wondered what had taken him so long. She’d expected him to do it the second she’d stepped from the car, but he was probably in shock that they were actually going to a fabric store. She smiled to herself as he leaned closer and rubbed his nose along her cheek.
“Can I help you?” she asked with a laugh.
“You smell like jelly beans, and I happen to have a thing for sugary goodness.”
“You can’t seriously have that good a sense of smell.”
He pressed an unexpected, and deliciously warm, kiss to her cheek and reached into her purse, withdrawing a bag of jelly beans. “Hoarding? Or were we going to hide these later in your body and let me find them?” He moved his mouth beside her ear and whispered, “Blindfolded. With my hands tied behind my back.”
He nudged her deeper into the store. Holy crap. She’d stopped walking. Was she breathing? And was that a thing? Blindfolded? Hands tied behind his back? Oh, the control that would give her. She’d be at no risk of being overpowered. But would she want that much control? She imagined herself lying naked on her bed, watching as his greedy mouth moved over her breasts, down her belly, and she felt herself go damp.
No, no, no.
Ice cream. Ice baths. Cow poop!
Her body continued vibrating from the inside out. This was bad. Really, really bad. Like a virus she couldn’t shake. She needed an anti-Bear pill. Stat!
She focused on finding the items on her list and assessed the bolts of fabric against the wall. Bear held up a green jelly bean. When she reached for it, he pulled it away and shook his head, then held it up to her mouth. The man could make anything sexual. The look in his eyes when he placed that little green candy on her tongue was liquid fire, and it made her feel naughty and sexy.
Her expression must have given her away because a crooked smile dripping with wicked intent crept across his lips.
“Fabric.” The word fell from her mouth like a rock. “I need fabric.”
“Me too.” He reached over her shoulder and fingered a bolt of red satin. “Something like this, maybe?”
Red satin sheets, his hands tied, eyes blindfolded, strategically placed green jelly beans. Her hands began to sweat. She wiggled out from beneath his arm.
“Burlap. Thick, ugly burlap.” She walked away as quickly as she could, hoping the other side of the store had more oxygen.
Almost two hours, a long discussion about the costumes she was making, and several green jelly beans later, Crystal began unloading the cart at the cash register. She picked up several yards of red satin and black lace that were shoved between the bolts she’d chosen. He must have had them cut when she was busy talking with the saleswoman. You sneaky thing. Sneaky sexy thing. Sneaky sexy thing in a fabric store.
I’m in so much trouble.
“Ahem…?” She held up the sinfully soft fabric.
Bear smirked. “What?”
“I am not buying these.” She flipped her hair over her shoulder in a show of finality. “That material has no place in the costumes I’m making.”
He took the fabric from her hands, and boy did it look good in his.
What is wrong with me? She’d turned into some sort of sex-starved vixen.
The jelly beans!
Wasn’t that the joke in high school? Or was it green M&M’s that were supposed to make a person horny? She looked at her burly biker boy’s sinful smile and knew it had absolutely nothing to do with green anything.
“You’re obviously making the wrong type of costumes.” He ran the satin over his muscular, inked forearm.
She needed that fabric.
She snagged it from his hands and tossed it on the counter.