Flawless Surrender (The Surrender Trilogy, #2)(22)
Hal’s smile spread eclipsed only by the long ends of his mustache that desperately needed trimming. “Sure, sure. I understand. Have a nice day, Zoey.”
Zoey shoved the cart in front of her, declining the bag boys offer to help. She’d had more than enough help for the day. All she wanted to do was go back to the relative privacy of the Triple T, and hope everyone in Stone River forgot about her. It wasn’t until she was out the door and in front of Tanner’s truck that his words whispered through her brain again. He eased out of the driver’s seat and over to her side to help load the groceries into the back of the truck.
“Jesus, did you leave anything in the store?” he muttered and Zoey’s temper cracked.
“Well maybe I would have if you’d had anything in your God Damn kitchen besides meat. Humans aren’t able to survive on meat alone, you know? And where do you get off saying something like that to me and then just climbing out of the car like it wasn’t anything. You don’t work a girl up and then walk away. It’s just plain wrong. Did you ever stop to think about how I felt? Did you ever consider that maybe what you wanted was the same damn thing I wanted? Huh?” By the end of her tirade Zoey’s voice had risen several octaves, and Tanner’s eyelids had lowered until he glared at her through narrow slits.
She glanced around her, seeing for the first time that there were several people standing on the sidewalk listening to her tantrum. Embarrassment flooded her and she dropped her head.
“Shit. I’m sorry.”
“I should hope so. Get in the truck, and we’ll continue this conversation at home,” Tanner’s voice was hard, and his demand was cold.
Zoey hurried to do what she was told praying that she hadn’t just screwed up the smidge of a chance she had with Tanner. After he opened up to her, she had no right to yell at him like that.
The two of them rode home in complete silence, and Tanner unloaded all of the groceries alone while growling at her to stay out of his way. She chose to remain quiet as she put the food away, still wondering if he would address it, or pretend it never happened.
When she shut the cabinet door for the last time, she let out a groan of frustration. Her eyes were burning with the need to have a good cry, but she refused to give in to it. Turning around, she let out a gasp of surprise finding Tanner standing a few feet behind her watching her.
She stared up into his hard expression and swallowed hard when he started to move closer.
“What do you want, Zoey?” he asked softly from only inches away. The tips of her breasts brushed against his chest, and even though there were several layers of fabric between them, she felt them harden.
“What do you mean?” she stammered, staring up at his lips. She couldn’t drag her eyes away from them.
“You asked me if I ever considered what you wanted, so now I’m asking you. What do you want?”
Her mouth dropped open, but she wasn’t able to force out words.
“Come on. Where’s that bravado you had back in town?” The corner of his lips curled up in a mocking smile and she went for broke.
“Kiss me.”
His sharp inhale and flaring nostrils were the only indication that she caught him off guard. He hesitated only a moment before dropping his mouth to capture hers in a hard lip lock.
Fire coursed through her veins as his mouth moved on hers, branding her and making her ache. It blew her fantasies out of the water, and she clung to him. Her arms wrapped around his neck as he pressed her back into the cabinets. She could feel his thumbs pressing into her hips just above her hipbones. If he held her any tighter she would have bruises in the morning.
His tongue slid past the barrier of her teeth to dance with hers, and she moaned into his mouth, opening wider to give him access. She could feel the hard length of his cock pressing against her stomach and she rubbed against him like a cat on a scratching post. Just when she was ready to shuck her clothes and fu-ck like rabbits on the kitchen counter, his hands fell away and he stepped backwards.
Zoey swayed on her feet and made a little whimpering sound of protest as she struggled to come back to earth. One look at Tanner and her heart plummeted. His jaw worked, and his now kiss swollen lips were tight with tension.
“Shit, I shouldn’t have done that.”
“What?” She stared up at him praying that he wasn’t regretting such a spectacular moment. Her worst fears were confirmed when he pushed away from her several steps.
“Christ, I know better. I need to get out of here.” And he was gone.
Zoey stood there for several minutes in shock before she slid to the floor and buried her face in her hands to have a much needed cry.
Just when she thought she was making progress with Tanner, he had to go and fu-ck it up. God, she could just throttle him sometimes. Leaving her horny and pissed off was not in his best interests when she was the one cooking his dinner. The moment the thought crossed her mind she let out an emotional laugh. No matter what he did to push her buttons, she cared about him way too much to consider hurting him back.
Pushing herself off the floor, she headed for her room. If she was going to be miserable with her hurt feelings, then she would at least be sexually satisfied. Masturbation was rapidly becoming her favorite past time.
Chapter Six
Clint Keegan took a taxi home from the airport. It was bad enough he had to come home with his tail between his legs. He wasn’t about to be trapped in a vehicle listening to his oldest brother telling him “I told you so” all the way back.