More Than Anything (Broken Pieces #1)(49)

“Uh, I’m good, thank you,” she said, aware of how obviously red her face must be. He looked up at her—his attention previously focused on his ice cream—and his expression froze when he seemed to recognize her reaction for what it was. His eyes sparked.

“You sure?” he asked, his voice dropping several decibels. He kept his slumberous gaze on her as he deliberately swirled his tongue around the top of the round scoop of ice cream. Tina’s nipples tightened into painfully hard points while her mind spun with images of Harris twirling his tongue—still cold from the ice cream—that exact same way around her breasts.

“Tina?” His soft voice drew her attention away from her outrageous thoughts. She focused on her surroundings again and saw that they had come to a standstill behind the cheesecake stall. Her back was pressed against the damp plywood material of the temporary stall, and he was standing in front of her, shielding her from the crowd.

“Yes?” she asked, her voice trembling and unsure.

“Fair warning . . . I’m going to kiss you now.” He didn’t wait for her response. Tossing the remainder of his ice cream into a nearby dustbin, he cupped her jaw in both hands and lowered his cold mouth to hers.

She sighed and parted her lips, melting into his kiss in much the same way the ice cream had melted beneath his tongue. She could taste the savory creaminess of the camembert on his lips and welcomed his tongue deeper into her mouth as she eagerly explored the appealing flavor.

He moaned, the sound soft and desperate as he happily feasted on her mouth. The only other points of contact between them were his hands on her face, and Tina, whose hands had been fisted into the lapels of his jacket, found herself wanting more than that. She smoothed her hands down the front of his shirt and then burrowed beneath the sides of his jacket, coming to rest at his waist. That still wasn’t enough, and she circled around to his back and pulled him closer until their fronts were pressed together. Her breasts to his torso, his crotch to her stomach. So close, and there was no mistaking his reaction to their embrace. She felt him, hot and hard and throbbing through the layers of their clothing, and wished for those layers to disappear.

She loved this: loved the feel of him, the taste of him, the scent of him . . . the absolute masculine appeal of him. And if the soft little curses and the desperation seeping into his embrace were any indications, he loved it too.

He jerked his head up unexpectedly, and she went up onto her toes, her mouth following his lips, but he moved his head back.

“God. Jesus!” He sounded shaky and groaned when he looked down into her face. “Stop looking at me like that, Tina.”

“Like what?” she asked, startled by the unfamiliar thickness of her voice.

“Like you want to tear my clothes off.” The words made her blink sleepily as reality slowly seeped its way back into her consciousness.

They were in a public place.

“Oh my God! Did anyone see?” she asked, horrified. His thumbs brushed across her cheekbones before he dropped his hands and shook his head. He stepped back, putting some space between their bodies. She didn’t need to look down to know that he was still aroused, but he stood close enough to her for his condition to not be immediately evident to anyone else.

“Not really. And it doesn’t matter if they did,” he said. “Nobody knows us here.”

He spoke too soon . . .





Chapter Eight

“Tina? Martine Jenson?” An unfamiliar voice called from their left, and they both turned their heads to stare at the couple standing hand in hand just a few meters away from them. The woman was smiling warmly; the man looked vaguely bored.

“Who the fuck are they?” he asked beneath his breath.

Tina, smiling at the couple, replied from between clenched teeth, “People from Riversend—just smile and be nice.”

She stepped away from him and placed herself deliberately in front of him. Just in case he was still sporting that massive erection.

“Oh, hello. Lia and Sam, right?”

“Yes! Oh my goodness, how lovely to run into you here. Isn’t it, Sam?”

“Yeah. Lovely,” Sam repeated, sounding not one bit sincere, and Tina bit back a grin.

They stood awkwardly for a moment before Lia’s eyes shifted speculatively to Harris.

“Hello. I’m Lia McGregor; this is my fiancé, Sam.”

“Harrison Chapman,” Harris said, stepping forward with his hand outstretched. Lia shook it enthusiastically. “Great to meet some of Tina’s friends. I’m her . . .” He floundered, obviously not quite sure where he fit into her life.

“Harris is Libby’s brother-in-law,” Tina supplied and was surprised when he sent her a glare.

“I’m also an old family friend of Tina’s,” he added, somewhat unnecessarily, in Tina’s opinion. He turned his attention to Lia’s fiancé, and the two men shook hands firmly.

“Sam Brand,” the other man said in his curt English accent, and Harris tilted his head as he assessed the shorter man.

“Security, right?”

Sam Brand’s lips quirked, his piercing blue eyes assessing Harris right back.

“Property development, right?”

Lia and Tina both rolled their eyes simultaneously, and the moment of feminine camaraderie surprised a laugh out of Tina. She rarely had moments like these with anyone other than Libby, and it made her look at the other woman in a different light. Maybe she wasn’t too bad after all.