When I'm Gone (Rosemary Beach #11)(35)

His hand settled on my lower back, and he led me through the crowd as he took us out to where the valet waited.

Once we were in the truck, Mase reached over and took my hand, threading his fingers through mine. “Thanks for coming with me tonight. I only went because Harlow thought I should show my face since I was in town. She’s friends with Bethy and Tripp. I was glad I had you with me. Made the night bearable.”

That man and his words. It almost made me forget how hard it was to watch women flirt with him with every breath he took. He didn’t flirt back, though. But I didn’t see Mase as a flirter. It wasn’t his style. Didn’t mean he didn’t enjoy their attention. How could he not? They were beautiful and willing.

“I liked meeting your friends,” I told him.

He squeezed my hand. “They liked meeting you.”

I wanted to ask him how he knew the blonde who had hugged him and kissed him. But I didn’t. I kept my mouth shut.

“Do you want me to stop and get more champagne?” he asked, with a trace of humor in his voice.

I shook my head no and laughed.

“I like to hear you laugh. You didn’t do much of that tonight,” he said, as his thumb began caressing my hand. “You laughed more today when it was just us.”

“I was too busy taking it all in.”

“Thanks for not taking off that little dress of yours.”

Why did he say that? Was he worried about how I’d look without it?

“If you’d taken it off, I’m afraid we would have left even earlier, because I’d have been thrown out. I don’t like the idea of another man looking at what’s mine.”

Whoa. OK. I was his? Oh . . . wow.

“I kept thinking about how I’d react if you wanted to swim. I was trying to come up with excuses to keep that sweet ass covered up.”

The ache between my legs started again. Hearing him call my butt a sweet ass excited me, apparently. I liked how it felt when he touched my bottom. I squirmed in my seat, and his hand tightened around mine.

We didn’t say anything else. By the time he parked the truck at my apartment, the air felt hot, and I was breathing heavily. Glancing at Mase, I saw his jaw clenched tightly. His hand still held mine firmly.

When he cut off the engine and finally let my hand go, he jerked open his door and was out so fast you would have thought it was on fire. I watched him as he took long strides to my side of the truck and threw open the door. I started to get out, but then he was backing me up, crowding me in.

His nostrils flared as he got close to me, and his eyes flashed a needy look I understood. My entire body felt feverish, but his hands only touched my hips. His head lowered to my ear, and he ran his nose down and back up my neck. “God, you smell so good. I could smell you for f*cking ever and be happy.”

I grabbed his shoulders and held on. Words like that coming from Mase Manning made a girl light-headed.

“When we get inside, I want to take this dress off. Let me see you in this swimsuit. Please. I won’t ask for anything more. Just let me look at you and touch you . . . Just a little.”

My body felt so fevered I was ready to rip everything off right now for him, but I knew the moment I did, I would panic. Reality would set in. I managed a nod and let him lead me out of the truck. He pressed a hot, hard kiss to my lips, more aggressive than the ones that had come before. I held on while he took that kiss. It wasn’t one of his easy, sweet ones, but it was exciting.

When he tore his mouth off mine, he muttered a curse, then led me to the apartment door and unlocked it before ushering me inside quickly.

Before I could catch my breath, his hands were taking the bottom of my sundress in his hands. “I’m just going to take this off. That’s all. Just need to see you,” he whispered close to my ear, but he didn’t move until I nodded my head.

When I gave him the go-ahead, he lifted the dress slowly. Once it was over my bottom, he groaned. I lifted my arms, and he pulled it up and off. I didn’t move. I knew what he was looking at, and I closed my eyes tightly. I hadn’t looked at my butt in the mirror in a long time. There was a good chance it was dimply. I really hoped it wasn’t. I walked a lot still. I was sure walking all my life had been one reason my bottom wasn’t massive.

His fingertip brushed the underside of my left butt cheek, and I gasped, but I didn’t move. He was touching me. Barely.

“There’s a freckle right here. I love this freckle. Best f*cking freckle in the world,” he said in a thick, deep voice.

Then I heard him move, and I glanced back to see him going down on his knees. I started to turn, and his hands grabbed my waist and held me still.

“Please, Reese. Don’t. Not yet,” he begged. So I stayed still.

His warm breath hovered over my skin, and I trembled. Knowing his face was so close to any part of me was exciting, but this was almost too much. Then his lips grazed the same spot he’d touched, and I released a strangled cry from the shock and pleasure.

“Just had to kiss it,” he said, pressing his lips against that spot again. Then his hands slid up over my bottom, and he squeezed gently. “Swear, Reese, this ass is perfection,” he said in a reverent tone. “So f*cking glad you didn’t wear this swimsuit in front of other men tonight. This is my ass. I don’t want anyone else seeing this juicy little piece of heaven.”