Dare to Resist (Wedding Dare, #0.5)(4)
Kady could certainly agree with the “ass” part anyway.
“Well, damn. Is that really you, cupcake?” Those were the first words he’d said to her that night. The nickname had been cute for about five minutes when she’d been, like, thirteen, and afterward he’d continued to call her that simply because he knew it annoyed her.
And though she’d teased right back that eight years in the military apparently hadn’t changed him at all, it hadn’t taken her long to realize that wasn’t actually the case. Because all night, Colton had looked at her differently. Like, for the first time in their lives, he actually saw her, and not just Tyler’s little sister. Her. Kady. The twenty-three-year-old woman.
After hours of circling each other and subtle glances that had turned more brazen the later it had gotten, he’d walked into the pool house after she’d changed into her bikini and stared at her like a starving man at a feast. “Problem?” she’d asked. And his answer to the question had been to close them in one of the dressing rooms, kiss her senseless, and make her scream his name not once but twice, first with his thick fingers and then with his mouth. God, between his dirty talk and rough handling he’d had her so out of her mind she’d freaking begged for him to f*ck her. In that moment, nothing else had mattered but him burying himself as deep inside her as he could go.
Then her brother—who had the gift of perhaps the worst timing in the history of man—had come looking for Colton, and the sound of Tyler’s voice had totally thrown Colton out of the moment and sent him flailing back from her like she was a snake that might strike him down.
What was worse was that, in college, Regan and Kady’s sorority sister Christine had predicted that outcome—both how incendiary Kady and Colton would be if they ever gave in to the chemistry brewing between them and the fact that he’d pull a duck and cover. Which was exactly what he’d done. But had Kady listened? Nope. She’d led with her body instead of her brain and gotten her heart stomped on for her trouble.
Ugh, whatever.
Thunder crashed above them, pulling Kady out of the memory. She wished she could make out some detail of the passing scenery through the rain-blurred windows because she really didn’t need to dwell on how he’d commanded her body that night, nor on the humiliating words he’d said afterward. Not with the man himself sitting two feet in front of her.
Besides, young girl crush aside, it wasn’t like she had feelings for him or anything. Despite the fact that he was the only man who’d ever been able to get her off. She could take care of herself just fine, but other men? Kady didn’t know if Colton had ruined her or held the only key to her lock, but either way, it didn’t matter. She could never get there no matter how hard she—or her lovers—tried. At this rate, it might be a wise financial investment to buy stock in Duracell.
Kady’s cheeks caught on absolute fire at the thought. Sitting. In. Front. Of. You. Dresco. Right. No more thinking about orgasms or lack thereof in the presence of the infuriating sex god. Got it.
Needing a distraction, Kady pulled out her iPhone and thumbed open her email. She needed to let Christine know she wouldn’t be home today so she wouldn’t worry, but the little loading icon spun and spun but never actually produced any new emails. She tried her social media accounts and found more of the same. With a sigh, she dropped the phone back into her purse.
As the rain drummed on the van’s metal roof, Kady imagined the gorgeous weather she’d no doubt be enjoying back home in southern San Fran. Her firm, Resnick Security Services, was headquartered in California’s Silicon Valley. She loved living near the Pacific Ocean, visiting the wineries, and going out with Christine and their girlfriends to all the amazing restaurants in the city, but she still missed the mountains of Boulder where she’d grown up and her family still lived.
Finally, another series of harsh bounces had them turning into the lot of the Desert Paradise Motel. Through the windows, she could just make out the long one-story, cinder-block building with doors facing the parking lot. At one end sat a small office, and beyond that a bright-orange roof covered what appeared to be a diner. Seemed to her the ratio between desert and paradise at the place was just a bit off.
The soldier brought the van to a stop and turned around in the driver’s seat. “The travel office booked you reservations here, so you’ll need to give them a credit card for incidentals, but the rooms are covered with late checkout. Assuming the roads reopen, we have you booked on the same evening flights tomorrow. Those are the first available. So, if Mother Nature cooperates, I’ll be here at fifteen hundred to take you to the airport.”
Colton nodded. “Roger that.”
“This place is the best you can do?” Beckstein asked, a sneer on his little round face.
The soldier didn’t take the bait and instead smiled. Kady wanted to give him a high five. “Yes, sir. Before the base, Panther Canyon was little more than a crossroads. This is the only motel in town until the new Best Western is finished.”
Beckstein released a long-suffering sigh. “Whole day lost,” he grumbled as he scrambled out of the van and into the rain.
Kady scooted to the edge of her seat and slipped her purse and laptop case under her arm where Colton’s coat would help keep them dry. “Sorry about him,” she called. “It’s not your fault it’s raining.”