Lizzie Blake's Best Mistake (A Brush with Love, #2)(7)

It didn’t help that he actually seemed to like the odd little stranger. Lizzie made him laugh easily, and laughing wasn’t something he’d done in a long time.

But now that he had her here, he wasn’t really sure what to do with her. And he was mildly flipping out.

Lizzie, on the other hand, couldn’t seem more at ease.

“Are you going to offer me a drink?” she asked, moving toward the small kitchenette in the corner of the suite and peeking into the fridge.

“Water’s, uh, the best I can do,” Rake said, rubbing a hand over the back of his neck. She smiled at him over her shoulder.

“Aw, really? I was hoping we could split the lo mein,” she said, stepping to the side, revealing the stark fridge and the one sad carton of Chinese takeout that Rake had picked at last night while he sat alone in his hotel room, the city noises and his own self-loathing keeping him company.

Rake forced out a laugh, but awkwardness settled heavily on his shoulders. This was a bad idea. He shouldn’t have brought her here. He definitely shouldn’t sleep with her. He’d worked hard to cut out destructive pleasures like this.

Lizzie poked through the cupboards, grabbing a glass and filling it at the tap, humming as she did it. She padded toward him, holding it out.

“Want some?”

Rake shook his head, wondering if he looked as uneasy as he felt. Lizzie eyed him as she finished off the water, then set it down and stuck her hands on her hips.

“What’s wrong with you?” she asked.

Rake blinked at the question. “Huh?”

“What happened to the cocky guy I picked up at the bar?”

That shook Rake out of his spiral. He had a role here, and it wasn’t being some overanalyzing, blushing prude. He wanted sex. She wanted sex. Now was not the time to overthink things.

“I think I was the one picking you up,” Rake said with a smile, trying to fall back into their easy flow from earlier.

“Sure, kid.” She winked at him, then started undoing the line of buttons down her sundress, plucking at them efficiently and without ceremony. Rake was out of practice, but he was fairly certain undressing her was supposed to be his job.

But an embarrassing wave of shyness kept his hands shoved in his pockets while he gently rocked back and forth on his heels, watching her while his cock swelled almost painfully with a rush of blood.

“Do you have condoms?” Lizzie asked, slipping the straps of the dress off her shoulders and letting it fall to the floor.

“I actually don’t,” Rake said regretfully, scrubbing a hand down his mouth and chin as he took in the full curves of her body. The lace edges of her lilac underwear and bra. The splattering of freckles covering every inch of skin. He had the ridiculous urge to memorize them all.

“No biggie, I’m sure I have some in here somewhere,” she said, dumping out her giant purse on the couch. She dug through the mountain of random crap—Rake could have sworn he saw socks and a Tupperware of snacks—before she finally pulled out a glorious handful of wrinkled silver packages.

“Aha! Always gotta come prepared,” she said, shooting him another wink as she let the strip of foils unfurl from her hand.

“Holy God, I hope those aren’t all for me. You’ll kill me,” Rake said, his eyes bouncing from the rubbers to her triumphant smile.

“Aw, sweet dove. I’ll be gentle,” Lizzie said, laughing as she ripped off the packet at the end and threw the rest of them back into her purse. She fixed her gaze on him, slinking forward with a hungry glint in her eyes. Rake swallowed.

“Damn, you’re slow,” Lizzie said, closing the space between them. She pressed the condom into his hand then went to work on the buttons of his shirt with quick, clinical efficiency. “It’s like this is your first time hooking up.” Lizzie’s fingers stalled halfway down his torso, her eyes bouncing up to his as she took a step back.

“Wait. Are you a virgin?”

“What? No!”

The corner of her lips twitched, but she took another step back. A step toward the bed. “It’s fine if you are.” Another step. Rake found himself inadvertently following her, undoing the remainder of his buttons and shucking off his shirt. “It’s just that I’m not in the business of corrupting innocents,” she said, shrugging as she continued her backward retreat. “A lady must have boundaries. Guidelines, at least, for her sexual conquests. I’m not”—she paused for dramatic effect, her eyes sparkling with teasing—“a rake,” she finished.

There was a second of silence while Rake stared at her, slack-jawed, before she burst out laughing.

The sound pulled him in like a magnet—making him smile, making him close the distance between them. Making him laugh.

He laughed as he kissed her and as he picked her up, her legs wrapping around his waist. They laughed together, their bodies shaking as Lizzie reached between them to fumble with the button of his pants. Laughed as she greedily pushed the pants off his hips, and laughed harder when he nearly tripped stepping out of them. Her laugh turned into a delicious sigh when he pressed her into the mattress.

She reached between them again, snaking her hand into his boxer briefs to grip his erection, causing him to hiss out a breath.

“Oh, shit,” Lizzie said, looking up at him in wide-eyed alarm. She pushed at his chest and he rolled off her immediately.