Need You for Keeps (Heroes of St. Helena, #1)(18)
“I didn’t think you were whining,” he whispered. “I thought you handled it with an amazing amount of strength and grace.”
Grace.
That word, with regard to her, was a compliment in itself. Coming from Jonah? It made all of her insides turn to mush.
Afraid she might kiss him after all, she quickly pulled out the last bottle. “This one is to apologize for the quote in the paper. I had no idea what the article was about or how it would make you look.” She took a deep breath and looked into his deep blue eyes until she wanted to fall in. “I didn’t think that—”
Not wanting to cheapen this experience, she stopped before she made up some lame excuse. He deserved more and so did this moment.
“I didn’t think. Period. I was so focused on selling my calendars and I didn’t think of how it would affect you or anybody else. And I am sorry.”
He was silent, just staring at her. She confused him, which was fine by her since she got flustered every time he looked her way.
“So you stood out here in the pouring rain to apologize? To me?”
Unable to hold his gaze any longer, she leaned her head back to look at the rain, which was coming down pretty hard, and put her hands out to the side. “I like the rain.”
“Me too.”
Shay’s body gave a little shiver—but not because of the rain. The heat between them was so tangible it made it difficult to catch her breath. He didn’t help the situation, letting his gaze purposefully fall to her shirt—her pastel blue, incredibly wet shirt that was as practical as tissue paper in the rain—taking that shiver to a full-blown zing of anticipation. And when she realized he wasn’t trying to hide his interest, she knew she was in trouble.
“Are you flirting with me, Sheriff?”
“Jonah,” he corrected and Shay swallowed. Not Deputy but Jonah. It felt intimate, personal, like he was giving her something in return. It was silly, but with him dressed like a regular guy telling her his name, it made him seem more approachable. It was as if he was sharing part of himself with her, the real part of Jonah who sipped microbrews on the porch, and that Jonah she found incredibly appealing. “And I’m not sure what I’m doing.”
“Me either,” she said and rolled up on her tiptoes, promising herself that she was just going to give a peck on the cheek, a sincere token of thanks between two friends. Only her lips touched his skin and the last thing she felt was friendly.
His skin was rough with stubble and tasted like a summer rain and sexy man. And okay, her lips may have lingered a little longer than necessary, making her heart feel like it was going to pound right out of her chest, which was the only excuse she had for doing something epically stupid.
Like moving her mouth just enough to brush his.
In her defense, he did groan what sounded a lot like her name. Then again the blood was pounding so hard in her ears it could have just been a groan. Whatever it was sounded needy and hot and like he wanted more. So she did it again, and suddenly she felt air whoosh from her lungs as the cold bottles trailed from her hips around to her lower back as he pulled her to him, taking her mouth in what had to be the most thorough kiss in the history of kisses.
Jonah was slow and languid, taking her mouth again and again, as though he was gearing up for an all-night-long slow kiss.
Never one to be rushed, he took his sweet time to explore every inch of her, gently taking what she offered and nothing more. He wasn’t demanding or controlling, which surprised her. He seemed content to let her set the limits. Problem with that was Shay didn’t do limits all that well.
In her mind, they were nothing more than recommended guidelines set for the sole purpose of being tested and crossed. And she had a feeling that crossing this particular line with this particular man was either the best idea she’d ever had or the worst mistake she’d ever make. And that was saying a lot.
Thankfully her cell vibrated—the buzzing a reminder to feed the kittens.
“What’s that?” he asked against her lips, then tilted his head to look at her butt, which was vibrating and blinking a rainbow of colors.
Not wanting to explain that she had added five more pets to her now over-the-county-limit household—which would undoubtedly lead to her being fined—Shay turned off the alarm and repocketed the phone. “Nothing.”
His gaze rose to her lips and he said, “That was a lot of bells and whistles for nothing.”
“Yeah?” she whispered, knowing they were no longer talking about her phone.
“Yeah,” he said as their gazes met. His was heated and guarded and she knew what he was thinking. This kind of chemistry could only end in disaster. A hot, steamy, life-altering disaster. But a disaster all the same.
She touched her fingers to her lips and shook her head. “I don’t know what happened. I just wanted to give you a little kiss on the cheek.”
That earned her a smile. “You missed.”
“I got distracted by your mouth.” Just saying the word had her gaze zeroing in on his lips again, had her breath sticking in her chest, and that zing picking up power and moving south—way south.
His finger, chilled from the beer, traced along her jaw to her lower lip, making every nerve ending inside of her light up. “I know the feeling.”
She looked up into his eyes, surprised at the hunger she found there. She placed a hand over his, bringing it to her mouth to deliver a gentle kiss. “This won’t work.”