Beau’s whole body reacted to the kiss. He tightened his hold, pulling her more firmly against him as he drew a deep breath. Slanting his mouth more fully over hers, he deepened the kiss, taking full advantage of her willingness. He savored her vanilla scent, her perfect taste, her silky soft touch. When her arms went around his waist, he groaned, wanting to lose himself completely in this moment. This kiss.
His fingers slid along the smooth skin of her back, just above the top of her shorts. God, she felt good. Every bit as good as he had always imagined. And boy, had he imagined. For years he’d wondered what it would be like to kiss her, to explore her sweet figure, to take her to bed.
Cool rain pelted his hot skin then, drawing him from his thoughts. Delaney pulled back and looked at him, her slightly swollen lips turned up in a seductive half-smile. “Maybe we should get out of here.”
He laced his hands with hers and pulled her in for another quick kiss, then another, unwilling to lose the moment. But the rain wasn’t letting up, and he didn’t want her to get soaked. He looked around, searching for someplace for them to take cover. A brand new Lexus with the dealer sticker on one window and a smashed up front end was only a few spaces away.
“Come on,” he said, pulling her close behind him as he hurried for the back door. The rain came down harder with each step, until they were nearly soaked by the time he wrenched open the door and dashed inside, scooting all the way to the other side. The interior was warm and smelled of factory leather and the unmistakable earthy scent of summer rain.
Delaney dove in after him, laughing as she landed in a heap across him. She grinned wide as she wiped the rain from her eyes. “And here my mother told me to stay out of back seats with boys.”
He chuckled as he encircled her waist with his hands and brought her that much closer. “I like being a bad influence on you.”
Her answering smile could only be called wicked. “Me, too.”
He leaned forward and captured her lips with his, this time with more heat, more intention. He loved the weight of her pressed against him. Her left hand was braced on his thigh as she buried her right hand in his hair. She hadn’t bothered to shut the door, and the sound of the pouring rain matched the pounding of his heart.
The kiss went on and on, heating his blood and sending desire through his whole body. When she pulled back, he groaned in dismay, not wanting to part for even a second. But then she was pulling off her wet tank top, revealing a teal bra this time. He drew in a long, slow breath as he explored her body with first his eyes, then with his rain-slicked fingers. His hands glided over her flat stomach, sliding around her sides and up her back, pulling her back to him.
Just as their lips touched, three short blasts of a horn just outside startled them apart. Delaney’s eyes went huge and round as she stared back at him, horror-tinged laughter escaping from her lips. “Oh, my God. Who in the hell is that?”
She scrambled to get her shirt back on as Beau heard Mutt shout, “Thought y’all might need a rescue!”
He exhaled sharply, both relieved that the rain fogged windows had shielded them and pissed that Mutt would choose now, of all times, to show a little chivalry in his life. Glancing out the back window, he saw the ancient golf-cart the old man used to get around the lot, its rain flaps lowered and the puny little windshield wipers thwapping.
“That,” Beau said succinctly, “is Mutt. He must have seen you, ‘cuz he sure as hell wouldn’t have come out here just to rescue me.”
She finger-combed her long, damp hair back from her face. “What should we do?”
“Well, as much as I’d prefer to stay here for a few hours alone with you, I think we’d better go. Technically he’s a business contact for the shop.”
Sighing hugely, she nodded. With a one last look that made him want to say to hell with the old man, she ducked out the door and dashed to the golf cart.
Beau sucked in a long, slow breath. The people of this town seemed intent on messing things up for them. Cursing both his luck and the old man’s timing, he headed out into the rain after her.
He didn’t know what had just happened between them—what it meant, where it would have led—but he damned well intended to see that it happened again.
And soon.
***
Good Lord Almighty, could that man kiss.
Delaney could hardly focus on the dinner conversation as she replayed the brief but incredible make out session they’d shared. Beau’s body felt every bit as good as it looked, especially through damp clothes.
“Yoo-hoo, Earth to Delaney!”
Her attention snapped back to the table as she looked to Georgia. “I’m so sorry—I was a million miles away. What did you say?”
The older woman smiled and patted her hand. “Don’t you worry—I know you’ve got a lot on your mind. I was just talking about how crazy things have been with the Beautification Committee since none of us can agree on a direction for the new business signage for Main Street. But that’s when the solution smacked me right upside the head.”
“Oh yeah? What was it?” Delaney took a bite of her mashed potatoes, working hard to keep her gaze from straying to Beau. She could actually feel him looking at her.
“You! Not only are you a designer by trade, you’re also an outsider, so you can look at the ideas with fresh eyes. An unbiased opinion would do wonders for us. Left to our own devices, we’ll be bickering ‘til the cows come home.” She took a triumphant bite of chicken, clearly pleased with her idea.
“Erm, I suppose I could do that. Are you sure it won’t ruffle any feathers?” Georgia had been so kind to her these past few days, there was no reason why Delaney couldn’t do this small thing for her.
“Oh, honey, you’re guaranteed to ruffle some feathers, but that’s small town living for you. How about you come to town with me tomorrow morning. Beau can manage without us for a few hours, can’t you honey?”
It wasn’t a question, and Beau seemed to know it. Giving a quick nod, his gaze flitted from his mom back to Delaney, where it held for a half a second before he turned his attention to his plate. She couldn’t help but wonder if he had spent the dinner replaying the afternoon’s events as well.
Mutt had shuttled them back to the truck earlier, where Delaney had waited while the two men removed the bumper in the rain. By the time they got back to the shop, there was a customer waiting to drop off his car, followed shortly by one picking up. Just when they thought they’d have a moment alone together, Georgia dropped by and offered to take Delaney back early. How could she refuse?
So here she was, dying to pick things back up with Beau, but having no idea where to start, or even how to get a moment alone with him.
Oblivious to the direction of Delaney’s thoughts, Georgia pushed away from the table and went to pull dessert from the fridge. “You know, Delaney, I’m so glad that you’ll be here long enough to see the judging. With national recognition on the line for our little town, you’ll get to see us shine like never before.
“Unless of course we end up killing each other first,” she said with a wink as she set the ooey gooey butter cake on the table. “A distinct possibility if you can’t convince Lenelle Winslow to table her plans to have us all dress in period appropriate clothes from the town’s founding in 1906. God help her if she tries to get me into a corset.”
Delaney chuckled as Georgia cut the cake. “I’ll do my best to help veto that.”
Sliding a piece of cake onto Beau’s plate, Georgia sighed. “I guess I should say I’m glad you’ll be here too, honey. It’s been so nice having you around, I’m not sure what I’m going to do when you go back to Birmingham.”
“Revel in having a quiet house again?” he replied, an affectionate grin on his lips.
She swatted a hand at him. “You know I love it. After twenty years raising my boisterous boys, I can barely stand the quiet these days. I know y’all have been gone for years, but every now and then I still think somebody’s up to no good when I can hear myself think.”
“You’re welcome to come visit anytime,” Beau assured her. “Granddaddy has already promised that my first year at the firm will be hell, so it’s unlikely that I’ll get back here before Christmas.”
The uncomfortable prick of encroaching reality snuck up on Delaney as he spoke of his future plans. Really, what were they doing? She couldn’t go getting tangled up with a man who would be parting ways with her for good in a week. They could always be friends from afar, but dating long distance was next to impossible. It never worked, particularly when he’d be living in Birmingham, the city she didn’t want to lay eyes on for a long, long time.
“Something wrong with the cake?”
Delaney shook her head, mustering a smile for her hostess. “It’s absolutely delicious. I’m just super tired tonight.”
Beau set down his fork and said, “Why don’t we head to the porch for a spell? I know it’s been a long day for both of us.”
There was a subtle note of promise in his voice, one that caused a potent blend of longing and desire to tug at her heart. But she needed to think about this. “Actually, I think I’ll just head to bed.”
She made quick work of clearing her dishes, then bid them both goodnight before heading for the stairs. She was halfway up when Beau hurried in behind her. “Dee, hang on a second.”
Why did he have to be so darn good looking? Though she knew she shouldn’t, she did as he asked. He climbed the stairs two at a time until he reached the step below hers, bringing them to eye level.
His green gaze softened as he smiled. “Is everything all right with us? You’re not upset or anything, are you?”
She shook her head. “Not upset at all.” How could she be, when he still smelled a little like the rain? “But we are in your mama’s house, and I don’t want to do anything that carries the risk of getting caught. We’ve had enough of that today,” she added with a quick smile.
“Understood.” With a devilish lift of his left eyebrow, he called over his shoulder, “Hey, Mama?”
Georgia’s muffled, “Yes, baby?” came from deep in the kitchen.
“I’m kissing Delaney goodnight, okay?”
Delaney’s jaw nearly hit the floor even as Georgia gave her laughing consent. “No he’s not,” Delaney called out, mortified. Looking him straight in the eye as sternly as she could, she said, “No, you’re not. What the hell are you thinking, saying that?”
There was no way she could face Georgia tomorrow without turning twenty shades of red.
His hands slowly encircled her waist. “I’m thinking,” he murmured, his voice low and slow, “that I’m a twenty-eight year old man who’s too old to be slinking around. This way, we won’t get ‘caught.’ That’s a bit of lawyer logic for you.” His smile was smug yet somehow sweet, promising yet asking.
It was hard to think straight with his arms around her and his mouth only inches from her own. Licking her lips, she tried and failed to sound stern when she said, “Nobody likes lawyers, you know.”
“Well, this lawyer just happens to like you. So, sweet Dee, may I please kiss you goodnight?” He was close enough now that she could smell the hint of sugar on his breath. He tucked his hands in her back pocket and waited, his half-lidded eyes never leaving hers.
“We really should think this through,” she whispered, more as a reminder to herself than a comment to him.
He tilted his head and nuzzled the side of her neck, right near the hollow of her collarbone. She nearly melted right on the spot.
“I have thought this through,” he whispered back. “And I am a hundred percent sure that I want to kiss you goodnight.”
She swallowed. The sooner she acquiesced, the sooner she could escape to her room. Because Lord knew, there was no way she could resist at this point.
“All right, then kiss me.”
She felt, rather than saw his smile. He was probably way too used to getting his way. But the moment his lips touched her neck, she forget her intentions to escape. He pressed feather-light, warm kisses in a trail up the side of her neck before pulling back and meeting her gaze.
“Goodnight, Delaney,” he murmured, before placing a single, hot, lingering kiss to her lips.
She stood rooted in place as he turned and headed back down the stairs. When at last her heart started up again, she closed her eyes and exhaled.
She was in trouble. Deep, deep trouble.