Chapter Seven
LIZZIE AWOKE WRAPPED securely in Blue’s arms. It had been so long since she’d felt the hardness of a man’s body touching hers that she reveled in it. She closed her eyes and relaxed against him, telling herself that their date could go on a little longer before she pulled the plug. It was Sunday, after all, the one day of the week she didn’t need to film or edit her webcast, or even go into the flower shop if she didn’t want to. And what could be nicer than spending the next few minutes snuggled up against Blue?
From her horizontal vantage point, she took in his cabin. It was small but tidy. The cedar ceiling and hardwood floors gave it a masculine, rustic feel. She was surprised to see plants from her shop on top of the refrigerator and on the small kitchen table. Blue was always in and out of her shop, but she hadn’t realized that some of the plants he bought were for himself.
Blue stirred behind her. His unshaven cheek brushed over her skin, and his lips followed. Oh, how she loved his lips and the feel of his stubble against her skin. He pulled her flush against him and kissed her neck again while his hands pressed flat against her stomach and ribs. She loved his big, strong hands, and his sexy moans were heating her up in places that hadn’t heated without her help in a very long time. She couldn’t resist turning to face him. His eyes were heavy with sleep, and his thick dark hair was tousled. He looked too delicious not to kiss. He still tasted faintly of wine, and the second their tongues touched, shivers of electricity rippled through her. He pressed a hand to the small of her back.
“Do you know how long I dreamed of holding you like this? Kissing you like this?” He kissed her again, and she slid her hand over his muscular back, taking pleasure in the firmness of him, the surety and safety of him.
“Tell me,” she whispered against his lips.
He kissed her again, then pressed scintillating kisses along her jaw as his hands smoothed down her back, over her hip, sending ripples of awareness through her with every touch.
Blue whispered, hot and lustful, in her ear, “Every night since the first day I laid eyes on you.”
When he shifted his weight, bringing one thigh over hers, she moved further beneath him, wanting to feel the weight of him, to feel what it would be like if she had a normal life and could allow herself to give in to her feelings and fall for such an amazing man. Her fingers traveled down his back, trembling by the time they reached his firm behind, which she couldn’t help but hold on to.
“You’re beautiful in the morning. Sorry about the morning breath.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of gum, then ripped it in half, placing one piece on her tongue and the other on his.
“I love a man who’s prepared.” She wanted to stay right there all day long.
He sealed his lips over hers, and she tried to tuck the gum between her cheek and teeth, making them both laugh. He plucked it from her mouth and set it, and his piece, on a magazine on the coffee table.
“Now we taste minty.” He pressed his lips to hers. “But just for the record, that gum was so I didn’t gross you out. I love the way you taste in the morning. No gum necessary.”
“You’re such a sweet talker.” She pulled him into a greedy kiss, wanting to feel more of him, to forget that she had to go back to real life—which she’d already decided could wait another day—and just disappear into him.
His mouth was hot and commanding, his hands were heavy and possessive as they played over her hips and waist. She could only imagine how good it would feel to make love with him.
“Blue…We should slow down.” She panted, arching her neck, giving better access to his skilled mouth while she tangled her hands in his hair and held him in place, his teeth grazing over her skin, sending chills down her spine.
“Okay.” He started to pull away.
“No.” She pressed his mouth to her neck again. “Yes.”
She felt him smile against her skin, and when his lips met hers in another soul-searing kiss, she melted against him, her mind blurry with desire.
“Blue,” she whispered urgently.
He lifted lust-filled eyes and met her gaze.
“I’m sorry.” His hand slid from her chest. “You said only kisses. I shouldn’t—” He tried to pull away again, but she covered his hand and held it on her chest.
“I wasn’t saying, Blue, like stop. I was saying, Blue, like, Ohmygosh, Blue, you feel so good.”
He smiled and touched his forehead to hers. “Still. I got carried away. You trusted me, and—”
“And I want this. I want you.”
“Lizzie, if we keep going like this, there’s no turning back.”
She held her breath, trying to grasp her fraying resolve and come back down to earth, trying to make a decision she didn’t want to make. Her heart was pleading for more. Her head was teetering between doing what she knew she should and ending this right here and now and doing what she so desperately wanted and what felt so very right that it couldn’t be wrong. She searched his eyes for answers he couldn’t possibly have, and her heart overruled her head.
“Kiss me, Blue. Touch me.”
He hesitated for only a second before a flash of unbridled passion burned in his eyes and their mouths crashed together, shattering their last bit of restraint. Even through their clothes she could feel his heat penetrating her skin. She shouldn’t do this. Couldn’t do this. She had to stop.
But he felt oh so good!
He gripped her hips, pressing against her, and searching her eyes for approval before taking her in another heated kiss.
She loved the way he was careful with her, making sure he had the green light, and then he took control. This wild, unbridled man could have whatever he wanted. She loved the way he claimed her mouth as if he were branding her as his—and boy, did she want to be his. She was on a bullet train and she wanted to ride it all the way to heaven. He lifted her shirt over her head and stripped off his own. The skin-to-skin contact was almost too much too take.
“Blue. Goodness, Blue.”
“Too much?” He pulled back. He was so thoughtful it made her want to give even more of herself to him.
“No.” She pulled his mouth to hers. “Maybe,” she said between kisses. “No,” she corrected herself. “Definitely not.”
“You’re gonna give me whiplash,” he teased, and kissed her so long, they both came away breathless. “Lizzie, we can stop. I don’t want you to regret this.”
She felt another pang of guilt about hiding the Naked Baker, and she couldn’t be sure if that guilt would lead to regret or not, but she wanted Blue more than she wanted to figure it out right now, so she answered with hope. “I’m not going to.” She pulled him into another kiss.
Being together felt so right, she didn’t want to stop. Time failed to exist as they kissed and touched, greeting the morning in the sweetest way she ever had.
After what felt like hours of reveling in his sweet kisses and loving touch, when she finally opened her eyes, the look in Blue’s was so caring that she had to close hers against the emotions she saw there, for fear of her own tumbling out.
He pressed another kiss to her lips. “Spend the day with me.”
She opened her eyes, reality creeping back in. This was her moment of decision. She knew she should end it here. Take what he’d given and go back to her secret life. But how could she do that when the man she’d wanted for so long was looking at her like she was truly all he ever wanted? She hadn’t counted on this, even though she’d known the dangers of allowing herself to go out with Blue. She hadn’t counted on feeling as if every moment sucked her deeper into him. Reality waited outside these cabin walls. Monday would bring the need to film her webcast. Tuesday, the commitment of editing…She stopped those thoughts by sealing them beneath a hard, painful swallow.
Reality, it turned out, was no match for her heart.
“Okay.”
BLUE COULD HARDLY believe his luck. After a year of asking Lizzie out, not only was he blessed with the most amazing night, but now he was given the gift of another day with her. And that’s how it felt, like a gift. How could an afternoon that had yet to come feel so special? He didn’t need to pick that apart, because he already knew the answer. He’d been falling for her every time he saw her. Falling harder every time she turned him down. He’d seen the way Lizzie looked at him, and he knew it took a strong woman to fight the attraction that had simmered between them for so long—and that strength was just one of the things he admired about her, even if he still didn’t understand why she’d fought it for such a long time.
“Okay? You’re not going to fight me on it? Or give me stipulations?”
“Only one,” she said, wrapping her arms around him. “I need to go home and shower.”
“Darn. I thought I’d convince you to shower with me.” He pressed his lips to hers again. He’d never get enough of her lips, and seeing them pinked up, swollen from their intense kisses, her skin flushed from the heat between them, made her even more alluring.
“If we get naked, we won’t be doing anything today but naked things.” She giggled, and he raised his brows.
“And that’s a problem because…?” He was teasing, but her eyes turned serious.
“Because, we’re not there yet.”
“Agreed. We are still partially dressed, but we could be there pretty quickly.”
She rolled her eyes.
“We moved too quickly. I’m sorry, Lizzie.” He reached for her shirt and helped her dress.
“No, we didn’t. You’re so careful with me. I appreciate that. But it makes it easy to forget…”
He rose to his feet and brought her up against him. “Forget?” He searched her eyes, and she had an uh-oh look in them that made his gut clench tight. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. It’s just easy to forget that my life is complicated.”
“You keep telling me that, but I just don’t see it. So you run a business? So do I.” He brushed her hair from her face and kissed her again. “Lizzie, we both have busy lives. So what? I love being with you, and you seem to enjoy being with me.”
“Too much. That’s the problem.” She was clutching his waist like she had last night. He could feel her desire in the firmness of her grip, which was in stark contrast to the worry in her eyes. He wished he knew why she was holding back. He didn’t want to just be with her. He wanted to know everything about her, to care for her, for her to be his and for him to be hers.
“Why?”
“Because my life isn’t about going out with a great guy.” Her voice escalated. “Or sleeping on his couch, comfortable and safe against him, or making out in the morning and wanting to laze the day away in his arms.”
“Whoa.” The harsh regret in her voice startled him. He held her against his chest, feeling her heart beating fast and hard. “You’re really upset.” He tipped her chin up and looked into her confused eyes. “Talk to me.”
She swallowed hard, as if she could contain whatever was creating distance between them, and silently shook her head.
“Do you want me to take you home? We don’t have to spend the day together.” The last thing he wanted was to cause her pain of any kind. Even if he didn’t understand why she needed space, he’d give it to her. He’d give her anything she needed.
“No.” She clung to his arms. “More than anything else, I want to spend the day with you.”
“Well, that makes me happy, but we’ll go back to only kissing.” Even if it kills me. “I never want you to regret being close to me.”
She pressed her cheek to his chest and wrapped her arms around his waist. “I will never, ever regret being close to you.” She gazed up at him and smiled, but he swore he saw something else there. Maybe not regret, but something curious. “I’ve never felt so much for someone so fast, and I’m sure it’s because we were friends for so long before we decided to become more. I’ve never had that type of foundation with anyone else I’ve gone out with. I feel so comfortable with you. It’s easy to skip all those early, awkward moments. And that’s amazing, but scary, too.”
Fear, that had to be the flicker he’d seen in her eyes a moment ago.
“You’re scared.” He breathed a little easier. This he could handle. This he understood. Sarah Jane had left him scared of letting anyone too close, and Lizzie had touched something in him that made him willing to push past that fear for the first time in more than a decade. “I’m scared, too.”
They held each other for a long while, and Blue knew they were each contemplating their fears and the goodness of what they felt. When Lizzie’s breathing calmed and she took a step back, they left the cabin to take her home, so she could shower and change as Blue had promised—but hopefully not change her mind.
In the truck Lizzie moved beside him and rested her head on his shoulder. It already felt like her spot, and as he drove to her house, he found himself opening up to her.
“I haven’t been in a relationship in a very long time, and I’m not sure what the rules are. Or how fast we should go, or any of that. All I know is that for the first time since I was in college, I want a relationship, and I want it with you. I want to figure out the complicated things, and I want to know what scares you.” He stopped at a red light and gazed into her eyes. “I want to be the guy you can count on. The person you trust with your secrets and the guy you let in here.” He pressed a kiss over her heart.
“You make it all sound so easy.” She fidgeted with the edge of her shirt.
“It’s not going to be easy, but we both know that nothing worth anything is easy. I want happy, not easy, and I know we can have that together.”