Page 19 of Rockstar Baby

“California makes sense.”

“Oh, sure. Seismic shifts and tectonic plates that want to dump half—if not the entire—state into the ocean.”

He spared me a quick glance. “Doom and gloom much?”

I shrugged again. “You can dig out of snow.”

“Or die in a pile as tall as a building.”

“Actually—”

He held up a hand before slamming it back down on the wheel. Back to his death grip. “Never mind.”

Finally, the yellow glow from the porch light of the bed and breakfast came into view. The visibility was shit, but the swollen clouds seemed to be dissipating a bit. The storm would probably play itself out in the next few hours.

More than enough time to get Rory Ferguson out of my system.

I hoped.

Five

He parkedalong the side of the building. I reached for my door and his terse, “stay,” made my hackles rise and something a little more interesting bloom inside me.

“Ruff.”

He glowered. Seemed to be his natural state. Why did that turn me on so much? Maybe I was a little more twisted than I thought.

I laughed at him to see what would happen. This was all for science, after all.

I didn’t do one-nighters. Even in college, I just ended up hooking up with people in my circle of friends. Some stuck around, others drifted away. It had all been so light and easy.

Nothing seemed remotely light or easy with this man. And he was definitely not a boy.

“I don’t know whether to kiss you or throttle you.”

My eyes widened. I didn’t know him well enough to know if he was kidding or not, but it didn’t stop the delicious little shiver playing cross country track star down my spine. Should I be running for the side entrance to find Sage for safety?

Everything inside me screamed no.

Was I getting under his skin?

He was certainly making mine tingle and tighten in all the best places. A few others loosened and heated. I so wasn’t used to that. Or I’d forgotten what attraction felt like. I knew everyone in town—mostly. Oh, there had been a few new people now that the town was expanding exponentially, thanks to our own private little baby boom, but so far, none of the locals rang my bell.

Yet here I was with a perfect stranger who would be moving on before dawn, probably. And my bells were clanging like the end of Christmas mass.

I leaned across the console and dragged him to my mouth. Better to remind him why we were doing this. Besides, this was his idea. I’d never have been so bold if he hadn’t prompted me to wonder what he tasted like. About the accent that told stories without giving me any real information on the man.

He kissed me with the same intensity as before we got into the car, though his touch was soft. He tugged on the end of my braid, lightly playing with the end like a paintbrush. It was confusing and wonderful at the same time. Nothing made sense and yet this little moment felt righter than anything I’d experienced so far.

I fumbled with the belt to get closer to him. My gloves were gone due to the sauna level of the car. It allowed me to dip my fingers into his thick hair. His mouth moved to my neck and I tugged at his sweater with my other hand. I wanted more skin, more closeness, more everything.

Raking my fingers through his hair, I dragged him closer. He was ginger like me, but the deeper kind with lots of brown and blond mixed in. The golden glow of the lights around the bed and breakfast turned his hair to the color of an older penny. One that had been through a lot and somehow always ended up back in your pocket.

I groaned when his lips hit a certain spot on my neck. Most guys didn’t care enough about the foreplay part before they were trying to get their dick wet. At least that had been my entire college experience. One wild year before I came home.

This? Yeah, this wasn’t anything like the fumbling nineteen-year-old guys I’d been with in the past.

No, this was wild and wonderful.