Six Month Rule (Kingston Ale House) (9 page)

His lips tickled hers.

“Then, Holly Chandler—may I kiss you again?”

Chapter Twelve

“God, I love it when you say
May I?
”

And again she answered him without words, just with her lips on his, outside in a beer garden—over two plates of fish and chips.

What was he doing? This wasn’t okay. This wasn’t what he’d come to the States for. He was here for Sophie. All he had to do was make it through the first of the year and he was a free man, free to be the father he should have been since day one, to put his daughter first.

But hell if Holly Chandler wasn’t breathing new life into him with every brush of her lips, that tease of her tongue.

“We shouldn’t do this here,” he said gently against her mouth.

“I know.” She laughed softly, pulling away, and Christ, he’d have let her keep kissing him despite the public display, because it had been too long since he’d felt anything other than guilt or disappointment at the choices he’d made.

“I’m not really hungry anymore,” she said. “For pub fare, I mean.”

As if the kiss wasn’t enough to bring him back to life, the insinuation in Holly’s tone sent Will reeling—and straining against his goddamn jeans.

“Can’t say I am, either.” He pulled his wallet from his back pocket, but she put her hand on his before he could retrieve his bank card.

“Oh, no, you don’t,” she said. “I set up this
meeting
, which means lunch is on me. Ask me to dinner sometime, and maybe I’ll let you take care of the bill.”

Dinner. Would he take her to dinner? What, exactly, had they just agreed to? Will couldn’t think clearly, not with thoughts of his lips on hers again. But they were supposed to be doing something other than kissing, right? There was a reason she’d had him clear his schedule for the rest of the afternoon.

“Windows!” he blurted as Holly left cash on the table next to their uneaten food. “You were going to show me windows, right? For design ideas.”

Holly stood and grabbed his hand, urging him to join her.

“My apartment has windows,” she said. “Can I show you those first?”

Will swallowed hard. They were really going to do this. Now. This was mad. Holly Chandler and her six-month plan were just plain mad. But he wanted her more than logic could argue, and he knew if he didn’t get this wanting out of his system, this job would be fucked, and his superiors would find a way to take that sabbatical from him. As it stood now, if he fulfilled the terms of his contract, he’d have a year off with job security. But fuck it all up, and he’d lose the job completely. Sure, there was enough money to live leisurely for a year, to take care of Sophie, and even to put away for her. But he wasn’t set for life. Far from it. He had to wade into these waters with care.

But right now, he couldn’t think past the next three minutes. He just needed to see those windows.

“Yes,” he answered, letting her pull him from the table, passing Jeremy on the way.

Holly paused for a moment as Jeremy looked toward their table and then back at them, grinning like the damn Cheshire Cat.

“Enjoy your potential,” Jeremy said, and Holly backhanded him on the shoulder while Will stayed quiet. Not like he could disagree about what lay ahead for them.

We will
, he thought instead, as Holly led him through the beer garden’s gate and out onto the sidewalk.

He remembered their walk Friday night, how they’d lingered with each step, the feeling that neither of them wanted to reach their destination because that would mean the night would end. Now they practically raced to Holly’s flat, Will barely remembering the journey until his back was against the door she’d disappeared into only three days ago.

Hidden from the street under the door’s small overhang, Holly whispered to him, “May I kiss you, Will Evans?”

He was dizzy with need, but he was with it enough to remember that he didn’t live his life like this anymore. When he’d come home from that Paris trip six and a half years ago to find Tara had left him for Phillip while he was gone, Will had felt a sense of relief. He’d been only twenty-six, on fire at Spotlight PR. Being single would give him the freedom to do what he loved, what he was damn good at, without anything or anyone holding him back.

Until Tara told him she was pregnant, and tests confirmed the baby was his.

“Holly, wait.”

She stopped, and he rested a palm lightly on her cheek while his other hand fisted at his side.

“You’re having second thoughts,” she said, and the light in her green eyes dimmed. “It’s okay,” she added. “I knew there was a chance this would be too much. I mean, we barely know each other, but
God
, the heat between us, right? Maybe it’s that whole opposites-attract thing. I don’t know. I just thought if I could get it out of my system—let my little crush run its course—by the time we were ready for the show, we’d be past all this…this…
need
.”

She ducked under his arm, and Will instinctively moved out of the way as she stuck her key in the lock. She turned back as she pushed the door open and shrugged.

“Meeting adjourned, I guess?”

Oh, for fuck’s sake. He kissed her again, and Holly’s eyes grew wide, but she melted into him nonetheless. When he felt her relax, he pulled away to speak.

“Do you ever stop talking?” he asked, and she opened her mouth to respond but then, he assumed, thought better of it. “Right,” he continued. “I just wanted to set some parameters before we go inside. Is that all right?”

She nodded and leaned against the door, backing it open into her flat.

“I’m not some prick who’s going to just walk in there for a one-off shag and be on my way. I don’t know exactly how the next five or so months are supposed to go, but I—I’m—quite fond of you, Holly. And maybe we are wrong for each other outside this next half a year, but that doesn’t mean I can’t do
some
things right before I go.”

She nodded again.

“Dinner. Tonight. My turn to choose the place.”

Her lips were pressed together, but she was grinning. She liked the idea.

“And after—theater. I’ll speak to the concierge at my hotel.”

She bit her bottom lip. “Okay, but Will?”

“Yeah?”

She wiped away the smile for an exaggerated somber look.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Evans. Permission to speak, sir?”

He rolled his eyes.

“Look, this is all really sweet, and gentlemanly, and very chivalrous and all, and I’m very much looking forward to a proper date with you this evening. But I have to tell you one thing.”

He licked his lips, suddenly parched.

“Yes?”

Holly sighed. “I’m a sure thing. Right here. Right now. I know you don’t want me to think you came here
just
to shag me, but good Lord, please tell me that you
are
going to shag me, because I so want to shag you.”

His resistance crumbled, and he couldn’t help himself. He laughed.

Holly exhaled and grabbed him by the arm, pulling him the rest of the way into her place so she could shut the door. He half expected her to push him up against a wall and start kissing him again, taking th
e speed train to Shagville. But instead she just stared at him, arms crossed.

“You can be moody,” she said. “And rude.”

“I’m sorry, what?” Will interrupted, but she put a finger to his lips.

“And also funny, intelligent, and ridiculously handsome in both a three-piece suit and a T-shirt and jeans.”

Okay, then. At least he wasn’t simply moody and rude.

“And I’m quite fond of you, too, Will Evans. But we are on a ticking clock here.”

Holly removed the small bag that was slung across her midsection and took a step back from him, placing it on a table against the wall.

“And I don’t want to waste any part of our six months that could be used for activities other than quibbling over who is fond of whom or whether or not your intention was to shag me.”

She took another step back and pulled her tank top over her head so she stood before him in just her jeans and a bra.

If Will’s resistance had already crumbled, now it was blown to dust. If she took off her bra, he’d be powerless against her. Who was he kidding? He’d been in trouble since day one. Only now was he able to admit it.

“Because intent doesn’t matter as long as right now, in this moment, we both want the same thing.”

Holly leaned against the back of her sofa now, her fingers resting on the front clasp of her bra. And just like that, she flicked it open, and just as quickly let the straps drop to her elbows before she shook it to the floor. Her hair spilled over her shoulders, and Will’s gaze traveled to where the locks rested against her milky-white skin, then lower to where the flesh pinked around the hard peaks at the tips of her breasts.

She blew the fringe out of her eyes, losing her footing for a second. Will stifled a laugh as she righted herself, taking comfort in the fact that maybe Holly wasn’t seasoned in the art of seduction, that perhaps this was all for him. Plus, she was adorably sexy when she was just being herself.

He strode toward her, careful and deliberate, stopping when the tips of his shoes met hers, and he grinned at her small feet covered by Nike trainers. She’d worn practical shoes in case they’d gone walking, he supposed, and damn if that wasn’t adorable, too.

“May I…?” he asked, his voice hoarse and expectant as he raised a palm toward one of her breasts.

She half smiled while biting her lip, then nodded, and Will brought his hand to her skin. As he made contact, they each drew in a sharp breath.

“God, Holly…”

“Say it again,” she whispered, her hands clasping around his neck.

“God, Holly?” he asked, teasing, because he knew what she meant, but he wanted her to say it one more time.

She shook her head, grinning, and gently tugged his head toward hers.

“I want you to ask permission in that sexy accent of yours.”

He brought his lips to hers, not yet in a kiss, but close enough to feel her breath on his skin. One hand was still on her breast, and the other had found its way to her back. Will was barely hanging on, but he wanted to do this right, put someone else’s needs first, give her what she wanted.

So he asked, “May I do this?”

He kissed her, featherlight, and she spoke softly against him.

“Yes.”

His lips moved to her jaw and her neck, and all the while he spoke sweetly against her.

“And this? May I kiss you here?”

He felt her swallow as he peppered her skin with tiny kisses, and again he heard her voice, faint yet insistent.

“Yes.”

Her breast was still cupped in his hand, and he lightly pinched the hard peak while asking, “What about this, Holly? May I do this?”

She gasped and rocked her hips against him, and he took that as a yes. God, it had been so long since he’d been with anyone like this, and the way she responded to him was enough to drive him mad. He knew this was dangerous ground, that he wasn’t just attracted to Holly physically. He should be logical here, weigh the pros and cons, but her hands had left his neck and found the button of his jeans, and that was it. Will finally put his overactive brain to rest. It was all instinct from here, because Holly Chandler responded to his impulses, and he to hers.

“May
I
have the pleasure, Mr. Evans?” She undid the button. “Or can I call you Billy now?”

Will scooped her into his arms and dropped her over the side of the sofa so she now lay on her back. Holly yelped with laughter as he stepped around to meet her, sitting on the edge of a cushion.

“No to Billy,” he said. Then, “You first,” returning the favor, unbuttoning and unzipping her jeans. “If I
may
.”

Holly responded by nodding and kicking off her trainers, so he slid the snug denim down over her legs, fingers skimming the flesh of her inner thigh as he did, and watched her stomach contract with each breath.

And then she was there, in nothing but a pair of red lace knickers—damn Holly with the red shoes this morning and now this.
She
wasn’t the sure thing.
He
was, and she bloody well knew it.

He slid his palms up her thighs, slow and controlled, even though he was coming undone with each inch of her skin she let him touch. He reached the place where thigh met hip, where his thumbs could sneak underneath the bottom hem of those drive-him-insane knickers, and he asked a final question.

“I want to touch you everywhere, Holly. I want my hands all over your beautiful skin.” He watched her hands fist the material of the sofa cushion, and he knew what her answer was. But damn if he didn’t love how she loved those words.

“May I?”

He tugged at the material that would bare her to him completely, and she squirmed.

“Yes.”

Something in his gut lurched at the sweet insistence in her voice.

Will shook his head and, with it, shook away the last of his logical thought. He would not let the past keep him from enjoying this moment, and he would not think ahead to what it would be like to have a woman like Holly and then give her up. So he closed his eyes for a moment, did a mental regroup, slid Holly Chandler’s knickers to her ankles, and then dropped them to the floor.

“Blimey,” he said under his breath, and Holly relaxed, placing her hands behind her head.

“Like what you see?” she asked, and he grinned at the echo of her first words to him in the lift. So much about today—seeing each other in the lift for the first time since Friday, the red shoes, her words—it all mirrored their first meeting two weeks ago, yet with a twist. It was a redo of sorts, if they’d met under different circumstances and entertained possibilities such as this.

“Very much,” he answered. He liked everything about the way he saw things between them today, right here, in this moment. Will leaned down to kiss her stomach, then raised his head again, eyeing a line of three birthmarks on her hip. He traced his finger across the tiny dots.

“Orion,” he said. “You’ve got Orion’s belt, haven’t you?”

Holly’s eyes were closed as she spoke. “Uh-huh. It’s how I first learned about the stars.” Her voice was dreamy and far away. “When I was little and asked my mom why I had three spots where my sister had none, she told me it was my very own constellation. And when she showed me Orion’s belt in the sky, and so many other constellations over my head that told all these stories, I wanted to be a part of something like that.”