Chapter Seven
Mike pulled her door open before Tiffany even got her hands off the ignition. “What are we doing tonight?”
“Haven’t decided.” Keeping her hands to herself was the plan. Now that he was leaning in her truck, that dizzying scent of his filling her, she couldn’t quite remember why she’d made that very firm decision this morning.
“I have an idea or two.” He leaned in. Hands grabbed her hips and turned her on the seat until she faced him. Her legs straddled his waist, arms clutched him and oh, yeah, mouth pressed to his, desperately clinging for a kiss she’d been wanting all day. A kiss she wasn’t supposed to be having because this was moving all too fast.
She pushed him back, gasping for air and the strength to keep him at arms’ length. “Rules for the night. No kissing.”
He frowned. “That’s a shitty rule. Why?”
“Because this is moving too fast and we’re not even sure where we’re going.” As in, it’s headed right where she couldn’t go. Into a relationship. It was all too easy to imagine and picture herself in his life. And that wasn’t a possibility.
And if not there, then worse. Headed toward a fling, and a fling with her was not something he could afford any more than a relationship. She slipped out of her truck, which forced her body along his since he seemed dead-set against moving a single step.
As if she should have expected anything else. Mike always had a strong mind and when he set his way about something, there was no changing. He wouldn’t have kept after her all these years trying to keep her in line if he hadn’t been determined to see her taken care of.
Because of that, she knew she was in some serious trouble keeping her heart protected. Regardless of what he wanted, this thing between them could go nowhere.
“We’ll never get anywhere if you don’t move back a little.”
His arms snaked around her back. “There’s nowhere I’d rather be.”
“You’re being impossible.”
“I just know what I want. You’ll see. We can make this work, if we try. I’ve thought about it and it’s a hundred and eighty days away from election day.”
“Uh-huh. Well, unfortunately for you, we’re off work and I’m in charge. Back up a step.”
He groaned, but followed her direction. The moment his impressive body was out of the way and she could see more than his wide chest, she had her plans for the evening. She pointed to his bike under the carport. “That run?”
He glanced over his shoulder. “My dirt bike?”
She nodded, getting more of a thrill out of this than she intended. It was perfect because Mike’s hands would be occupied with steering and stuff. And, she’d never been on a dirt bike before.
Until he went and turned back to her with a gleam in his eye and dangerous turn of his lips, dropping her belly to the bottom of her feet. “You bet your sweet ass it does.”
He grabbed her hand and tugged her toward the bike. She stumbled behind and stopped short, realizing she was still in clothes from work. “Wait. I need to put shorts on.”
He glanced down to her skirt just before straddling the seat. “You’re good. You’ll be on back and we’re not going off my land. You’ll be fine.”
She threw her leg over the seat and scooted up to his back. “Being seen like this would not help my reputation any.”
He kick-started the bike. “If I thought someone might see and be able to see up your skirt, then we wouldn’t be on this bike.” He reached back and patted her bare thigh. “Hold on.”
She leaned forward and fell into heaven as her arms wound around his body and held him tight. The machine vibrated through her and she gripped his hips with her thighs. Just as he took off for the setting sun, and she rested her cheek on his back, she had one clear thought.
This was such a terrible mistake.
He raced over the countryside, cutting down a thin trail in the woods just behind his house.
“Where to?”
“Me?” She had to scream over the whine of the engine. “You’re driving!”
“Does that mean I’m in charge?”
She bit her lip, extremely tempted to tell him yes. Far too tempted to be able to tell him no because right now, on this trail in private with her heart pounding in her chest, just for the pure fun of it with no need or bet attached, she was having one of the best days ever. “Yes! You’re in charge for now!”
“I’m going to hold you to that.”
He twisted the right handlebar, the bike gunned and darted forward as he swung them around a curve. Laughter bubbled out her throat, only to be lost on the wind as he took them up a hill and gravity jerked them down again. Keeping her face plastered to his back, she couldn’t see where they headed and she liked it that way just fine.
For another ten minutes, she clung to him at rip-roaring speeds racing through trails blind until he slowed the bike and cut the engine.
She sat up. Her heart pounded and breath trying to catch up. “Where are we?”
“The pond.”
She peeked over his shoulder to a small pond. It couldn’t be more than two acres. “I didn’t know this was here.”
She slid off the bike and walked toward the water.
“If you feel the need to strip and change your clothes, I won’t fuss here.”
She looked over her shoulder and arched her brows. “Guess since it’s private property it’s not illegal?”
“You got it.”
“Well that just takes all the fun out of it,” she teased, and then regretted it as he walked to her.
His stride was long and it took only steps until he was behind her, wrapping his arms around her. His fingers sprayed across her belly and he pulled her back, putting her butt against the front of him. “You think this won’t be fun?” His cheek slid along hers. His lips kissed her jaw. “Oh, darling, you shouldn’t have said that.”
“This still isn’t a good idea.”
His mouth came down against her neck. “No one is here to know. It’s just us and it’s nobody else’s fucking business. Let someone try telling me otherwise.”
She shuddered under his touch. “It’s just us right now. You know how fast that will change. Just one look from across the street and there will be talk.”
His hands dropped lower, slid down her legs and lifted the sides of her skirt. The thin cotton feathered against her thighs like his breath on her ear. “
Shh
.”
His fingertips scraped along her naked thighs and dipped between her legs. Her head dropped back, a whisper of rejection was surely about to come out, but words were lost under his touch.
He pressed a kiss to her neck. “For the last twenty or so minutes, I’ve had you wrapped around me like this on the bike.” His hand shifted and he palmed her over her cotton panties. “And I’ve been helpless but to just take it.”
The heat of his body pulled away from her, and she whimpered, trying to hold balance on her weakened knees. She should have known Mike wouldn’t fail her and she was swept up in his arms and cradled against his chest. “Where are we going?”
“Turnabout, sweet cheeks. That and I’m not sure how long I can just stand there without taking us both to the ground.”
She frowned, trying to stick some sense to his words before taking this step. Moving into a relationship. Words failed. They failed hard and fast as her blood pumped and Mike’s hands were now gripping her, rather than simply holding.
He lowered her on the seat of the dirt bike and sat behind her. His hands slid down her arms and lifted her wrists, guiding her to the handlebars and curving her fingers around them. “You’re not allowed to let go.”
She licked her lips, and nodded, thinking now would be a good time to remind him of all of the reasons they shouldn’t be doing this, they shouldn’t be moving closer together, but farther apart. But then, the back of his hands glided along her arms and down her sides and she pretty well decided to screw being sensible. For years all of her wild stints had been based on sensible, basic needs.
But this was just for the hell of it. It was too tempting to refuse.
“Mike.”
His mouth was back on her neck, kissing and nipping as he
shh’d
her once again. Damn it, that should be offensive, but she was lost under the soft hiss.
“Just don’t let go.”
She gripped tighter to the bars, afraid if she let go, he’d stop. This evening had been too perfect, a quick getaway from everything, for it to end now. His hands dropped lower, lifted the edges of her skirt again.
The heat of the bike was hot on her body as he rolled the cotton up her thighs. The evening's warm summer breeze washed over her exposed skin, wrapped her in the musk scent which always seemed to be on Mike’s skin. Whether he was in the office or sweating in the sun, it was that same intoxicating scent of him. One of his hands slipped under her shirt and raised it. She lifted her arms so he could take it off, but he tsked in her ear.
“You’re breaking the rules. You can’t let go.” He grabbed her wrists and guided her hands back to the handlebars. His hands closed over hers, squeezing her fists tight to the bars. “No letting go. Period.”
She nodded, too afraid she’d never get any words out if she spoke as his hands fell back on her body. The roughened pads of his thumbs scraped over her ribs and lazy fingers dipped between her breasts, followed the curve of her bra until she shuddered in his arms.
His hand slipped under her skirt and palm flatted over her center. “You’re warm.”
He rocked his hand, pulling a groan out of her. His fingers slipped under the edge of the elastic of her panties and slid along her damp opening. “And wet. If I had to guess, I’d say you taste of honey. We’ll see about that next time.”
She whimpered as he spoke more, as his words soothed in her ear and his hands took her body in gentle ways. Dipping and searching. Tugging and twisting until she was nothing but heat and need, at his mercy and limp against his body.
“Mike,” she whispered.
He answered her plea, his stroking vigorous. Rougher. Her body wound tight, insides pulled. He nipped her shoulder, a growl rumbled up his throat, and it was over. Release streamed through her body, a moan flew past her lips. He never stopped stroking her. Never paused in his kisses along her neck, but drew it out. Pushed her to new levels with new waves of thrilling excitement until she couldn’t take anymore and crashed back on his body.
He pulled his hands from her thighs, adjusted her panties straight and flipped her skirt down. He fixed her bra and tugged her shirt down and simply hugged her to his body as she gasped for air and thoughts that didn’t simply include
oh my God.
And
Holy Hell, again please.
“Tiffany.”
“Hmm?”
He leaned forward and held to the handlebars. He knocked the kick start and the bike rumbled. “It’s nearly dark. We need to start heading back.”
She nodded and sagged against his body, wishing she could curl up under his clothes and taste his skin. He adjusted the bike up and lifted the kick-stand. The trip back was slower with her on front, but she had to admit, being surrounded in his arms made it way more enjoyable.
His thighs hugged hers and she reached down, allowed her nails to scrap over his jeans. Yes, just as soon as they returned to his house, he was all hers. Because regardless of what did or didn’t happen between them, she was going to be hurting in the end anyhow. She might as well take what she could.
The trees parted and he drove them off the trail and into his small back yard, around the side and parked the bike in the garage, back in the same spot where he’d left it. She wasted no time in swinging her leg over the gas tank and putting her mouth on his.
His arms wrapped around her. She held tight to the back of his neck and pressed firmly against his chest.
His hands rode up the side of her body and along her arms once again. She loved it when he did that, being able to feel so much strength in his hands gently touching her. He grabbed her hands from around his neck and pulled them down between them. Broke the kiss and kissed her knuckles.
With his serious eyes and lost breath, he stared right at her. “I think it’s time for you to go home tonight.”
She frowned. Go home? The only place she was planning on going was to his bedroom. “I don’t understand. I thought you wanted this.”
“I do. You haven’t decided what you want.”
“I want—”
He leaned forward and swiftly pressed a kiss to her lips and sat back. “I want you to be able to tell me when you’re ready and why you’re okay with us. I know I want you and why. I’m ready to move forward. I’ve thought it over, we can make this work. We have time on our side before the election. You can’t say the same, can you?”
She bit her lower lip and wanted to cry and scream and kick and any number of other things because he was right. Mark this wonderful evening down as yet another Tiffany McBride fuck-up that was tearing her in half.
Chapter Eight
Tiffany tore open the bag of soil and emptied it in the flower bed. “We should be good to go.”
Mary Sue dropped to her knees and lifted a tray of pink petunias. “Let’s get started.”
Tiffany nodded and leaned in and got to arranging and planting. Some were flowered already, others were bulbs which wouldn’t bloom until late summer. Mary Sue had many talents, Tiffany was coming to discover, and picking out flowers for the beds was one of them.
While in high school they’d been awkward around one another, the years had soothed things out. She’d come to learn Mary Sue wasn’t at all the uptight Mrs. Fifties-wife she’d imagined. And at some point, she supposed Mary Sue decided Tiffany was the devil’s own daughter. Tiffany had began thinking of Mary Sue as one of the few friends she had.
Tiffany gestured at the front row. “Morning Glories, right?”
Mary Sue nodded, but Tiffany lost interest as the whine of a push mower grew louder. She looked up just as Mike came around the corner of the building. He was sweaty. And sexy. The damp t-shirt did nothing to hide the muscles of his chest.
Muscles she’d dreamed of licking and examining and exploring. But she hadn’t. Not since that evening after the pond had she gotten her hands on him. It’d been one awkward moment after another as he kept his hands to himself while she mentally reminded herself to keep hers to her. Wanting him was all against her better judgment, but it couldn’t be helped. When it came to Mike naked, or looking naked, or just well, Mike in general, there was no judgment sticking around. He caught her gazing and she blew him a kiss. In return he winked.
Mary Sue chuckled. “I can’t believe I just saw him wink at you.”
Tiffany’s face reddened, but she said nothing as her insides crippled at her very public mistake.
“You’ve been good for him this week.”
Tiffany paused with the shovel in her hands. “Have I?”
Mary Sue nodded. “He’s been happier. Lighter in a
whistle why you work
way, only he doesn’t actually whistle.”
She continued with spreading the soil. “Sounds like I’m distracting him from his work.”
Mary Sue shook her head. “No. I’m still processing the same amount out of him. He’s just enjoying life more now, it seems. And you’re the only difference.”
Heat filled Tiffany’s cheeks. She didn’t realize they’d been so obvious, until that moment a few minutes ago. It wasn’t like they made out in the offices when no one was looking. They kept their distance, mostly because Tiffany was in another room handling incoming calls.
Tiffany sat back on her heels and swallowed. “Don’t say anything to anyone, please. About us.”
Mary Sue stared after her with her elfish features set in pure curiosity.
“My past is no secret and I don’t want my name messing with the election. I still haven’t figured out a way for us to work with his public image hanging between us. I didn’t mean for you to see anything.”
“Hard not to notice when each time one of you walks through the room, your eyes meet and hold.” Mary Sue shrugged. “I’d be lying if I said I didn’t know your reputation.”
“I know. I did a lot of stupid things.” She returned to scooping out holes. “I had my reasons.”
“You also did a lot of fun things.” Mary Sue sat back on her heels. The woman dusted her gloves and reached for a bottle of water. “You were lucky, in some ways. With the things you were able to do. The adventures you were able to have. I never had those.”
All Tiffany could do was blink and stare.
“I can’t tell you how many times I laid in bed at night and thought, what would I be doing right now if I was Tiffany McBride? You should give yourself more credit. Some people are probably afraid and would never overlook your past, but some of us lived through you. Anyone who tells you different are too full of it to be able to admit it.”
Tiffany looked forward. “I thought you were afraid of me.”
“I was. You’re a terrifying person, Tiffany. You don’t take anything off anyone and you make your own way. Inspiring, but terrifying.”
“I’m sure you did some things for fun. What about all those girl sleepovers?”
“Puh-leese.” Mary Sue put her water down and leaned back in the flowers. “Seven or eight girls cramped in a small room painting their toenails, breathing the remover. It’s a wonder we weren’t all poisoned.”
“There’s got to be some fun things.”
Her cheeks colored.
“What. Tell me. You know all my secrets. Probably some that aren’t even true.”
Mary Sue glanced around and leaned over. “Well, I met Watkins. It wasn’t exactly mad young love for why we married so fast.” She winked and patted her belly. “Wakins Jr. came six months after we said ‘I Do’. Oh, momma and daddy were furious, but I was thrilled. He was the only one who ever got me and got what I was missing in my life. I still wonder though, what all I might have missed by being a good girl for so long.”
Tiffany laughed. “Ya know, you’re wondering what all I’ve done in my life and how it might be fascinating. I’ve always wondered about you. How you grew up. Things you did. What your mom taught you. How you do anything. I mean look at you. We’ve been digging in the dirt this long and your clothes are mostly spotless while I’m covered.”
Mary Sue looked down and frowned. “It’s a curse. I can’t help it. I was raised not to get dirty and I just don’t.”
“Never?”
“Never.”
Too bad for Mary Sue, Tiffany had a handful of potting soil. And she smacked it right on top of Mary Sue’s head. Mary Sue screeched as black dirt rained down over her cheeks and dropped on the front of her yellow shirt.
Tiffany grinned. “Problem solved.”
And then dirt smacked Tiffany in the face and Mary Sue’s laughter filled the warm May morning.
“You got me in the face!” Tiffany grabbed two handfuls of dirt and turned and slung. Just as fast as she threw dirt, she was hit with more.
Laughter spilled out. Tension released. Dirt flew.
And then she was grabbed from behind and jerked to her feet. “Hey!”
“What are you doing?”
Tiffany spun around and came face-to-face with a wide-eyed Mike. She blinked and blurted the first thing to mind. “Getting Mary Sue dirty.”
She glanced down to see Mary Sue was being cuddled and checked by her husband just as fast as she was swatting the overprotective man off. “I’m fine. We were just having some fun. God made dirt, dirt don’t hurt.” Mary Sue lifted her gaze to Tiffany and laughed. “You have a purple petunia hanging off the side of your head.”
Tiffany reached and pulled the uprooted plant from her hair. “Oh, man. We made a mess of the beds.”
Mary Sue leaned forward. “Nothing that can’t be fixed. You’re actually really good at this.”
She shrugged and dropped back to her knees when Mike released her. “Jessie and I grow a vegetable garden every year. Different animal, same basic thing. Dig a hole, stick in a plant.”
Mary Sue chuckled. “True. Are you busy next weekend? I’m going to work in my beds and Momma’s coming over to help. She won’t let me do a quarter of it since I’m pregnant and her eye on arrangement isn’t half as good as yours.”
Oh, dear. Tiffany had picked a number of roses from Mary Sue’s mother’s bushes over the years. “No” was on the verge of escaping, but she changed her mind. This was a chance though. If Mary Sue’s mother could over look her snipping prized roses for years then maybe, just maybe there was a chance with Mike.
It had been years since she cut the woman’s roses. Not since that night she’d almost been caught taking a handful. Tiffany didn’t think her momma and daddy would enjoy the beautiful roses on their graves so much if Tiffany got arrested getting them. She stuck to wildflowers from then on.
“Be happy to help.” After the words came out, Tiffany was glad to feel warmth fill her. She hadn’t agreed just because it was polite, but because she wanted to. She glanced up to find Mike smiling back down at her.