First and Only (Callaghan Brothers #2)

He shrugged nonchalantly, but inwardly he was doing fist pumps. “This isn’t your first time in town, then.”


While her attention was focused on the food, he looked casually around her room. He hid a grin when he spotted a paperback novel about Navy SEALs written by a well-known erotic author on the nightstand, right next to a velvety black bag. If his guess was right, and he was sure it was, that little bag contained a feminine tool geared toward self-pleasure. He forced his eyes away, shifting in his seat in a futile attempt to relieve some of the building pressure in his groin. On the bed was a notebook computer. From the looks of things, she’d been checking email.

“No,” she agreed in between bites, but she didn’t elaborate. Instead, she closed her eyes in rapture, only to open them again slowly and fix them on him.

“I’m sorry about before,” she said. “But in my defense, I didn’t realize you were talking Dragonfire’s.”

“You’re feeling better now, I take it?”

“Much. Amazing what a hot shower and a few bottles of body wash can do for a girl’s attitude.”

Ian’s eyes flicked to the nightstand, and saw the instant blush adorn her cheeks. Oh yeah, he’d been right about that. And if there was a God she was thinking of him while she’d “adjusted her attitude”.

They ate in silence. She finished about half of hers before giving it to him to finish, picking up an orange from the complimentary fruit basket (a gift of the hotel) and peeling it. He was already associating the sweet, citrusy scent with her.

“So... how long are you in town?” he asked, his voice rich and warm. While his body was still taut with awareness, she seemed to have put the rest of him at ease. No one had ever done that before. “I grew up here, I can show you around if you’d like.”

She studied him carefully before answering. He had the vague impression she was disappointed by his words, but he couldn’t imagine why. What he did know was that sadness had no place on that beautiful face.

Lexi pulled off a section of orange and offered it to him, taking one for herself. When she spoke, she did so slowly, as if choosing her words carefully. “That’s very kind of you, Ian. But...”

“Thanks, but no thanks?” he guessed.

She seemed genuinely sorry. “I’m only here for a few days, and I’m afraid most of my time is already planned out for me.”

“I see.” He tried not to think too much about the rush of disappointment he felt at her words, because it made no sense whatsoever. He’d met this girl on a bus only a few hours earlier. Why should the thought of her leaving in a few days bother him so much? This was just supposed to be a one-time hook-up, right? A chance to satisfy his curiosity and move on.

Clearly he was having issues. Maybe his older brother Kane would let him hang up at the mountain cabin till he could get his shit together, because this whole unexpected connection just wasn’t sitting well.

*

Lexi watched his reaction. He seemed genuinely disappointed that she had turned him down again. Come tomorrow, he would understand. But for tonight, he was still clueless. Tonight, she was a mysterious woman he never thought he would be seeing again.

Her heart began to pound faster against the walls of her chest as she considered the possibilities of such a scenario. Dare she? There’d be hell to pay tomorrow, no doubt about it, but she was looking straight down the sights of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity here.

“But... I am free tonight.”

Ian’s eyes snapped to hers, the deep blue instantly heating, becoming molten, liquid pools of blue fire. “What exactly did you have in mind?”

Lexi felt the heat rush into her cheeks. As many times as she had fine-tuned this fantasy in her mind, she was no smooth seductress. “I’m open for suggestions.”

A slow, sexy grin began to curve his mouth. “Are you, now?” His voice was soft, low, infinitely dangerous for the effect it was having on her, stroking against nerves she didn’t even know she had.

Lexi stood up, stuffing the remnants of their meal into the bag. Her hands shook as the implications of what she’d just offered him sunk in. Ian Callaghan was not a man you played with lightly. Would she have the courage to back it up? And what if he rejected her?

Before she had a chance to fully analyze that, Ian was behind her. She could feel his warmth, his presence, as it wrapped around her. With a gentle motion he pushed her hair back over one shoulder, baring the back and side of her neck to him.

“Are you sure?” he whispered, his warm breath fluttering across her skin, making her shudder and giving her goose bumps. Her nipples hardened instantly; even the feel of the lightweight tank against them was sending bolts of sensation through her core and into her toes.