All she’d wanted was a test drive. All she’d wanted was to see if he kissed the way he drove.
But it turned out that kissing Will Franconi was a million times better than any fast ride could ever be.
She never, ever took her eye off the ball. Never for one second forgot that her focus needed to be on taking care of her brother, with everything else coming a distant second. But tonight, for a few heady moments in Will’s arms, she’d forgotten.
Forgotten so easily that it terrified her.
“You okay?” he asked. His breathing wasn’t so steady, either, but that was no consolation.
“I need a minute, just a minute.”
But the truth was that she needed way more than that, needed to find a way to clear her head, her body, of everything Will had just done to her with only one hot kiss.
“I got carried away.” There was a raw huskiness in his voice, and the moonlight was bright enough that she could see the pulse beating hard and fast at his throat. “Forgive me, Harper.”
But Will didn’t need to be forgiven for anything. She was the one who had just lost her mind over his kiss, while making the extremely troubling discovery that nothing had ever given her as much pleasure as going fast with him just had.
Which was especially crazy given that caution was her watchword where men were concerned. Sure, she knew it was a world where people jumped into bed on first dates, but that wasn’t what she did. And not with someone like Will Franconi. Not with a fast man who owned a whole bunch of fast cars. If she were stupid enough to jump into his bed, she couldn’t also be stupid enough not to expect him to drive right on past her as soon as they were through.
“I’m the one who should be apologizing,” she told him. “I shouldn’t have kissed—”
He put a palm to her cheek and his thumb on her lips to halt the rest of her words. “Yes, you definitely should have.” Then he added, his mouth only a kiss away, “Your kiss was better than the richest caviar I’ve ever tasted. You taste better than anything I’ve ever tasted, Harper.”
She was stunned at how he simply seemed to accept that they’d gone too fast and pushed past her comfort zone, rather than being angry with her for slamming the brakes on a super hot kiss. A kiss that she had been the one to initiate.
Harper needed to make it clear to him that there wasn’t going to be another kiss between them, but the words wouldn’t come. “I should go,” was all she could manage. Although the truth was that it was probably all she needed to say, since she couldn’t imagine he’d want to see her again. Why would a gorgeous billionaire who could have anyone want a woman with whom he always had to try so hard? Even just to set up a date? “I don’t want to keep Trish out late.”
Will slowly backed off, his hands trailing down her arms, leaving thrill bumps in their wake. Holding her at the waist, he helped her down from the parapet, then took her hand in his and led her back across the grass to the hole in the fence. She walked on the balls of her feet so her heels wouldn’t sink into the grass.
Back in the car, she asked him to put the top up. “It’s getting cold.” She touched her hair. “And my hair is already enough of a mess.”
“Your hair is gorgeous.”
Of course he’d say that. He always had the perfect words. And it wasn’t truly her hair that worried her. She was afraid the speed would turn her into a wild thing again, and she might actually throw herself at him while he was driving.
Slow, steady, rational—that was what had worked for Harper and Jeremy for the past several years, and she couldn’t risk messing up anything for the two of them. Especially not with a man like Will, whom she sincerely doubted had the long haul on his mind.
It all made perfect sense in her head. Unfortunately, however, neither perfect sense nor the much slower ride back down the peninsula to her house did a darned thing to help quench her thirst for more of Will.
CHAPTER NINE
Other than a text saying how much he’d enjoyed their date, Will deliberately left Harper alone for a few days to think things through. She’d told him she wanted time. So he forced himself to give it to her, even though the need to hear her voice was like an ache inside him.
As for Jeremy, Will didn’t want her brother to think he’d been forgotten, so they’d talked cars over Skype a couple of times, and had emailed, as well. Will figured that Harper must be reading his emails because she’d said Jeremy sometimes needed help with the computer. He didn’t use big words, but everything was spelled correctly, as though Harper had made him run spell check before hitting Send. Will enjoyed Jeremy’s emails. He was always upbeat, always excited about whatever car picture or information Will sent him.