“They are. I’d trust her judgement before any human I know.”
“She likes me.” Then he tilted his head. “Was asking me here some kind of test?”
I laughed. “Yes. And you passed with flying colours.”
He seemed put out for half a second before the smile he was fighting won out. He sipped his wine, and I did the same. “And commuting or any kind of long distance relationships are out?”
So I wasn’t alone in thinking this could be the start of something… Yes, we lived in different states but were most definitely on the same page. I put my wine glass on the table and met his gaze. “For him it was. Not me.”
“Good.” He nodded slowly before giving me that shy smile that belied his forthright nature. He stood up and collected our plates. “Let’s get this cleaned up, then we pull those maps out.”
Twenty minutes later, the kitchen was sparkling, a second glass each of wine was poured, and a large map was unfolded, spread out on the dining table. “If you mark on there, I can transfer it to this,” Lawson said, showing me the exact same map on his laptop. “I prefer to have both. There’s no saying my laptop will work when I’m hours from anywhere, so it’s best to have it on both. Particularly for safety reasons.”
“Smart,” I said with a nod. “Especially if you go out by yourself, like you said you were prone to do.”
“I always leave a detailed map of where I’m going with my professor or colleagues if I go solo.” He shrugged one shoulder. “I’d be loath for the news headline to read ‘Genius is an idiot who gets lost’.”
I laughed at that, then showed him the vegetation maps Parks and Wildlife Services had, outlining documented locations of the particular plant he was after. I transferred the info onto his paper map, and he did the digital. Then I added in the locations I’d seen it personally, paying particular attention to the factors he said were important to his species of butterfly. North facing aspect, warmer climes.
Lawson pointed out the area he intended on searching in the morning and wrote down the GPS locations in his online journal. I really admired how meticulous he was. He was particular about the details, and that probably annoyed some people. But not me.
He was standing, leaning over his laptop, and I was standing beside him, where I’d been studying the unfolded map. I looked at him instead. “Still want me to join you tomorrow?”
He stood up straight and turned to face me. I wasn’t aware of how close we were until then. Until he looked up at me and I could see the flecks of gold in the blue of his eyes and how long his eyelashes were. His skin was perfect in its paleness, his lips looked redder than I remembered.
“I’d very much like to kiss you right now,” he mumbled.
I wasn’t sure if he’d meant to say that out loud, but it was like he read my mind. I cupped my hand to his jaw. “I was just thinking the same thing.”
“I can tell,” he whispered. “You look at my mouth―”
I covered his lips with my own, and he eagerly met my kiss. God, he tasted so good. He felt even better. Lawson wrapped one arm around me and slid his other hand through my hair and slipped his tongue into my mouth. It almost buckled my knees.
I groaned into his kiss and pulled him against me. He came willingly, melting into my arms. He gave himself to me in that moment. In that kiss. He was putty in my hands, and I wanted to mould him, I wanted to take him, claim and make him mine.
All this from just a kiss. My world had tilted on its axis, nothing would ever be the same again.
From just one kiss.
Lawson hummed before pulling back a little. I cupped his face in my two hands and fluttered my eyelashes against his cheek.
“What are you doing?” he whispered.
“Butterfly kisses,” I murmured before pressing my lips to his once more.
His eyes danced with something like happiness, but just when I thought he was going to say he should go, he surprised me yet again.
I should know better than to expect anything but the unexpected.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Lawson
I wasn’t normally so brazen to suggest such things outright, but I couldn’t help myself. I wasn’t ready for this to end right now; I needed more of him. And from the way he kissed me, I was certain he felt the same.
“I think we should move to somewhere more comfortable.”
I took his hand and pulled him toward the couch. I didn’t think the bedroom was strictly appropriate. Not yet, anyway. I stopped in front of the sofa, and Jack’s nostrils flared. He licked his lips, and sliding his hand around my neck, he crushed his mouth to mine hard enough to push me backwards. His other arm wrapped around my back, and he lowered me onto the couch.
His strength surprised me. Of course I was aware of his height and his huge shoulders, but he simply manoeuvred me as though I weighed nothing―I was suddenly on my back, lying the length of the sofa and he was over me, caging me in with his arms as he slowly lowered his body onto mine. And it was glorious.
His weight on top of me, between my legs, was heavenly.
He kissed me slower this time, deeper, but with no less passion. Every nerve in my body sang. I rolled my hips, grinding against him, and his breath stuttered as he broke the kiss. “God,” he murmured; his voice was rough. He kissed along my jaw to my ear and down my neck. “I want more of your neck, but I really like the bow tie.” I could feel him smile against my skin.
I reached up and pulled on one end of my tie, unravelling it, and scrambling to undo the top button. “I don’t care much for the bow tie right now,” I rasped, tilting my head to give him more of my neck. “Not when you do th―”
Then he scraped his teeth across my skin, and he chuckled as my words stumbled to a stop. But his hot breath down my neck and shoulder sent a shiver right through me, and that made Jack moan.
“Lawson,” he growled. He pulled back, and his eyes were dark but his smirk was nefarious. “If you keep squirming like that, I won’t be responsible for what I do to you.”
I laughed and rolled my hips, rubbing my erection against his through the fabric of our clothes. From what I could feel, he was in proportion―to say the least. He was big, and he was hard. I writhed against him again because he felt so incredible. His weight, his hard-on…
Jack’s huge hand stilled my hip while he pinned me with his body. “Lawson.” There was more warning in his tone now. He began to pull away. “This is about to get embarrassing very fast. You have no idea how much you turn me on.”
I hooked my foot around the back of his leg to prevent him from moving. I wanted him right where he was. “This doesn’t have to stop,” I whispered. I ran my hand down his back, over his arse, and then slowly―so he could deny me if he wished―slid my hand between us and palmed his erection.
Jack whined. He closed his eyes as though he was trying to summon willpower from a higher being.