Katee Robert - In Bed with Mr. Wrong

“How are things? When’s the wedding?”

If Bri’s elbow in his stomach wasn’t enough of a hint, the way Alexis looked sick told him he’d fucked up. She gave him a smile that was so fake his teeth hurt. “Eric and I didn’t work out.”

Ryan Flannery strikes again. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

“It’s okay.” She shot a look at her grandparents, and sighed. “Mostly okay. Excuse me, please.” Then she was gone, making her way in the direction of the bathroom.

He sat back, feeling like the world’s biggest ass. “I didn’t know,” he said again.

“It’s a recent thing. Don’t worry about it,” Drew said, then turned to field a question from Avery’s grandmother.

“You would have known if you weren’t so busy running away from this place.” Bri spoke so softly he almost didn’t catch her words.

“For the last time, I’m not running from anything.” He smoothed her hair off her shoulder. “I sure as hell didn’t run from you the other night.”

Bri huffed out a breath and reached for her water. She fumbled it, knocking the glass over—and into his lap. Ryan cursed and she stammered out something that might have been an apology, followed by, “I can’t believe this is happening.” She grabbed a handful of napkins from the dispenser in the middle of the table and started dabbing at his crotch.

He groaned, instantly going harder than a steel pike as she patted him. She was so busy trying to clean up her mess, she didn’t seem to realize what part of him she was spending so much time stroking until he cleared his throat.

Bri froze. “Oh crap.”

He pulled the wet napkins from her suddenly limp hands. “This was fun, but I can take it from here.”

Her goddamn perfume teased him much the same way her pink lips did, tantalizing and yet subtle. She finally looked at his face and frowned. “You’re doing it again.”

“Doing what?” He knew exactly what she meant, but he wanted to see if she’d actually call him out on it. “I didn’t knock over your water—you did.”

“You’re staring at me like you’re thinking—” She blushed and frowned harder. “Knock it off.”

“You’re projecting. I wonder why?” He abandoned the napkins and traced a finger up her thigh, chuckling when she shivered. “Could it be that you recently had your mind blown?”

She elbowed his side again. “Shut up. We’re in public.”

“That didn’t bother you the last time we were together.” Nor did his touch, since she hadn’t shoved away his hand yet. Interesting.

“Oh my God, will you stop talking?”

“It’s not my fault someone has their panties in a twist.” He trailed his hand higher than was proper and squeezed her thigh. A flush stole over her chest, creating a fascinating contrast to her white V-neck T-shirt.

She leaned in, kissably close. “Don’t think for a second that you had more than a passing effect on my panties.”

The heat and unmistakable challenge in her eyes was all too similar to the other night on the porch, right before she’d called his bluff and kissed him. It wouldn’t take much to shove her over the edge again. He opened his mouth, though he couldn’t say for sure if he was going to push her away or closer…

Drew cleared his throat. He leaned on the table, his gaze jumping from Ryan to Bri and back again. “Is there something I should know?”

“I…” She went red and then pale. “Excuse me. I need some fresh air.” And then she was gone, moving so quickly she was almost running.

“What the hell was that about?” Drew said, though his face said enough—he knew. Goddamn it. His brother shook his head. “You sure know how to clear a room—and you didn’t even use any stink bombs this time.”

“Shut the fuck up.” Ryan pushed out of his chair and headed for the door, cursing when his wet pants clung to his hips. Even as he pushed out into the cold night air, he told himself he wasn’t chasing Bri down. But when he saw her leaning against almost the same stretch of wall he had earlier, he walked over. “Listen—”

“No, you listen.” She stepped up and smacked her hands against his chest—and then left them there. “I don’t care what happened the other night. It’s not going to happen again.”

“Who said I wanted it to happen again?” He did, though. He wanted to kiss his way across the flushed skin of her chest and pull down her shirt to taste her nipples. Just one more time.

“Why, you!” She shoved at his chest, but he didn’t move. “You’re insufferable—an arrogant ass of a man and—”

“You want me.” He stepped into her and put his hands on her hips, mimicking the way they’d stood the other night before things got so out of control. Bri froze, her body tensed as if she couldn’t decide whether to kiss him or run back into the bar. He didn’t give her time to decide. He pulled her closer, until she could feel just how much she affected him. “You want me so bad, you can’t see straight. You’ve touched yourself thinking about me. And all you can think about is how badly you want to do it again.”

She licked her lips. “You have a very high opinion of yourself.”

“Am I wrong?” He reached down to cup her ass, grinding her against him, loving the way her lips parted in response. “Tell me I’m wrong and it’s done.”

She moved closer, her breasts pressing more firmly against his chest. “Stop talking and kiss me already.”

He crushed her against him, and it felt so terrifyingly good to take her mouth and have those luscious lips pressed against his again. They both groaned at the first stroke of tongue against tongue. Her arms went around his neck and he squeezed her ass. She may have been hell-bent on hiding beneath her frumpy sweaters and loose skirts, but her behind was goddamn biteable.

“Not here.”

She kissed him again before he could respond, and it took a truly outstanding amount of self-control to break it. “My SUV.”

“Okay.” She let him back them off the curb and to his vehicle. He had to release her long enough to open the door and climb into the driver’s seat, but then Ryan lifted her in with him. The large front seat gave her plenty of room to straddle his hips, and he groaned when she pressed against his cock.

But she didn’t kiss him again. “Can you pull around back or something? Someone might see.”

As much as he didn’t like the idea of being her dirty little secret, he also didn’t need his brother or Avery seeing them go at it, either. “Sure.”

He locked her against his body and put the Suburban in drive. The openmouthed kisses he dragged along her neck were rewarded when she went soft with a cry. This was the Bri he wanted to spend more time with, the one who softened her sharp comments with touches that made his head spin. The one who challenged him until he was so angry he couldn’t see straight, then flipped the switch and told him he was the only man to make her come until she lost her mind. She ran her hands over his chest and pulled his chin up for another kiss. It was the kind of soul-destroying kiss that a man could sink into until he didn’t know which way was up. He met her tongue, thrust for thrust, and reached between them to pull her skirt up until he touched skin.

“Mmm.” She slid against his hand as he cupped her through her panties. The heat of her there damn near scalded him through his wet pants. He glanced down and choked back a laugh. Uniform blue briefs. He wanted his mouth against the soaked cotton until her cries filled the SUV. But not yet. Not until they found somewhere to finish this.

But that didn’t mean he couldn’t take things a step further. Ryan slid his hand up and then back down her stomach, dipping into her panties so he could cup her again, this time with nothing between them. She moaned and tilted her hips, offering him everything. He teased her, tracing her opening without penetrating. She grabbed his hand, pressing him more firmly against her, and managed to open her eyes. “This doesn’t mean I like you.”