Mind Play (Bennett Sisters Book 3) (21 page)

Claire put her hand on his chest and pulled in a breath, tr
ying to control her own breathing
. The strum of Butch’s heart under her palm told her that he was just as worked up as
she was
. They stayed that way for a second longer before she stood up straight
,
backing out of his arms
.
“I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me.”

Butch kissed her forehead. “
Don’t be sorry
,
baby
.
I won’t be saying that when we’re alone
,
and next time
,
I won’t be stopping.”

Claire smiled
,
“I’m looking forward to it.”

Butch grabbed her hand and started at a faster pace back to the c
ar.

She took two steps to
every one of
his long stride
s
. “Slow down.”

He didn’t
;
he kept up his pace. “Where else did you have to go? Tell me now before I take you back home and make love to you.”

She yanked on his hand
,
slowing him down. “I need to go to the bank  and drop off my account paperwork
for the fundraiser
. I should have done it yesterday, but with everything going on, I forgot.
”

Butch waited for Claire to unlock her car door
,
and he
tugged on the handle
,
pulling it open for her.
“Okay,
bank first, bed second.
”

Claire nodded her agreement. She’d make it as quick as humanly possible. The thought of his hands on her naked flesh sent a shiver of anticipation down her spine. She climbed in the car and tried not to fantasize about it. “Yep, agreed.”

Chapter 11

Claire sped to the bank. Her heart was beating a mile a minute. She’d barely put the car in park before she was grabbing the paperwork and hurrying out of the car. Butch chuckled.

“Slow down
,
baby. We’ve got all night.”

Claire felt the heat travel from her neck to her cheeks. She was acting like an excited teenager, not the way a grown woman should act. She pulled in a deep breath and exhaled.

“You’re right.”
She shook her head as Butch claimed her hand in his and walked in step with her into the bank.

They approached the counter where she’d been days
just
ago
,
and the same smiling woman from that day was seated again behind the counter. Claire wouldn’t be snapping at
Mary
today. No today was a good day, a great day
in fact
. Claire smiled.

“
Mary
,
c
an you give these papers to Mr. Pearson and have him call me if there’s a problem
?
”

Mary
grabbed her hand and stared down at the new rock on her hand. “Oh my god, it’s beautiful.” She looked up at Butch and then at Claire
.
“Absolutely stunning.”

Claire could feel her cheeks
heating
as they’d
just
been
when she was
outside
and
in such a hurry. “Thank you.”

“So when’s the big da
y
?”
Mary
looked from one to the other.

Claire looked up at Butch
. She didn’t know what to say
. She hadn’t forgotten about the rock on her finger, but it had been the furthest thing on her mind while she’d been making out on the street with Butch.
She needed to remind herself i
t was
a
temporary lie to keep her safe from the lunatics out for revenge. “Uh… we haven’t set a date yet.”

Butch put his arm around Claire and pulled her close. “
Not soon enough
.”

Claire hadn’t known how to resp
ond to that
. W
hat could she say?
Nothing
. S
o she just smiled down at Mary and nodded. “Thanks
,
Mary, but we’re late for another appointment. Just tell Mr. Pearson that we came by.”

“Sure thing
,
Ms. Bennett.” Mary stood with the papers pressed against her chest. Claire could just about see the romantic
notions
floa
ting around in the woman’s head
when she saw
the look of envy that gleamed from her eyes.

Butch walked Claire back out to her car and opened her door for her. She frowned before getting in.

“What’s the matter now
,
angel
?”

She looked down at the hood of her car. “We can’t do this. I’m getting lost in
this
lie. Until this is over, we shouldn’t complicate things.”

Butch
placed his palm on her cheek. “It’s okay
,
Claire. If you want to wait, we will, but
,
angel
, you need to know that I’m not going anywhere
,
even when
all of this is
over. I’m going to want you as much then as I do now.
Why is that so hard for y
ou to believe
?
”

Claire
raised her head
and whispered, “What do you want from me?”

He bent
down and kissed her cheek. “Forever.”

Butch left her standing outside her
car, walked around to the passenger side,
and climbed in. How could he say that and just walk away
?
Something like that needed
discussion;
she needed to
analyze
what he was trying to do to her. She needed to erect a wall around her heart before she ga
ve the entire damn thing to him like she’d almost done. If she slept with him, she’d fall all the way
,
and her heart wouldn’t be able to take it when he decided she wasn’t fun enough, or pretty enough, or just plain got bored with her and her lifestyle.

Claire
slid
in
to her seat
and pulled
the
door closed. The drive back to her house
wasn’t as
rushed
as the drive to the bank
. She
didn’t
notice the
scenery
. She drove on autopilot, her mind a whirlwind of what ha
d
happened in the last few days. Could she believe that he wanted forever with her?
They were from two complete opposite sides of the universe. He lived in
B
ad
B
oy
T
own, and she lived in
F
undraiserville. Their worlds clashed, not cohabitated. Claire pulled up in her drive and didn’t wait for Butch to
help her before
get
ting
out of the car. She turned off the ignition and walked to her door, punching in the code for the security system and
took the stairs
. H
er feet felt like bricks,
and they got heavier
the more she thought about how they wouldn’t work
. She softly closed the door behind her and leaned her back on it. She wanted to be alone
. W
hat she really wanted was for things to go back the way they were. It wasn’t too late yet
. T
hey hadn’t crossed any lines
that were
unfixable.

This was her haven.
She walked to her window
and pulled the curtains back
to look at t
he long rows of trees and lush
green
grass she liked to walk
barefoot on
. She’d lived her
e
most of her life and couldn’t imagine how hard it would be to try and make a life with someone that was such
her
opposite. Claire let the curtain fall back into place and inhaled a deep breath. A soft knock on her door alerted her to Butch’s presence. She walked to the door and pulled it open.

“Let’s talk
,
angel
. Tell me what I can do to prove that I want to be with you.”

“Butch…”
Claire turned and walked across the room before turning again to his voice.

“No
,
angel
, we need to have this discussion
now
. I don’t want you to doubt for a minute what I feel about you.”

“And what’s that, Butch? How do you feel about me?”

“Claire, you are a strong, independent woman with a heart of gold.” Butch took a step in her direction and stopped. “And beautiful and sexy.” He took another two steps, getting closer with every poetic word out of his mouth. “Any man would be insane not to want you
as
a part of his life.” He took two more steps until he was
standing
directly in front of her and pulled her into his embrace. He didn’t try to kiss her, just held her as he finished. “I see you for who you are.” Claire leaned her head on his chest, enjoying the arms encircling her. “You
r
lo
ve for your family is strong
. You need to feel in control and don’t know how to let me in.” Butch leaned down and put a light kiss on her lips. “Let me in
,
Claire.”

Claire couldn’t hold back anymore. There was too much uncertainty in her life, and she didn’t want him to be one
of those
. Claire felt the bricks around her heart crumbling. She was all in,
even if it wasn’t the right thing to do,
and
god help her
, she wasn’t changing her mind this time
. She wanted every word that he said to be true, so she jumped in feet first. Her hands went around his neck and pulled him down into a
deeper
kiss. When
his hands caressed her back
,
their shared kiss became
more frenzied. She was going to take everything this man offered her. One hand tangled in his short hair while the other one traveled down to his chest. She pulled him in tighter, leaning into his body. She was going to do this
. S
he was going to potentially ruin their friendship because she wasn’t strong enough to tell him to stop.

Butch slid his hand underneath her s
hirt
,
touching her back. He set her body on fire with the brush of his fingers on her bare skin.
His hand
s
traveled down to her butt
,
and he lifted her off her feet. She wrapped her legs around h
is waist and locked them behind his back
. Butch maneuvered over to the bed and sat
with
Claire straddling him. Butch lifted his hand and palmed her breast
,
giving a gentle squeeze as he tested
its
weight. Claire wanted to feel his hands on her body. She pulled back from the kiss. Her gaze was intent on him as she reached down with both hands and pulled her blouse over her head. His eyes moved down to her chest and back up again as she pulled in a breath, ste
a
ling her nerves
,
reach
ing
around to unlatch her bra,
and
letting it slide down to the floor.