Stick Shift (4 page)
His recent dates wouldn't eat, just drank water while he sat and polished off enough food for two people, sometimes three.
After ordering his own food, he reached out and snagged her hand again, just as he had in the truck. She cleared her throat and looked anywhere but at him. It reminded him of the day they'd met. One minute she was open and teasing; the next she was shy and reserved.
“You rarely look straight at me. Why?
That brought her gaze to his face. For a moment, by the furrowing of her brow, she looked as though she wasn't sure what to say, but it cleared just as quickly as it 2
had appeared. “I have to keep reminding myself that you're way too young for me.
You're famous, sure. You're fun. I have no doubt about that, but you're too young for me. No matter how much I'm attracted to you.”
He couldn't have been more shocked. “Age? Are you serious?”
“Yes.”
“You were just flirting with me about what kind of underwear I wear, and now you're bringing my age into it? That's…” He shook his head to clear it. His age?
“You like me, though? Feel some attraction, some something between us?”
“What do you think this is? A little attraction? A little flirting?”
He snatched his hand away, rubbing both his palms against his thighs to keep from reaching for her again, dragging her across the table, and showing her just what was between them. “Don't do that. Don't pretend you're not feeling anything more than that.”
“Cam—”
“No. I'm not going to listen to it. Age doesn't matter at all. Neither does the fact that some people might recognize my face.”
She sighed and looked away from him. Shit. Crystal brought their salads just then, giving Lily time to put a little more distance between them. “That you're well-known is a big deal, Cam. Association with you, no matter how brief, can turn my quiet life upside down, and if you think our age difference won't be brought up…”
“I'm not looking for brief, Lily. Hell, I'm not looking at all, but I met you, and I'm interested in you.”
“You also can't know things will last beyond this this one date. I mean, look at how it's turning out, and we've just gotten the first course.” She lowered her eyes to her salad and stabbed a forkful, and put it in her mouth. It made him smile despite their little disagreement. She liked to eat.
23
“Only because…” He too ate a forkful of salad. “Excuse me.” He slid out of his seat and tracked down their waitress. Lily followed him with her eyes as he whispered in Crystal's ear and then went back to the table.
“What did you say to her?”
“Nothing that has anything to do with my age or my being well-known in the racing community.”
“Smart-ass.”
“Takes one to know one.” And he promptly stuck his tongue out at her before stuffing another forkful of salad into his mouth.
“Not too young, huh?”
“Nope.”
The rest of their salads were eaten in silence with sly looks passing between them; his smug, hers wary.
“Here you go, Mr. Carter. Just as you asked.”
Cam caught Lily's confusion and gave her his most innocent smile. “Thank you, Crystal.” He pulled out his wallet and produced at least three twenty-dollar bills and handed them to the waitress. “Keep the change.”
She smiled and walked off. Cam turned back to his stunned date.
“What is that?” she asked, pointing to the boxes on the table.
“Dinner. You done?” He pointed to her plate, and she nodded. “Then let's go.”
“Why aren't we eating dinner here? Is our date over?”
Cam slipped his sunglasses on again and took her hand, holding it tightly.
“Not by a long shot.”
After exiting the restaurant, he helped her up into the truck again and joined her. “Come here. Lean closer.”
There was a brief hesitation before she moved, but once she did, he kissed her long, slow, and thoroughly. When he pulled his mouth away, his glasses were fogged, and he smiled. “We're going home.”
2
“Home?”
Her lips were so perfect, all rosy and swollen from his, and he rubbed them gently with the pad of his thumb. “Yes. We're going to your house.”
“We can't. I don't have a house. Well, I mean I do, but not here.”
“Huh?”
She sighed, and the breath blew out against his skin. He fought against leaning over to kiss her again, fought against drawing her mouth down between his legs and asking her to do nothing more than breathe on him.
“I'm staying at my friend's house while she's overseas. This is my vacation.”
Shit. Well, on to plan B. “Okay, well, where do you live?”
“Too far to go tonight. Florida.”
“Daytona?” Could he be so lucky?
“No. Tallahassee area.”
Of course he couldn't. Damn. “How long are you staying?”
“She comes back at the end of the month.”
A month. Actually less. More like three weeks. Not much time. “We'll talk about that later too. Right now, I guess we'll be going to my place.”
“You-you still want to continue our date?”
“Hell yeah. Since you're uncomfortable being seen with me in public, what with my being so young and famous, we'll go back to my house, where it's private, to finish dinner.”
“Oh.”
She was so pretty when she blushed. This time he didn't resist the need to taste her, slanting his mouth over hers, bending her back until he was pressed chest to hip with her, and they were lying on the seat.
Cam looked at her, really looked closely at her, wondering if perhaps he'd read her wrong, but there, under her uncertainty, was curiosity, interest, and lust. She 25
wanted him, and he bent his head to taste her skin. Her breath stopped, and then she sighed, tilting her head to the side.
His lips drifted up her throat to her jaw where he lightly kissed the corner of her mouth.
“This is real, Lily. I promise you.”
She nodded and slid back to her side of the truck cab when he sat back up. “We need to go get my car.”
“Later. It'll be fine at the shop.”
“Okay.”
She offered no more resistance, asked no questions. The relatively short drive back to Cam's upscale neighborhood was made in tense silence, the air thick with need and hunger. She never once looked at him, but he knew she was thinking about where all this might lead tonight, just as he was. Hell, he couldn't believe he'd been so bold as to bring her back to his house, but he wasn't going to change his mind now.
She was out of the truck before he could put it into park and looked up at him from the ground. He smiled. “In a hurry?”
He hopped out of the cab, and they met at the front of the truck. “I don't bring women here, Lily, and somehow I think you needed to know that. This is my private space.” He took her hand and started toward the door, but when she didn't move, he turned back to her. “What?”
2
Chapter Three
What the hell was she doing? Did she even know? From the moment she'd decided to meet him as he'd suggested on the back of the picture, she hadn't been sure what she was doing.
She was standing in his driveway, planning to get naked with him, and that's not something Lily had thought she would ever do. The kiss after they'd gotten back into his truck at the restaurant changed everything. It was a different kind of kiss.
Different from a simple I-like-you-and-would-like-to-date-you kiss. The ride to his house had given her time to make up her mind. She knew what she wanted and what she was going to do. She was going to rob the damn cradle. While some rational part of her was trying to fight it, the carnal, lusty part of her was stronger and more stubborn at the moment.
She tried not to stare, but it was impossible. She could smell him on her and could still feel his kisses. His pull was potent, too much for her to resist.
Her nerves were raw from being so close to him. His eyes were hidden behind his damn glasses, and as sexy as she thought he was like that, she wondered what he was thinking, wanted to see his eyes.
“What are we doing, Cam?” she blurted out before she had even realized she was going to ask. Her inner she-devil was going to kick some serious inner do-gooder ass later.
“We are going to have a good dinner.”
“That's not what I meant.”
27
“I know, but at the moment, that is what we're gonna do. Just spend some time with me, spend some time getting to know who I really am. You might find that you like me.”
“I do like you, but what about later, after dinner?” She was thinking too much again. She had a terrible habit of thinking too much, analyzing things to death instead of just going with the flow and letting things happen. She liked having all the answers, and when she couldn't get them, she held back, became cautious.
“What about it?”
Insufferable. He grinned, and her heart flipped. “Nothing.” Indeed. The she-devil took over. “Then we should go inside before the steaks get any colder.”
He waggled his eyebrows at her over the top of his glasses. She laughed and shook her head, leaning up to kiss him. When she pulled back, the smile on his face had changed. She couldn't explain it and couldn't decipher it, but it mirrored the feeling she had in the pit of her stomach. It was the first time since they'd met that she had made an overture toward him. Her desire for him would consume her if she wasn't careful. But to kiss him, to touch him when so few women would ever have the pleasure, she couldn't let the chance pass her by. And so, she again resolved herself to the fact she was going to rob the cradle. If he wasn't going to resist or fight this, if he was going to make it this easy for her, she wasn't going to deny him.
Or herself.
“Let's go,” she whispered, taking his keys from his hand.
* * *
2
She was watching him, her bottom lip caught between her teeth, and Cam tried to imagine what she was thinking. She nodded as if she'd just come to some decision. It didn't take her long to move.
Her fingers went to the hem of her pullover. In seconds it was over her head and dropped to the floor. Her skirt was next. She unbuttoned it down the front enough to hook her thumbs into the waist and slide it down her hips. In bra and panties, she stood, her lip caught between her teeth again, and then she was naked, staring at him with uncertainty. A good dose of determination there too.
“You've offered me something I can't say no to,” she said softly. She stepped closer until her breasts just brushed against his shirt, causing her nipples to perk up and tighten. His breath came in short bursts and threatened to choke him. His stomach muscles tightened at the contact and sight of her naked body. He couldn't remember wanting any woman like this.
She looked up at him, took his sunglasses off and set them gently on the glass-topped entry table. “I know women throw themselves at you all the time.”
He was having a hard time concentrating, his hands itching, wanting to touch her. “Some,” he managed.
“This has nothing to do with your being famous,” she whispered while pulling his shirt over his stomach and chest, reaching up on tiptoes to lift it over his head.
Her nipples brushed his skin, and he exhaled on a groan.
“No, I didn't think so.” He wasn't sure he should be trying to think at all.
“This is all about you and what you do to me. And I don't want to fight it anymore right now. Dinner can wait. I want dessert first.”
Her hands drifted to his jeans next, making quick work of the button and zipper. She could have ripped them off—cut them off even—and he wouldn't have cared. He just wanted to be naked with her, inside her. The denim was pushed down his hips, and he toed off his sneakers. When she looked up at him with fire burning in her eyes, he lost all control.
29
He flexed his fingers into fists once before he grabbed her by the waist and straddled her over his lap as he sat on the wooden bench by the entry table. He'd have to thank Ronnie's wife for talking him into buying it. Till now it hadn't served a purpose, but to take up space. The hard wood under his ass hadn't been the plan, but he didn't think he could make it up the stairs to bed. Her gaze was slightly startled at the movement, but the lust was still there. He was thrilled.
He brushed the hair from her face with one hand while he lifted the other to cup a breast in his palm. As he rubbed the nipple between his fingers, she arched her back, moaned deep in her throat, and her pussy brushed the head of his cock.
Electricity shot through him. She was so ripe, so lush, her body all hills and valleys, and he sank into the softness that surrounded him, burying his face in her neck. He couldn't remember wanting any woman more.
Everything around him vanished, everything except her and the feel of her wet heat touching him. The crown of his cock was so sensitive, and he was so hard…
“Inside you, Lily. I need inside you. Wallet. Condom.”
He was speaking in one-word phrases, but he couldn't help it. He was afraid if she so much as breathed in his direction, he was going to come right then and there and look like an amateur at making love to a woman.
She reached over and picked up the wallet he'd dropped on the table and handed it to him. With shaking fingers, he fumbled until he found the foil packet, then tossed the wallet away, and ripped the foil with his teeth. She took it from him the moment it was open and pulled out the circle of latex. He groaned when her fingers slid it over his straining cock, her touch soft and insistent without a lick of hesitation.