she asked as she stepped off the porch stairs and headed toward the street.
“A friend.”
“Oh, playing coy. Is she a girlfriend?”
“No.”
“Is there someone else?”
“Nope.”
“Walker Pearce with no woman? That’s rare. I should make a move quick.”
She was teasing again. Pressing him. He should call her on it to scare her off. But in his current mood, he didn’t want to scare her off.
He’d been caught up in the idea that she wasn’t the same girl she’d been in high school. It had so confused him that he hadn’t put time into figuring out who she was now.
She wasn’t that sweet, studious girl, obviously. Now she was a successful businesswoman, bold and beautiful and wild. Exactly the kind of woman he was attracted to. And exactly the kind who saw him for what he was: a big, dumb ride to adventure.
He felt a little calmer now. A little less worried or maybe only worn-out from his conversation with Nicole. But he was also kind of pissed, and there was just enough adrenaline left in his veins to make him horny. And just enough regret to make him want to forget his mistakes.
Walker didn’t know what to do with a sweet, innocent girl, but this new Charlie? Yeah, he could deal with that.
“Are you okay?” she asked, her arm nudging his as they turned and headed up the walk to the Stud Farm. “You still look tense. Did she give you trouble?”
“Not too much.”
“I guess you’re used to it.”
He tightened his jaw. “Mm.”
“Even in school, some girl was always mad at you. You sure do cause trouble, Walker.”
“Yeah.” He shot her a dark look as he opened the door of the building. “You looking for trouble, Charlie?”
Her small smile bloomed into a wicked grin. “You sound like you don’t quite believe I am.”
“I guess you’ve changed.”
“I have changed,” she said as he followed her up the stairs. “I hope you’re not disappointed. You might have liked that innocent, careful girl, but I can tell you from experience that being innocent gets a little lonely. And being careful doesn’t actually... Well. Never mind. You, on the other hand...”
He couldn’t tell if she was deliberately putting more swing into her hips or if that exaggerated sway was the result of her ass rising to eye level as she took the stairs. All he knew was that in that moment, her heels and tight jeans and sleek curves conspired to melt his brain into a pile of horny mush. Goddamn, he wanted to see that ass naked.
She stopped on the landing and turned to face him. “You were never, ever lonely, were you?”
Walker took the last step and looked down at Charlie. “I’m lonely tonight.”
Her eyes went wide in a brief moment of shock. He waited for her to laugh then. Waited for her to change her mind and say Oh, Walker, I could never do that with you. Not like this. We’re friends.
But she didn’t say that. Instead her gray eyes sparkled. Her lips parted so she could draw a shallow breath. “Are you?” she whispered.
“Don’t I look lonely?” He stepped forward. Charlie stepped back. They played it out a few more times until she was against the wall and he was standing over her.
Now all of her breaths were shallow. She looked up at him with the faintest little smile on her parted lips. Her hands rose to rest on his chest, and the touch spread hot zings of awareness through his shirt.
“You don’t have to be lonely, Walker,” she whispered, tipping her mouth up so her words chased over his jaw. “I’m right...” She rose on her toes, and her hips brushed against his. “Here.”
He dipped his head and caught her mouth and he forgot to be mad about being a big, dumb ride. He’d be that for Charlie all damn night if she wanted.
* * *
THIS WAS A moment she’d considered many, many times in her youth. Walker Pearce leaning slowly down, his hands drifting to her hips to hold her steady, his mouth brushing faintly over hers. In her imagination, her heart had pounded just like this. Her nipples had tightened the same way they did now. But other than that, everything was different.
It wasn’t the sweet, tentative kiss her teenage mind had painted, some gentle version of romance that had never existed for the boys. Walker’s mouth was hot against hers and his beard brushed soft against her skin. His lips pressed hers until they opened, and then his tongue stroked her. He tasted...right.
His hands were on her hips, yes, but they were so much bigger than she’d imagined, the strength of them holding her in a steady grip that pressed her to the wall.
The brim of his hat drew sunset around them. They might have been in the stairway of the building, but it felt like complete privacy as she licked at his tongue and sighed at the feeling of him pressing his body to hers.
It didn’t matter that they were in public. Her eyes were closed, the lights had dimmed and Walker Pearce’s cock was hard and pressed to her. Just like that, she wasn’t his buddy anymore. She was a body he wanted to be inside. Strange to find herself fighting for that. To be objectified. Seen as someone worth using. But it was honest, at least. She could trust what Walker wanted from her.
She tilted her hips toward him and took his tongue deeper, twining her fingers behind his neck to pull him down. He was so big, tall and solid and curved above her. For the first time in her life, Charlie felt small. It made her want to whimper and go to her knees for him. Or maybe that was just her reaction to his taste.
“Mmm,” she hummed against his mouth. He answered by sliding his hands up her sides, then back down again. His fingers pressed briefly into the curve of her hips, as if he liked the shape of her.
Then he reached up, drew off his hat and tossed it in the general direction of his door. She was suddenly plunged back into the exposure of being on the bright upstairs landing. But Walker ducked his head and put his mouth to her neck and she didn’t care.
Oh, God, that felt sweet. His hot mouth and hard teeth and the soft warmth of his beard on her skin. Charlie tipped her head back and let him have his way with the sensitive skin of her throat.
“That feels so good,” she moaned. He pressed his hips harder to her. “Oh, that, too.”
He chuckled against her neck, sparking waves of delicious vibrations that twined through her body. She felt suddenly aware of her hard nipples and the pleasure drawing the nerves between her legs tight. She felt her pulse beating through her entire body. She felt it speeding for Walker.
Unable to control herself, she slid her hands over his shoulders, his arms, down his chest...and everywhere she touched he was solid, hard man. Nothing soft about him. Nothing yielding. She plucked at the top button of his shirt, then the next, and now her fingers were touching warm curls of dark hair. When his teeth scraped over her neck, Charlie moaned, already overwhelmed by so many lovely sensations.
She unfastened the next button, and the one after that. Then she pulled his shirt free of his jeans and spread it open so she could glide her hands over his hairy chest.
He eased back so he could look down and watch as her fingers explored every muscle on his chest. “God,” he growled. “Maybe...” He gave his head a slow shake, then tried again. “Maybe we should go inside?”
She nodded, but the spicy scent of him was too much to resist. She pressed her open mouth to his collarbone and tasted his skin. Every cell inside her seemed to sigh with relief, as if she’d been craving this taste her whole life. It was just so damn right. His skin and hair and soap and the faint, delicious tang of sweat. This was the chemistry that had driven