“Tired?” Carter asked with concern, pulling away so he could see her face.
“No,” Reagan said, keeping her eyes locked with his. She saw the second he registered what she was saying. His brown eyes darkened with desire, and his lips tilted up into a slow smile.
Without saying a word, he put his hand on the small of her back and led her from the club. The night air seemed to heighten Reagan’s strumming body as their driver spotted them and pulled away from the nearby parking lot to pick them up.
The ride to the hotel was painful. Carter placed his hand on her knee and slowly moved it up her thigh as they drove. The lights from the city cast red, yellow, and blue hues into the back of the car as Reagan stared at Carter’s hand. His hand seemed large on her leg, his fingers so sure as they teased the inside of her thigh right where the edge of her mini dress stretched. By the time they arrived at the hotel, Reagan’s heart was pounding, her hands were shaking, and any ideas of Carter as “just a friend” were completely gone.
Carter escorted her to the elevator, touched his card to the pad, and pressed their floor. Reagan took a deep breath as she watched the doors close. The second they were alone, Carter had her in his arms. Reagan lifted her lips to him, offering herself for the taking. At that moment, they both knew she was offering more than her body.
“Are you sure?” Carter asked, his voice deep and low. She heard the same pain she felt—the pain of pleasure waiting to be fulfilled.
“Yes. Kiss me, Carter,” Reagan ordered. And did he. His lips were controlled, confident, and commanding. For someone who was always quiet, his kiss was filled with dominance. Reagan melted into him as his tongue took what he wanted and gave her everything she needed in return.
The elevator doors opened and instead of breaking the kiss, Carter reached down and grabbed her bottom, lifting her off the ground and making her wrap her legs around his waist. Her skirt rode up, but she didn’t care as he pressed her against the wall next to their suite door. Carter used one hand to hold her and the other to unlock the door. Using his foot, he kicked open the door and carried her inside.
At the touch of his lips to hers, Reagan lost control of her body. As he carried her inside their room, she arched her body against his, rubbing her breasts against his chest, desperate to be closer to him.
Carter set her down beside the bed and took a deep breath. He cupped her face with his hands, which were gentle in touch, yet rough from working on a farm. “There’s no going back if we do this, Rea. I don’t do one-night stands, and you’re far too important to me to let go once I’ve had you. But if you want, I’ll stop right now and we’ll go back to friends. But you have to tell me now.”
Reagan took a deep breath. This was her best friend standing in front of her—her best friend who had given her the best day of her life—her best friend who had already seen her without makeup, who knew her overly competitive nature and her stubbornness. He knew everything about her, both good and bad, and still wanted to be with her. Carter would be a departure from her previous boyfriends, if you could call them that. She tended to date bad boys who hated fathers. And it was no surprise why. She hadn’t dated anyone who was the definition of a nice guy. Carter was right. If they went down this path, it would change everything. She didn’t want to lose his friendship, but could she have it all? Friendship and crazy sexual chemistry? She could, she decided. He was standing right in front of her offering her just that.
“My father . . .” she said, her voice thick with worry.
“Isn’t here right now. It’s just you and me. This is your choice. I want you, Reagan. I want you to be my friend and my lover. I want us.”
Reagan bit her lip and worried. Right here, right now, it was only the two of them and it was perfect. She needed to find a way to keep their relationship a secret, and then they would be happy. If her father found out about them, he’d ruin it. He’d not only ruin the relationship but also their friendship. She’d do anything to prevent that. And she could. Her father had taught her how. A slow smile spread across her face as the answer came to her.
“I want this, Carter. I want you. I want us. But I have one condition.”
She saw Carter tense as he asked, “What’s that?”
“The relationship has to remain secret until I’m ready to tell my father.”
She saw Carter didn’t like it. His jaw flexed; it was his tell that he was unhappy, but then he looked back at her. “If that’s the only way I can have you in my life, I reluctantly agree. I’m not worried about your father, Rea.”
“But I am.”
“Then we’ll keep our relationship secret until then. Should we kiss on it?”
He grinned mischievously at her and all thoughts of her father fled as she offered her lips to Carter. As soon as his lips moved against hers, her body was enflamed with desire. There might have been buttons ripped as she tore his shirt from his chest. She ran her hands down his toned stomach to his pants and unbuttoned them as he slowly dragged the zipper of her dress downward. As he moved the zipper down, the dress parted and slid off her shoulders before sliding down to expose bare breasts to him as it gathered around her waist.
“You’re so beautiful,” Carter whispered in a strangled voice as he pushed the dress over her hips so that it pooled on the ground at her feet. Reagan blushed at his praise, suddenly feeling self-conscious to be standing naked in front of him. And she knew why. Carter was the first man she truly cared what he thought about her.
But then his lips were on hers again and trailing down her neck. If she thought he kissed well on the lips, then what he did farther south left her speechless. The world was a haze of touching, kissing, and feeling. Reagan couldn’t wait anymore and reached for him. This time, Carter pressed her back onto the bed and grabbed a condom. All thoughts left her mind as he took control and began to move above her, leaving behind the perfect end to a perfect day.
5
Carter couldn’t keep the smile from his face as he strode into the Blossom Café later that week. Reagan and he had flown back from California, and then she had to leave again for three days. She was coming home soon. To him. Since Reagan lived with her twin sister, Riley, she was going to come to his small house on the back of Ashton Farm. They’d have privacy there to do all the things he’d been thinking about for the past three days.
“What are you grinning about?” his friend Wyatt Davies asked as he took a seat at the small table with Carter.
Damn Reagan for making him keep their relationship a secret. He wanted to tell Wyatt who it was who had him smiling like a fool. He was happy. Ridiculously so and he wanted to share why. Instead, he ordered a large salad, a hot brown, and two servings of bread pudding smothered in a bourbon caramel sauce—to go.
“I’m excited about a new horse. You’ll have to come by and check him out.” Wyatt was a large-animal veterinarian. His mother, Katelyn, was the town’s small-animal vet.
“I will. I’ll be out at Ashford Farm next week to check on your pregnant mares. I look forward to seeing him them.”