Page 45 of Let Me Be the One
Her brain ran away with that, leaping into a scenariowhere he meant her clothes, all of them. And his own. Yup, she’d love to take a look. Pretty sure she’d enjoy him looking at her, too, as long as he didn’t expect perfection. That was Glory’s forte, not her own.
Hers was… Comfort? Ease? Overall, the ability to appreciate herself and what nature had given her. Imperfect, with hips a little wide, a curve to her stomach, but fortunately breasts to match. Glory forever worried because she wasn’t quite as big-busted, and Callie hadn’t yet been able to convince her that it didn’t matter. Her cousin, unfortunately, tended to see everything about herself as a lack.
Realizing that her mind had wandered and Tanner was watching her, waiting, she grinned at herself. “Sorry. My thoughts took off in a whole different direction.”
“Care to share?”
She shook her head and reached for the kit. “I can do it,” she offered, though she’d definitely enjoy his efforts more.
Lacing his fingers with hers, he tugged her along. “I won’t hurt you. Let’s go.”
Go where, she didn’t know, but she followed anyway.
He urged her into the bathroom, where he flipped on the bright overhead light, then he opened the kit on the counter.
To be helpful, Callie pulled the neckline, as well as her bra strap, to the side and hooked them over her shoulder so he could see the scratch again.
He zeroed in on her, staring at her shoulder as if she’d bared a breast. With his expression so hot, she felt exposed. Silly, when her bathing suit showed a lot more skin and she wore that on the beach in big crowds.
The difference was that no other guy had looked at her with so much heated concentration, almost anticipation.
Touching her with just the tip of a finger, Tanner again brushed the skin around the raised, broken welt. His gaze never left her body, but his mouth tightened. “It’s warm. Is it painful?”
“Only a little,” she whispered, and it surprised her that she could say that much with him so near and so gentle. The absorbed way he studied her, as if memorizing her in detail, sped up her heartbeat.Get a grip. He’s not the first man to touch you. “I did a rush shower,” she said, though he already knew that since she’d made it within the allotted fifteen minutes, as she’d promised. “But I was careful to clean it well.”
With the light graze of his finger touching her collarbone, then the side of her neck, he continued to scrutinize her.
“Tanner?”
“I’m going to go over it with an antiseptic swab, too.” The low stroke of his voice drifted over her skin as gently as his physical stroke. It primed her in an unfamiliar way. Like foreplay, but with words, a tone, his attitude.
She tried to breathe normally and failed. She tried not to stare at him, but everything about him captured her sharpened interest. This late in the day, the rough texture of whiskers along his jaw and upper lip made her want to feel them. Her fingers wanted to tunnel into the thick hair hanging over his brow and curling slightly at his ears.
The shape of his mouth…how his lips moved as he spoke…she wanted to feel them against her lips.
While she grew hotter, he opened a little packet and pulled out an already-moist pad. “It’ll sting,” he warned gruffly, “but scratches from the woods run the risk of a fungus infection, same with rose thorns, moss, and hay.”
The low murmur of his deep voice was the sexiest thing she’d ever heard, but the second the pad touched her skin, she hissed. No kidding, it stung. Badly.
“Sorry,” he said, sounding like he meant it. After carefully swabbing the entire area, he leaned closer and gently blew on her.
With a deep, quiet inhale, she breathed him in. Still, he heard, and his eyes met hers.Kiss me.
As if he’d heard her thoughts, his gaze dropped to her mouth.
Hoping to encourage him, Callie put a hand to his chest. Through the soft cotton of his T-shirt, she felt the heat of him, the firmness of his body.
She tipped up her face.
His breath, warmer now, meshed with her own quickened breathing. By reflex alone, her fingers curled into his shirt, knotting the fabric. Anchoring him so he couldn’t move away.
He made a rough sound and his mouth touched hers, tentatively, maybe waiting for permission.
Melting against him, she slid both hands up to his shoulders. “I’d really like it if you—”
Closing his arms around her, he turned his head and took her mouth like a starving man.
Whoa. Okay,this. Tanner’s mouth, his possessive hunger, would go a long way toward obliterating all worries about the days ahead. She could feast off this one moment for weeks.
