The One That I Want (Scorned Women Society Book 3) by Piper Sheldon (e book reader android txt) 📕

This was madness. But I couldn’t stop. I was on the forest floor. I had leaves in my hair and a branch sticking into my thigh. I hoped that was a branch, otherwise I was way out of my league here. I was about to take this man in the middle of nature.

“Wait,” he said. His hand gently pushed me up.

I was still straddling him. His boner was placed perfectly so that I had to keep myself from grinding on it. God, I wanted to. So I did. He threw back his head and moaned. The strong tendons of his neck were so yummy I bent forward and bit into them. Mostly gentle.

He rocked against me.

“No, wait.” He shook his head. “Not like this. Not here.”

He was the picture of sexy. His eyes were hazy with desire. His lips were red and swollen from my kiss. He looked up at me like I was something to be desired.

Then his head seemed to clear as his words settled in. “You deserve so much more than this.”

“Meh.” I shrugged.

“No,” he said foggily. “I’m sorry.”

Reluctantly, I tucked my boob away and climbed off of him. He was probably right. People could walk up and I wouldn’t want to traumatize a vacationing family. “Why can’t I seem to control myself?” I asked myself out loud.

He looked up at me, his eyes burning. “I know why for me.”

He got up on his knees and let out a long breath, arms akimbo at his sides. He looked up through his lashes, his head slightly bent. “I know we talked about going slow. Being professional. I’m just having a hard time remembering why at the moment.”

“Me too,” I said honestly. Then I shook my head. “That’s part of the problem. Things go all haywire in my brain. Just now when you caught me … it’s like the moment we touch I forget my priorities and I just want to smash my face against yours.”

He chuckled. “Yeah. Same for me.”

“Maybe we should wear those giant sumo suits, you know the kind for wrestling at parties, whenever we’re around each other?” I suggested.

“You know, I’m weirdly into that. I don’t think that would help.”

I laughed, feeling at ease. He was so good at diffusing my embarrassment. He knew just what to say.

He was rubbing his chest with a pained expression.

“You okay?” I asked.

“Just a bit of heartburn,” he said.

I scooted closer. “I have antacid back at the hotel.”

His face scrunched. “I don’t think that’ll help.”

We were kneeling face to face. Just a breath away. I wanted so badly to lean in and kiss him more.

He grabbed my hands and held them between us. “I want to be a person you can rely on, Roxy, truly. I’m not just saying that. I want you to think of me any time you have to work through a problem. I want to be a person you can call if you have a flat tire. I want you to trust me.”

“I do,” I whispered and realized I meant it wholeheartedly.

“So.” He squeezed my hands. “If that means we have to leave all the physical stuff out of it, I’m willing to do that. If my attraction to you is complicating things, I can be better. I keep trying to be better.”

“It’s not just you.” We needed to get through this week without our bodies getting in the way. We had a job to do and then he was leaving. “But you’re right.”

“I really hate being right,” he said.

Our foreheads dropped to touch, our hands still clasped between us.

“We’ll focus on this next week with MooreTek, so there’s no worry or complications, and then …”

“And then?” I couldn’t help the eagerness in my voice.

“And then I’d like to take you on a date, Roxy Kincaid. A real date. Fancy restaurant, nice clothes. The whole shebang. We’ll do this right.”

“That sounds nice,” I said.

Maybe I could manage this balancing act. Maybe I was enough.

Chapter 20

Sanders

I skipped into the lobby with a smile on my face and a whistle on my lips. I stopped short when I discovered Skip pacing the lobby of the Lodge gnawing on his thumb. He’d clearly been waiting for me because the second he saw me, he walked to meet me.

“Skippo? What’s up, mate?” I asked.

Skip pacing wasn’t always an emergency, sometimes he just got caught up in his head a little too much and just needed me to talk him out of there. But it was never a great sign. He scratched at his hair.

“I’ve been trying to call,” he said.

“I’ve been out showing Roxy the zip line. I told you I was going. I didn’t have a missed call. Sorry, mate.”

I led him to the couch where Roxy and I had held hands. I definitely wouldn’t smile about that now but the reality of the progress we’d made settled fully on me. After this week, she was open to dating. She was into me. That fucking amazing kiss told me that and so much more. I daydreamed of a time where I’d be able to take her places and hold her hand it public. And what if we did decide to open a branch out here? I could live in the same city as her. We could see each other any time we wanted. What a gift that would be.

But I needed to focus on the here and now.

“Tell me what’s going on,” I said when we were settled.

He ran a hand through his hair. “Ford’s Fosters wants to do a camping trip.”

“Fantastic. How many kids?”

He shook his head like that wasn’t important.

“Explain?” I asked calmly.

“They can only go this week,” he said.

I understood immediately. “And did you tell Ford that it couldn’t be this week because of a prior client?”

“He said that he understood but he was in a bind because the other volunteer vendor pulled out last minute and the kids were really looking forward to it. They had the buses reserved and