Blaire wasn’t the good girl she claimed to be. She had some bad girl in her, too. Fucking sexy little tattoo that probably stayed hidden most of the time. He wanted to kiss it and make her let off that soft moan she had when he’d whispered up against her ear in the store. She’d been so wet for him last night. He could smell her pheromones now. She was probably soaking her panties for him, and all he’d done was stand close to her. Good Blaire, reacting to him the way he needed her to.
“Have you heard a word I’ve said?” she asked, arching her ruddy brows at him.
“No,” he said honestly. “I was thinking about last night.”
Blaire jerked upright, and her cheeks instantly colored with the prettiest pink he’d ever seen. “Dirty stuffs?” she asked innocently.
“Yep.”
“You swear you don’t have a girlfriend before we continue this conversation.”
Gentry chuckled darkly. “Trouble, no woman has ever been willing to put up with my shit. You’re free and clear to chase me.” What was he doing? He shouldn’t be encouraging the flirting, but he couldn’t help himself. She was so damn fun to mess with, and that sexy blush was staining her cheeks even darker now. It made him want to say filthy things to her.
“I chased a man once, and it didn’t work out so well.”
“Your ex?” he asked, trying for nonchalance, but his fists clenched up in his pockets with the urge to choke the shithead who hurt her.
“Yep. I’ve realized chasing men isn’t for me. Maybe this time I want to be chased.”
The vision of her as a pretty white rabbit and him as a big bad wolf flashed across his mind. If she knew what kind of monster he was, she would never say things like that.
Blaire popped the trunk of her rental car, and as tempting as it was for him to stand back and perv-watch how her ass pressed against her tight jeans, he couldn’t let her work alone. Instinct wouldn’t allow it, so he helped, then shut the trunk when they were done. “Get in the car and turn the heater on. I’ll get rid of the cart.”
Her eyes got all mushy like he’d done something heroic, and Gentry couldn’t help the smile that took his face as he pushed the cart into the line with the others. He really liked making her happy. He also liked that she was easily pleased. Blaire suited him.
He jogged back over to her car, scanning the parking lot for any prying eyes because he couldn’t stand the thought of not saying goodbye for some reason. He shouldn’t do this. It was dangerous and could get them both hurt, but Gentry couldn’t stop the urge to touch her.
So he leaned into the open window, kissed her, pushed his tongue into her mouth in a single stroke just to taste her, then sucked on her lip hard and eased out of her car. It was a second of intimacy, but the stunned smile on her lips made it worth the risk.
“See you in Hunter Cove,” he said through a smirk as he stepped back.
Blaire was just sitting there, touching her lips with her fingertips, staring at him with those pretty green eyes. “Okay. Thank you.”
Thank you? Gentry’s smirk deepened to a Grinch smile. He’d kissed her into shock or something. God, he’d never wanted a woman like he wanted her. Trouble, trouble, trouble.
He shoved his hands in his pockets as she eased out of the parking spot, and then just like at the cabin when she’d driven away from him, Gentry watched her go until he couldn’t see her anymore.
Inside of him, Wolf howled to go after her.
Blaire didn’t have to worry. She was definitely going to be chased.
Chapter Nine
Blaire flipped the page over and began reading the next. This manuscript was rough, but she was really trying to stick with it through chapter three at least to give the author a chance to find her stride. Blaire had been an acquisitions editor for years but had only found a couple of breakout authors. Her boss called her “too picky in this market,” but the only thing that kept her motivated to keep going at this career was the idea that there was some unknown author out there with a hidden brilliance who just needed a shot. She wanted to be a part of a career like that. She wanted to be the one to breathe life into that first manuscript and help push the author onto the first leg of their journey to the top of the mountain.
The studly studmuffin laved his lick-pad up her stomach, and pumped his fishing rod faster into her tackle box. Suddenly he howled out her name as his baby gravy sprayed into her echoing treasure cavern…
Nope. Blaire slammed the first couple of chapters back on top of that horrifying page in a desperate attempt to evict the words “baby gravy” from her mind for eternity. She’d had high hopes about this one, but once again, she would be sending a rejection letter. That was the downside to her job. She was a dream-crusher to many in her quest to be a dream-maker for one.
She heaved a sigh and stared out the window again. Gentry had been gone all day. She’d had all these plans to make dinner, entice him over with the rich smell of pasta, and then possibly seduce him because, despite the fishing rod reference her poor mind had just been exposed to, she was in a constant state of arousal.
That would be one Gentry Striker’s fault.
But he’d been MIA, and she’d had a vacation dinner for one and a big glass of wine. Before she’d left home, Blaire had printed out a dozen manuscripts thinking it would be romantic to read actual paper books while on her snowy vacation, but she didn’t feel like working tonight. She felt like more kisses, like the one Gentry had surprised her with in the grocery store parking lot.