“You got a suit?” he asks, but I don’t take my eyes off his mouth.
I can’t. His lips are too plump and beautiful, ripe for kissing and made for pleasure.
“Um.” I glance toward the truck, regretting blurting out swimming and the way I just stared at his mouth. “No.”
“Bra and panties?”
I blink, and I part my lips. “Excuse me?”
“Are you wearing a bra and panties?”
I tip my head down like I somehow need the visual confirmation before opening my mouth. “Yep. Totally wearing them.”
“Too bad,” he whispers.
I snap my head up, eyes on him, taking in his smirk and a freaking dimple. “What?”
“Nothing.” He reaches out and grabs my hand.
The contact sends a zap down my arm, through my body, and straight to the very spot that’s throbbed since I laid eyes on the cocky hunk.
“What are you doing?” I ask, digging my heels into the gravel underneath my feet and trying to make myself unmovable.
He gives my arm another light tug, and my body betrays me, moving with him. “To the back.”
“The back?” I ask and peer over his shoulder to the field. “The backyard?”
“To the pond, sugar.”
My eyes widen. “No. No. No,” I say, drawing out each one a little longer than the last.
He laughs and takes another step, and again, my body moves with him. “It’s safe. I promise nothing will happen to you. Well…” He smiles, stealing my breath again. “At least, nothing bad will happen to you.”
My belly flips as my feet slide across the gravel, my body wanting to believe him even if my mind doesn’t. “This is the South,” I explain the obvious.
He doesn’t stop walking as he peers over his shoulder at me. “And?”
“I don’t know if you’re new here or just dense, but there’re gators in the water.”
“You have a better chance of being bitten by a snake,” he replies, like I’m the crazy one.
I swallow, and I don’t even need a mirror to know all the blood’s drained from my face. “Are you trying to talk me into or out of swimming in the pond with you? Because right now, you aren’t making a good case.”
Rocco stops suddenly and turns, but my feet don’t get the memo.
I crash right into his chest with my face. I stagger back, bouncing off his body like I’m a tennis ball slamming against a brick wall.
His hands are instantly on my upper arms, catching me before I have a chance to go down.
I gasp from the contact and the way his hands feel wrapped around my arms, holding me tight with his long, thick fingers. My body sways forward, and his hands tighten, sending tingles everywhere.
And I mean everywhere.
His brown eyes are locked on me, and so are his hands. He doesn’t even let me go after I find my footing. “You okay?” he asks, his voice deep and sultry.
My mouth opens and closes, but nothing comes out. I’m too fixated on his brown eyes and the flecks of gold dotting the outer edges. “Fine,” I squeak and tense when his thumbs stroke the tender skin on the inside of my biceps.
Those same honey-brown eyes sweep over my face. “Don’t see any damage.”
“Damage?” I whisper.
“Your face is still pretty even after colliding with all this.”
I can’t stop the smile from coming to my lips. “All this?” I raise an eyebrow, staring back at him.
“It’s a lot of man to hit for such a small and pretty face.”
“You did not just say that,” I tell him, biting my lip to hold in my laughter. “Tell me you did not just say that.”
His hands finally fall away, but the heat from his touch stays imprinted on my skin. “Tell me I’m wrong.”
“Fine. Fine. You’re a lot of man, but honey, I’m a whole lotta woman, and running into a man like you and bouncing off without a scratch is my superpower,” I say, finally finding my inner Rebel instead of the weird, silent girl who crawled out of the truck a few minutes ago.
He crosses his arms again, tilting his head at the same time, a move he seems to have perfected. “Is that a challenge?” The muscles in his arms flex at the same time his lips twitch, and goddamn it, my eyes go right to them. “’Cause I love a good challenge.”
I take a step forward, closing the space between us, and roll up onto my tiptoes. “You’ve been playing in the minor leagues, baby. I’m the pros. I’ve been with college men while you’ve been kissing high school girls under the bleachers, learning how to satisfy pussy and failing.”
His face doesn’t change at all when he says, “Rebel, sugar, I’m going to rock your world. You can bet your pretty ass on that.”
“Are you even eighteen? I mean—” I pull back, looking him up and down. I know he’s of age and could pass for a much older guy without a shadow of a doubt, but it doesn’t stop me from saying, “I don’t want to end up in jail, even if you’re the one chasing me.”
He laughs, tipping his head back, the sun glinting off his white teeth. “I’m nineteen, sugar, but I totally dig you’re a cougar.”
I narrow my eyes on his happy, hot-as-fuck face. “I’m twenty, which hardly makes me a cougar.”
“I’m younger. Therefore, you are, in fact, a cougar. And, babe…” He pauses, licking his thick, pink lips. “Given half a chance, I’m going to make your weekend unforgettable. You’re going to be ruined and will never look twice at the other college men again without remembering what it felt like to have me between your legs.”
I chuckle, but fuck, my belly flips, and I have to resist the urge to squeeze my thighs together. “You think you’re that good?”
I’m playing with fire.
I know I am.
The man’s looks alone could make any girl bend over and beg for cock. And yet, here I am, tempting him with all the right words, wanting his lips on mine and that hard, hot body crushing me into the sheets.
His eyes drop to my mouth when he says, “I know I am.”
Rocco Caldo is an absolutely cocky, arrogant, beautiful asshole.
I slide back, needing out of his personal space and a chance to catch my bearings. I have to come up with a way to make myself not appear to be so easy and to give myself an out.
Younger guys usually kiss like shit. Sloppy, wet, and way too much tongue. It is the only thing that pops into my mind as I stand there, him staring at me and my body vibrating from all the energy flowing between us.
“If you can sweep me off my feet with one single kiss, I’ll think about giving you a little more. But—” I hold up a finger “—if you fail at this one task, we’re going to binge-watch romance movies all weekend while we listen to those two bang each other’s brains out. Deal?”
Rocco’s smile widens as he lifts one hand to his chin, running his index finger across his bottom lip. “And if I give you the kiss of a lifetime, I get you any way I want you, all weekend long. I mean, it’s a win-win for you because you’re going to have so many orgasms, you’re not even going to remember your name, and it’s a win-win for me because I will too.”