A Modern Love Story (23 page)

“Come by the bar afterwards and let me know how it went.”

“You bet.” She shoved her arms into her jacket. “I’ll talk to you later. Love you.”

“Back
atcha
.”

*****

Robbie cringed as she stood outside Hooligan’s door, rummaging around in her purse for the key. She couldn’t wait to get her heels off. Although she was a master at walking in them, she rarely did. They only proved to make her feel clumsy. Besides, heels were for high-powered business women, not for girls who would rather play in the mud than wear button-down dresses and pumps.

“Finally,” she muttered, pulling out her key and shoving it in the lock. One more minute in that wind and she was sure her
updo
would’ve come undone. Already she could feel little tendrils
whisping
around and tickling her neck.

“Hey there,” Luc said, checking the stock behind the bar. “Don’t forget—”

“To lock the door. Yeah, yeah.”

“I get one night of peace in this place. Don’t think some damn idiot wouldn’t walk right in ‘cause he can’t read a closed sign.” He turned back to his inventory sheet.

“It’s locked, Stretch.” Robbie shrugged out of her black thigh-length trench coat and threw it on the coat rack.

The door rattled behind her.

“See? It never stops them.” Luc gestured towards the door with his pen as he glanced over. He froze, staring hard enough to make her want to squirm.

“What?” She smoothed her hands over her navy dress, suddenly paranoid that a button had come undone, or the v-neck shifted enough to reveal what was supposed to be concealed. Damn. She knew she shouldn’t have tried to pull it off. Girls like her should
not
wear dresses like that.

“You look beautiful, Rob.” He blinked, hard, and turned away as his ears flushed.

She felt the warmth of his compliment spread through her body as she stepped to the bar and slid on a stool. But for Luc, it seemed he was embarrassed by his own reaction. In fact, it was like a switch had been thrown somewhere inside him the moment the words left his lips. Not only had he turned away from her, but his movements as he checked through his inventory were stiff. He even had to clear his throat before he spoke again, and when he did, his voice was harder, more detached-sounding. What was going on with that guy?

“How did the interview go?”

She shrugged, noticing how he pointedly averted eye contact. “It went okay, but I don’t think I’ll get it. They seem very insistent that the candidate have field experience.”

He made a noise that sounded somewhat like a snort. “They don’t deserve to have you then. No one does who wouldn’t jump at the chance of hiring you. Shit, do they think they’re going to find someone more qualified just because they stood in a hole and pulled out some old bones?”

That was exactly what they thought, and she knew it. But instead of responding to him, she watched as he slammed bottles around and made angry little tick marks on his list. Something was eating at him, and it started the moment she took off her coat. Putting two and two together, she was pretty sure she knew what it was.

She decided it was time to scratch at the surface, quickly gathering her courage before she did. “I love you.”

“Yeah. Me too.”

He leaned over to look at the papers in front of her, and she caught his face in her hands. “No,” she said. “I
love
you. I’m
in love
with you.”

His eyes locked on hers a moment before launching himself over the bar to band his arms around her. His lips fused to hers, scorching her in a firestorm to where she barely registered his movements—that he had spun her, was pressing her back against the rail of the bar.

Her need for him was instantaneous, and she knew it was the same for him—she felt it in the possession of his mouth, the urgency of his hands. She finally caught her breath when he broke away and blazed a trail down her neck, across her cleavage. Tipping her head down, she dragged her teeth across his shoulder, spurring him on.

Slipping his fingers into the front of her dress, he jerked it open. Buttons popped off, raining down and scattering across the floor to reveal her sheer, black camisole. He clamped his mouth over her breast with enough force to make her stool tip and she hooked her arms over the edge of the bar to brace herself. When the barrier of material was too much for him, and her, he gripped the edge of the fabric and easily ripped it open.

She arched her back, giving him access to her bare breasts, as she wrapped her legs around his waist. She couldn’t get enough of him, of his hands, of his mouth. More, was all she could think. More. As if reading her mind, his hands raced down, and after a careless tug, her panties were gone too.

God, she wanted this. Wanted him. He made her feel wanted, needed. He lit fires inside her she hadn’t known could burn so fierce, in places she didn’t even know existed. Nothing in life could ever make her feel this complete, this
whole.
He was as much a part of her as her own soul.

She felt exposed in every way possible, and reveled in it. There she was, completely naked, head dropped back against a bar top, with a man who was still fully clothed and taking what he wanted—what was his to take.

His arm slid around her back as he grabbed her hip, lifting her higher and pulling her harder against him. And as she wrapped her legs tighter to comply, the stool tipped out from underneath her. She squealed as she squeezed with her thighs, surprised to lose the support beneath her. Luc’s arms clamped around her, and staggered as he swept her up.

“Are you okay?” The panic in his voice was almost laughable.

“I’m fine.” She nipped at his neck to elicit a moan. “Now where were we?”

“Wait,” he said, loosening his grip as he set her on her feet. “I can’t do this. I can’t take you like this.”

“God, Luc. Now
is
not
the time to take it slow.” If that man didn’t get his hands back on her, she was going to burst. She just knew it!

“Now is exactly the time we should take it slow.” He lifted her face, kissed her nose. “You just told me you’re in love with me.”

The tenderness in his voice made her knees weak. “Yeah. I did.”

“So, we take it slow.” He rubbed his palm down her side, brushing against the side of her breasts as his mouth moved to nibble her neck.

An involuntary shudder racked through her. She could have sworn there were a pack of bees buzzing under her skin.

“Very slow,” he whispered in her ear, tugging on her earlobe with his teeth. “Your place is closer than mine.”

“Jesus. Let’s go.”

Luc chuckled and stepped back, glancing at the floor. “Ah, well…shit.”

She looked down to see every stitch of her clothing torn at her feet.

“Hell, I barely remember even doing that. When I get around you, it’s like I have no control. I just want to
have
you, right then and there.”

She kicked at her ruined dress. “How can I complain with a compliment like that?” She
slid
her hands up his chest. “You would have won that round for sure.”

He laughed and hugged her, groaning when her hands came around to give his ass a quick squeeze. “How am I going to get you home?”

“No problem,” she said, pulling away.

Robbie could almost feel his eyes on her as she walked towards the coat rack. She suddenly felt very sexy and confident walking around in nothing but her heels. For once, pumps worked for her,
and
her feminine ego.

“Holy shit,” Luc muttered from behind.

She smiled as she turned to face him and slipped into her trench coat. “There. No one will know but us.”

In three very long strides, Luc was at her side. “Jesus, there’s that other side of you again. I
gotta
say, I’m loving it.”

“It’s different with you, Luc. There are no barriers, no holding back. I can just be me and know that it’s okay.”

“It’s better than okay. It’s perfect.”

*****

Luc was ready to jump out of his fucking skin by the time they got to Robbie’s apartment. Goddamn, did the girl know how to tease him—unbuttoning her jacket enough for him to see the side of her breast, placing his hand on her thigh, then knocking it higher with the gear shift when she took it out of park. She was fucking lucky she made it home in one piece. He was ready to tear into her and leave nothing left behind.

Luc took slow, deep breaths as she unlocked the door. He wasn’t kidding when he told her he couldn’t, wouldn’t, take her against the bar. Not after what she’d said to him. He didn’t know what he’d been thinking. He heard her words and just fucking reacted. Totally selfish on his part, he knew. And he was determined to make it up to her, to show her what it meant to him.

“Home sweet home,” Robbie murmured, locking the door behind them, then sauntering up to his side. Jesus Christ, she was sexy as hell.

He clamped onto her hands before she could take off her coat. “Don’t.”

She arched a brow but complied as she watched him, a spark in her emerald eyes.

“Come with me,” he said, leading her to the bedroom, forcing himself to take small measured steps.

When they got to the bed, he turned around to face her. Without a word, he loosened her collar and pulled it down far enough to expose her shoulders. He couldn’t help but indulge in a little taste at the lovely curve in her neck, then straightened to take out the pins holding her hair in place. It tumbled in huge curls around her creamy shoulders, adding to the image of her as an Irish goddess in his eyes.

“I love you so much, Robbie. Sometimes it feels like too much.” His heart lurched as her eyes welled up. “But I trust it. I want it. And I want you. Always.”

He kissed her before she could respond, and took it deeper as her arms came around him, as he felt her tears on his cheeks. But he kept it gentle and slow.
This
he would not rush. His mouth moved softly down the length of her neck as he brought her arms down to her side.

“Let me show you, Robbie,” he murmured, his kisses raining down between her breasts. He got on his knees and looked up at her. “Let me show you how much I love you.”

More tears spilled over before he turned his attention to the knot barring his way. With a slow and easy tug, it unraveled and her coat fell open. He flicked a path across her stomach, and felt it quiver under his lips. His palms caressed, teasing himself, and her, by brushing against the sides of her breasts and over the top swell before taking them in his hands, rubbing his thumbs over her nipples. Her whole body began to tremble as his mouth traveled down, his hands flicking to the side, sending her coat to the floor.

“Luc,” she breathed, another shudder whipping down her frame.

He felt the unsteadiness in her legs as his hands roamed. He stood to scoop her up, and with a restraint he hadn’t known existed, he gently laid her on the bed. He was so focused on her, on how she made him feel, and how she felt in his arms, that his mind began to cloud over everything else. But one absent thought rang through the haze as she tipped her head back. The color of her hair spreading across the pillow looked like a liquid flame, licking and curling its way as it spilled across the fabric, and it occurred to him…that was how it felt to love her—like a fire that’s constantly burning, constantly consuming. He would have it no other way.

Her arms came around him, brought his mouth to hers. He took his time as his fingertips danced over her body to touch and feel. She seemed to understand his need to take it slow as her fingers peeled off his clothes with a patience that matched his. Instead of digging in, her fingers slid across his lean muscles, exploring with an intimate touch. It was all very new for him, exciting and nerve racking. He never knew it could be like this, like a smoldering that crept through his soul but still left a white-hot heat in its place.