You're the One (19 page)

Hmmm, he might
be like a big, sexy bear right now, but there was still a side of
him that wouldn’t be swayed from the truth. How hard would he fight
to get it? That had a little tingle go through her again. How far
would he go to make her confess? How would he make her? Oh boy,
that thought had her belly dipping.

Moz angled his
head to one side. Yep, he was trying to gauge her thoughts.

She smiled at
him.

“How about we
just go back to bed?” he asked bluntly.

Del snapped
upright. “What?”

“If we’re not
going to talk, let’s have sex instead.”

Her mouth fell
open. “I don’t believe I’m freakin’ hearing this!”

“The sex was
good,” he pointed out.

“Good? Just -
wait, just
good
?”

“Well, great,
if you want to get down to it. Hot. Smouldering.” He winked. “We
can go hotter.”

“We can?”
Intrigued, she stared at him, only to shake her head. “Wait. No.
Now just a minute. Moz, you’re obviously no stranger to shagging a
woman you don’t know that well, but mister, I’m telling you right
now, hot or not,
I
don’t go around shagging men I think are
sexy.”

“Does that
mean you don’t think I’m sexy?”

“Of course
you’re sexy, it just means I don’t have sex with you because of
it.”

“But we had
sex,” he pointed out reasonably.

“I know. Yes,
we did.” She blew out an exasperated puff of air. “I don’t know
why.”

“Because I’m
sexy?”

The man was
laughing at her, his eyes sparkling with mirth even though his face
was perfectly expressionless.

Del’s eyes
narrowed. “You’re being an arse.”

“I’m being
honest. You’re not. Now why is that?” he mused. “Delia Miller,
straight-talking, truthful, candid Delia Miller, avoiding the
subject.”

“I’m not
avoiding it.”

There went
that look again, those eyes cutting into her. Oh boy, the glint was
a whole lot sharper, too. He might be teasing her, might be amused,
but the man was determined and yep, damn it, he could see right
through her.

Del
sighed.

Moz didn’t let
her hand go, just squeezed her fingers encouragingly.

Leaving her
hand in his - like she had a choice, it’d probably be a battle to
the death if she tried to pull further away - Del looked soberly at
him. “I know some women are okay with sleeping with a man the first
time they meet him. That’s fine, their choice. But it’s not me. I
don’t sleep with men I don’t know.” She hesitated, glanced down at
their hands. “Um…in fact, I’ve only…you know…”

Another
squeeze of her fingers, his thumb running along the side of her
palm.

Well, heck,
might as well just say it. Wasn’t like it was big deal or anything.
“I’ve only slept with one bloke. Well, not really slept. I got
carried away after our date, let him persuade me to…you know…” She
had to get a grip, be an adult. Straightening her shoulders, she
lifted her head and looked Moz right in the eyes. “We had sex in
the back seat of his car. I thought I was in love, he was in lust,
we were both on different paths. Broke my heart to see him with
someone else a couple of days later.”

Moz regarded
her steadily.

“Awhile later
I thought there could be something with another man, a visitor to
town who decided to wine and dine me. When I refused to sleep with
him straight away, I saw him knocking around the next night with
Yvonne, one of the girls in town. I almost agreed just to get him
back, but then I found them in the car park behind the pub in the
back of his car, fair rocking that thing on its wheels. He
obviously didn’t think much of either of us, to go straight from me
to Yvonne. It hit me then that that could have been me, just
another easy shag. Made me a little sick, made me remember my first
time. Made me damn glad it wasn’t me, especially when he left the
next day. Poor old Yvonne thought he’d left her up the duff.”

“Some would,”
Moz murmured quietly.

“Yeah, it was
a big relief to her when she found out it was a false alarm. But it
made me realise that I didn’t want that. If I was going to sleep
with a man it would be for more of a reason than just that he was
sexy and available.” Del returned his regard steadily. “It’s just
not for me.”

The silence in
the room was oddly comforting, Moz accepting her explanation
without derision or condemnation.

“How old were
you the first time?” he asked.

“Sixteen,” she
said sheepishly. “My date was seventeen.”

“Ah.”

“Yep. The sex
wasn’t even good. Not even a bit.” She held her fingertip and thumb
together. “Zilch. Painful, messy, over quick. He thought he was
cock-of-the-walk. Turns out he wasn’t. Bit late for me, of
course.”

Moz grinned.
“First time sex can be all of that.”

“Bet it wasn’t
for you.”

“My first time
was with an older, experienced woman.”

“Very
un-sexy.”

“Really?
Cougars can be hot.” He waggled his eyebrows unexpectedly.

Del burst out
laughing.

“I’m serious.”
He smiled. “But continue. Your first time was not a good
experience. What about your second time?”

“Like I said,
there was no second time.” She shrugged. “There was just never
The One
.”

“The One,” he
repeated.

“The One I
cared enough about to be more intimate with.” Wow, like that didn’t
sound delightfully old fashioned.

Moz studied
her silently for several seconds.

No longer
feeling stupid, but definitely ready to deflect some cajoling, Del
raised her eyebrows at him.

“So,” he said
slowly, “one time only, huh?”

“Yep.”

“All these
years and you’ve never had sex with anyone else?”

“‘All these
years’? Just how old do you think I am?”

“Old enough to
know her own mind.”

She couldn’t
help but bristle a little. “Yes, I know my own mind. It’s been my
choice, not one I force on anyone else, not one I judge other
people by. It’s just
me
.”

He nodded.
“Okay.”

She eyed him
suspiciously. “That’s it? Just ‘okay’?”

“Yep. Sure
answers the question of why you’re so tight, though.”

“Tight?”
Jesus, the man had a nerve. “You think I’m
tight
?”

“Baby, I felt
it.”

They stared at
each other for several seconds.

“You felt it?”
she repeated.

“I think it?”
he echoed.

“You think I’m
uptight.”

“Oh. No. I
said I could feel how tight you were.”

“Yeah. No. I
don’t get it.”

His smile was
that slow, easy curve of the lips, his eyes crinkling at the
corners, a very definite glint of satisfaction in his eyes. “Baby,
I mean I could feel how tight your body was when I entered
you.”

Oh hell, now
she knew what he meant. She went hot, went cold, flushed furiously.
“Well,
I
just thought you were really big.” Crap, like that
really didn’t sound naive, like a tit for tat gesture. “Abnormally
so.” Shit, that just got worse.

And he knew
it. Brown eye sparkled with laughter.

With a groan,
she dropped her forehead onto their joined hands.

Moz patted her
head. “It’s all good, Del.”

“I think my
face is on fire.”

His chuckle
was warm.

“I think you
better go now.”

“Not yet.
We’re not finished.”

She closed her
eyes. “I already told you, no more sex. This was a slip-up. It
won’t happen again.”

“Oh, it
will.”

Yes! Wait,
no.
Good grief, he didn’t just say that, did he?

Eyes narrowed,
Del lifted her head to glare at him. “I won’t be pushed into
anything.”

“That’s not
what I meant, you prickly little pear,” he admonished. “I accept
your choice. Might not particularly like it, might be walking
around with a stiffy for quite awhile, might have to watch for my
palms turning hairy, but I accept it.” He paused. “For now.”

Intriguing.
“For now?”

His hand went
from the top of her head to cup her cheek, amusement fading.
Leaning forward, he gazed intently into her eyes. “Del, I want to
get to know you better. I want you to get to know me better. I want
us to be a couple. Go on dates, have some fun, talk about
things.”

“Oh.” Wow, he
really accepted her decision? Was happy to just be with her?
“Really?”

“Yep.” He
dropped a kiss on the tip of her nose. “We’ll kiss, we’ll cuddle,
we’ll walk, we’ll talk.”

Mmm.
“Sounds okay.”

“We’ll become
comfortable with each other.”

Mmm
mmmm.
Her lashes fluttered closed as he dropped a kiss on her
brow.
I like that.

“So you
agree?”

There was no
doubting she was attracted to him, no doubting that his acceptance
was just as attractive. “Oh, yes.”

“We’re
dating?”

She smiled.
“We’re dating.”

“Then we can
have sex.”

I like
that, too
. Her eyes popped open.
Wait. What?

He grinned.
“When you’re ready, of course.”

She couldn’t
help but smile back. “You might be waiting a long time.”

His look was
unfathomable. Did things to her deep down. Deliciously debauched
things. Things she sure had no right to be feeling when she’d
basically denied sex right now.

Moz leaned
closer.

Del’s breath
caught, lips tingling when his breath blew softly across her
mouth.

Closing that
gap, he kissed her gently, almost tenderly, a press of lips, a
moulding, a testing.

It was a
simple kiss but one that had her toes curling. It also had her
kissing back, wanting just a little more.

He accepted
her kiss, opened to her slightly.

She sought
further, slid deeper, his taste flooding her almost immediately,
all hot male, strong, fresh essence, stealing her breath and making
her senses swim. Her nipples pebbled against her shirt, her secrets
dampening from remembered sensation as his hand released hers to
settle on her upper arm, long, strong fingers curling around to
hold her steady as she leaned further into his kiss.

The gentle
kiss grew a little rougher, a little hotter, a whole lot deeper. A
big hand slid around to cup her nape, holding her as he took
control of the kiss, tongue dancing along hers, taking from her
now, plundering deep, leaving her gasping, senses swirling as he
drew back.

Moz kissed the
corner of her mouth, her cheek, and finally the tip of her nose
before drawing back to smile down at her. “I think I’d better
go.”

“Hmmm?” She
blinked up at him, still swirling in all those luscious
sensations.

“No sex,
remember?” He released her, straightening to his full height. “I
stay here now and I can’t promise not to cajole you into something
you’ll regret later.” Walking around the bench, he scooped the
kitten up and placed her in Del’s arms. “Dinner tomorrow night,
I’ll pick you up at six thirty.”

“Okay.” Call
her a ninny, but she could only cradle Missy to her chest and gaze
dreamily in the direction he retreated, her blood still buzzing
hungrily in her veins.

That man’s
mouth was lethal, definitely should have it licensed as a deadly
weapon. For sure, his kisses almost blew her resolve to pieces. One
kiss, one hot, drugging kiss, and she was ready to rip her own
shirt off.

Man, she was
weak. Good thing he didn’t know how weak.

Taking a deep
breath, she looked down at Missy. “I think I need another shower,
this time a cold one.”

She was still
smiling at the kitten when Moz called out, “You coming to lock this
door?”

“It’ll be
fine,” she called back automatically.

There was
silence for all of five seconds, then, “You really don’t want me
coming in there to sort you out about this.”

And there was
the Moz with whom she was familiar.

“Maybe I do,”
she couldn’t help but call back impishly.

“Maybe you
don’t want to sit down comfortably.”

Oh God, that
sent all kinds of kinky shivers through her. Especially when she
wasn’t sure how much of that he meant, because sure as gravity made
the rain fall downwards, his voice was dead serious.

She couldn’t
help but sit there in anticipation until she heard one heavy boot
tread threateningly in the hallway. Losing courage, she quickly
placed Missy on the floor and ran out into the hallway yelling,
“I’m coming! I’m coming, damn it!”

Standing in
the doorway, the veranda light picking out his towering figure, Moz
watched her approach. She swore she could feel the lick of his
gaze. His expression was completely blank.

Taking the
security screen from his hand, she looked innocently up at him.
“So, six thirty tomorrow night, huh?”

He leaned down
until they were nose to nose, which was pretty impressive
considering his height, and reached around to lay his hand on her
backside. “Just remember, my bite is worse than my bark.” One light
tap on her bum with a big palm, one quick kiss to swallow her
startled gasp, and he was gone.

Heart beating
a little heavier, bum cheek tingling, breathing a tad uneven, Del
watched him get into his car. It was only when he pointed at her
that she realised she held the door open, and stepping back, she
shut it and flicked the lock.

Only then did
Moz start the car and drive away, leaving her standing there with a
stupid grin on her face, an arse that wouldn’t quit tingling where
he’d tapped it, and a bit of inner annoyance that she’d jumped at
his tone.

Squaring her
shoulders, she turned to find Missy prancing down the hallway,
little back arched, tail puffed up, ready for a play fight.

“Man might be
a good kisser,” she informed the kitten, “but if he thinks I’m
going to jump when he says jump, he’s got another think coming. And
it’s all bad.”