I snorted. “Stars in my eyes? You’re so corny.”
“How about some more Oscar Wilde? To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.”
“That one makes me sad.”
He kissed the top of my head from behind. “Don’t be sad. Tell me what makes you happy, and I’ll do it.”
“Keep holding me like this forever.”
He leaned down and nibbled the edge of my ear. A fierce desire shot through my body like a shot of ice-cold vodka.
For the second time in less than a month, a way-too-hot man was touching me. Actually, it was the third time, if you counted play-wrestling with my former high school crush, Adrian Storm. I was becoming quite the squeeze toy for hot dudes. The downside to being a boy toy was that the boys would get bored and move on. The upside was the squeezing.
Oh, yes. The squeezing.
“I feel so safe in your arms,” I said.
“You shouldn’t feel safe at all,” he growled sexily. “I know we just had dinner, but I could eat you up in one bite. I took the last name Raven because it’s short for Ravenous.”
I shuddered at the rasp in his voice. “You were really helpful during the photo shoot today. All your coaching was so practical.”
“Practical?” He made a sound that was a cross between purring and growling, and licked the crevice behind my ear. “I had to say something to take my mind off all the dirty things I wanted to do to you.”
“You should have done those things for the photos.”
“It’s not underwear modeling if the underwear’s on the floor.”
“Right. That would be p**n , I suppose.”
He purred and licked my ear again, which made my eyes roll up into my head with pleasure.
When I finally caught my breath again, I said, “Have you ever done any… nude stuff?”
“Not on film,” he replied with a chuckle. “Why? Do you want to make a sex tape with me and leak it on the internet?”
“Not tonight,” I said jokingly. “My hair’s a bit messy.”
“I wouldn’t make that video,” he said. “If I ever got lucky enough to be with you, it would be very private and very personal.”
I looked down at his forearms, covered by his blazer jacket, wrapped around me and framing my br**sts. The jacket was pushed up enough I could see the dark hair on his arms. The hair was very short, like it had been trimmed, which seemed probable.
He continued, “As for tonight, though, all I want is a kiss.”
“That’s all you want?”
“All I want for tonight.”
In the silence that followed, I had a little argument with myself. He’s lying, and he wants to brag about having you as a conquest, howled the suspicious detective part of me. He’s lying, and he’s a filthy sex addict, said the part of me who wears librarian glasses and her hair in a bun. Then my randy tongue jumped into the argument and started yelling incoherently: MOUTH! KISS! TONGUE-KISS! TONGUE WANT MOUTH!
I have never been in the situation of being involved with two men at once, but I was keenly aware of the wrongness of my desires. Sure, I had broken up with Dalton in my heart, but I hadn’t uttered the magic words, so I technically wasn’t a free agent. I wasn’t free to drill my tongue into a sexy model’s face like I was trying to get the last of the Nutella out of a jar.
But then, despite my reservations, I was turning, turning clockwise, turning in Keith’s arms, away from the glowing Hollywood sign and toward his glowing Hollywood face.
CHAPTER 4
His mouth came down and met my lips hesitantly. His skin smelled like sunshine, even in the dark.
I didn’t know if it was an act, or what, but he kissed me exactly like someone who doesn’t kiss someone new very often. He paused, waiting for me to move before he parted his lips. My tongue charged ahead, into his mouth. He moaned in surprise, but then inhaled deeply and relaxed his jaw, his mouth welcoming.
His saliva was sweet and clean, and I wanted to crawl inside his gorgeous mouth, decorate it with throw pillows, and live there forever.
Then his hands were on my back, rubbing up and down as we kissed, keeping me from floating away. I reached down and did something I’d wanted to do since the minute I’d seen him—I slipped my hands into the back pockets of his jeans and clutched his remarkable ass.
Oh, what an ass it was. Not skinny, but pleasant and round. I dug my fingertips in, pulling my body in tighter to his.
To my surprise, Keith’s hands didn’t stray from my back. We stood and kissed under the night sky, both of us fully clothed, for what must have been close to an hour. My body ached for more, but I was also relieved to be enjoying this moment, this kissing.
I didn’t want to compare, but Keith was one of the better kissers I’d experienced, if not the very best. He mostly kept his eyes closed, except he seemed to sense when I opened mine, and then he opened his and gave me a shy look before going back to kissing.
His face had been closely shaved earlier that day, and his chin was only faintly raspy against mine. He kissed his way down my cheek and onto my neck. His touch was gentle and maddening, because I wanted more. Or did I? Being kissed gently on the neck was less overwhelming than having my neck sucked on, but the sensation still tingled all through my body.
I wanted to stay there and kiss him until the sun came up, but the day caught up to me, and one of my kisses turned into a yawn.
He pulled back and looked at me sideways. “I’m boring you?”
“Not at all.” With his eyes on me, my tiredness disappeared instantly. “I didn’t sleep last night. I was nervous about the shoot.” That last part was only part of the truth, but it was all I wanted to think about.
“You’re probably at some sad hotel, right? Do you want to stay over at my place tonight? My sister just moved out, but she left her bed, so I have a spare room. We both have the day off tomorrow, so I can be your tour guide.”
“I don’t know.”
“I live not far from here. I swear, there’s an entire bedroom for you. You can even lock the door if you’re worried.”
I poked him in the chest. “You’d better lock your door, mister.”
His eyebrow quirked up. “Or what?”
“Or I’ll find the drawer where you keep your felt pens and I’ll draw boobs on your forehead while you’re sleeping.”
“I’ve never known a girl from Washington before. Are they all as fun as you?”