Free My Last - Riley & Chelle by Melanie Shawn Page A

fun.”
    What had she just agreed to?
    An entire day with Riley Sloan.
    Alone.
    That thought should make her nervous, and it did…a little. But mostly she just felt happy. She smiled.
    He made another noise that sounded like a groan and then snapped at her, “Eat.”
    She looked up at him, a little shocked by his tone, expecting to see him giving her a stern look or something. But he was just bent over his plate, shoveling food in his mouth.
    Alrighty then , looks like someone’s in a hurry, she thought. Well, there's only one thing to do. Eat.

Chapter Five
    Riley was starting to relax a little now that they had left the all-too-confining space of the tiny apartment. He almost hadn't been able to control himself when he had stepped behind Chelle to grab the coffee mugs.
    He had wanted so badly to turn her around, pick her up, and place her on the counter. Oh, God. To step in between her legs and pull her against him. To kiss her sweet mouth until coffee and breakfast were the last things on their minds...
    He had just about gotten himself under control, but then when she looked up at him with those incredible almond-shaped brown eyes and smiled...his control had just about snapped.
    Then she had taken it to another level entirely by voicing that tentative, “Hi.”
    Good Lord! His resolve, at that point, had almost completely snapped. There was just something about her smile that had always gotten to him.
    Whenever she smiled at him, it was like her whole face lit up. It was sexy as hell. Just thinking of it now he was growing harder by the second.
    He had to stop his mind from going there or he was going to have a permanent imprint of his zipper on his dick by the end of their little sightseeing adventure. Plus, walking around with a hard-on wasn't the most appropriate or comfortable way to spend the day.
    It occurred to him then that it had been a good long while since he had gotten laid. Maybe that was it. Maybe he just needed to hook up with someone, release a little of that pent up tension. Yeah. That had to be the issue.
    Well, it would be taken care of soon enough. He and Megan had been sending messages back and forth on Facebook. He shrugged to himself. He had always liked Megan well enough when they had hooked up back in high school, and he had already made plans to see her when he got back to Harper’s Crossing. So that would take care of that.
    Now he just needed to concentrate on keeping himself under control and enjoying this beautiful day in San Francisco. And it was a beautiful day – that was an understatement, as a matter of fact. The weather was perfect, eighty degrees with a slight breeze. The air was so bright that it actually seemed to sparkle. It almost felt magical.
    He just had to get his head on straight - the one that ought to be doing the thinking, that is...not the one that actually was.
    Riley and Chelle walked several blocks to Powell St., got their tickets, and stood in line. Riley tried to think of something to say – and not just something, but the right thing. Chelle seemed preoccupied. She was quieter than he remembered her being. Then again, he thought, she probably has a lot on her mind. It’s not like she's here on a real vacation. She's here because of that douchebag David.
    Riley wasn’t sure if he should ask her about it. She was probably aware that he knew what had happened, but it seemed like an awkward conversation to have. Plus, she may not even want to talk about it. Better to stick to safer subjects.
    “So Eddie mentioned that you're a nurse now.” He felt ridiculous making small talk with someone he'd known practically his whole life, but he wasn’t sure what else to do. It was either that or grab her by the waist, pull her against him and kiss her senseless.
    So, yeah. Small talk was probably the way to go.
    “Yep, I really love it,” she responded, turning toward him. Her face lit up with one of those smiles, and it almost knocked him flat on his ass.
    Well, damn