Free Up All Night by Faye Avalon Page B

like.” Marco hunkered down to enjoy Roscoe’s frenetic
welcome and seconds later the dog rolled onto his back and exposed his stomach
for a rub.
    “Looks like you’re a hit.” Watching
Marco’s hands get busy didn’t exactly help her escalating libido. She forced
her attention away, but the sight of him in an open-necked navy sweatshirt and
khaki chinos didn’t improve her comfort levels.
    “Big softie,” Marco crooned as his
hands continued to rub hard across the dog’s fur. “Want to play, do you boy?”
    Oh hell, so did she. But she
couldn’t keep letting her own lustful needs take control every time he was in
kissing distance.  
    Marco straightened, looked at her,
and shoved his hands in his pockets. “What’s wrong?”
    She shook her head, aware she’d been
biting her lower lip as she contemplated her own licentious needs. “What are
you doing here, Marco?”
    “You already asked me that.” His eyes
narrowed. “Are you okay?”
    “Fine. I just didn’t expect to see
you today.” She smiled at him, determined not to let him think his arrival was
anything but a pleasant surprise. “How come Roscoe gets a welcome and I don’t?”
    He looked at her steadily, making nerves
dance along her spine. Then she let out a breath as he reached for her. She
wrapped the hand that wasn’t holding onto Roscoe’s leash around his neck as he
pulled her close, and sank into the kiss.
    Tongues tangled, teeth clashed as
they stood outside her cottage in a quiet country lane embracing like two
lovers reunited after months apart. By the time Beth drew away they were both
breathless.
    His hands grabbed her ass. “Where
are your keys?”
    She placed her free hand on his
chest. “I can’t. I’m on shift and I don’t think my employer would take too
kindly to a member of staff enjoying a quickie in work time.”
    “Who said anything about it being a
quickie?”
    His sexy grin always undid her. She
ran her fingers over the exposed V of his neck. “As much as I’d love to say
yes, I really can’t. I’ve got to get Roscoe back and then I’m on pen cleaning
duty.”
    “Such a glamorous existence,” he
quipped and made her smile. Then his expression turned serious. “I want to see
you tonight.”
    “You’ve got that charity function,
remember?”
    He looked like a man who’d just been
handed a life sentence. “How could I forget? Amber keeps phoning every damn
minute to make sure I remembered to collect my tux.”
    Oh, did she? Didn’t she have better
things to do, like remind her fiance to collect his tux? Hell. She was
turning into a jealous shrew. What was the matter with her? “And have you?”
Beth asked, her chin tilted into the air. “Collected your tux?”
    Again that steady look, but he
didn’t release her. “It’s in the back of my car.” He squeezed her ass. “I want
you to come with me.”
    “What? To the formal?”
    “I figure if I’m going to suffer,
you can too.”
    A little frisson played along her
spine. She wasn’t overly comfortable at formal functions, but the thought of
spending the evening with Marco was almost too much to refuse. She imaged how
he’d look in a tuxedo. She imagined how he’d look when she got him out of it. Wow. It was almost too hard
to resist. But she hadn’t attended a fancy   occasion for years and wasn’t entirely
comfortable with all that dancing and   proper
dining.
    “I—I don’t have anything to wear.”
The closest she came to   smart wear was
the number she’d worn on their first date and that would be woefully lacking
amongst all the female glitterati in their finery.
    “Come on,” Marco encouraged. “We’ll
get the chance to show off our salsa moves.” When she continued to prevaricate,
he pulled her close and touched his mouth to hers. “I want to spend the evening
with you, Beth. Then I want to take you home with me and fuck you senseless for
the whole damn night.”
    Hell. She wanted that too and the
thought of it dissolved the