Free Careless Whisper by Wendi Zwaduk Page A

palm over her cheek. A smile she’d never seen before twitched on his lips.   “Ryan?”
    “I’ll be right back.” He stood and strolled nude out of the room.
    She hugged the soft fabric against her breasts, taking in the lethal combination of his grin and the earthy scent of his cologne. Committing the moment to memory, she closed her eyes. Waiting never got her anywhere. Maybe going with the flow was the ticket.
    Just tell him you love him.
    She opened her eyes and nibbled her bottom lip. Okay, so no other man ever told her he loved her. Samara yanked the shirt over her head. Her heart clenched and her hands shook. But twenty-four hours! And he said he was gun shy when it came to giving away his heart. She willed her heart rate to resume a normal pace and stood. Time. She’d give him a chance to really decide what he wanted and then go from there.
     

Chapter Nine
     
     
     
    “Ho- ly fuck .” Ryan re-entered the room and snatched his boxer shorts from the floor. When life chose to intrude, it barged in like a damned elephant. “Seems when Tony Cox couldn’t get you, he had Matilda call my phone and now she wants to see you today at four.” When he glanced at her, he paused, his boxers held loosely in front of his cock. “Damn, you are one sexy woman.”
    How he got so lucky as to have her in his bed still shocked and amazed him. She gave him permission to play, explore, and push her to her limits without complaint. His heart swelled with love for her.
    Samara lay amongst the sheets, her body swathed in his Ghost Explorers shirt. He groaned. Beneath the cotton, her peaked nipples beckoned.   If he raised the hem an inch or two, he could feast on her pussy all over again.
    “Flatterer.” She tossed his rumpled shirt from the day before at him. “But thank you.”
    “I tell the God’s honest truth.”
    “Why did Tony Cox need me?”
    “Everything’s cleared for the lock down. What Matty wants is beyond me.” After yanking the garment over his head and his shorts past his hips, he closed the gap to her and pinned her to the mattress, snuggling her in his embrace. “Explain to me again how you managed to stay on the market so long. You’re my drug, babe.”
    “I never told you in the first place.”
    “I’m listening, sexy girl.” He’d confessed his darkest secrets. Her turn. “Let me see the secrets in your heart.”
    “Tell my ex I’m sexy. He thought I was”—she averted her gaze—”a bit on the heavy side and less than pretty.”
    Ryan kissed her cheek to redirect her gaze. Whatever she had in her past, he’d help her face. “ Gimme the asshole’s number. I’ll call him out.” Beat the shit out of him. Any man who couldn’t respect and desire a woman the way God made her didn’t deserve the love of a woman like Samara.
    “Nolan wouldn’t listen.” She shook her head and wriggled away from him. “He’s always right.”
    “One of those.” Ryan snorted and followed her to the living room as she escaped from the bedroom. “I don’t believe his description, but I’m damned glad he let you go.” Now if he could get her to loosen up and see the beauty she possessed.
    “Then you’re one of the few guys who cared. I don’t tend to draw men easily. I thought I had Nolan, until I found out what he wanted. He married my sister Jonquil.” Samara folded her hands in front of her mouth, like a prayer. “She gets everything she wants and most anything she thinks is valuable to someone else.”
    “Jonquil?”
    “My folks were ex-hippies.
Willow
and Jonquil were expected. I was an oops .”
    “You are not a mistake or an oops .” He breathed in the scent of her shampoo. If he could hold her, just touch her. “You’re soft, sweet, and adorable. The best a man could ask for.”
    “You act like you know everything about me.” She snorted and shook her head, offering little resistance when he smoothed his hands around her waist. “How is it possible?”
    “You’re my other