Page 62 of Breaking All The Rules
One eyebrow winged up. “Really?”
The man had the most expressive damn eyebrows. Just that one eyebrow seemed to say, Pretty sure you weren’t thinking anything of the sort when I was making you see Jesus this morning. Okay, maybe it wasn’t saying that, exactly, and it was just her guilt talking, but the inflection in his voice held a faint note of reproach. And maybe “mistake” was the wrong word. But it had definitely been ill-advised. “I mean…we should have stayed friends and not crossed this line.”
“Okay.” He nodded calmly. So damn calm when Bea’s heart was beating like a bongo drum. “Why?”
“Because…” Looking at him now, she couldn’t think of one damn reason why she should deny herself the hotness and niceness and fun—the man was the whole damn package—that was Austin Cooper.
Think, Beatrice, think!
“I don’t usually do this. Just rush in with a guy. Particularly a random guy I don’t really know. Which probably makes me sound like some old-fashioned prude, but it’s not that. I’ve just been busy, focused on my work and my career and I didn’t need the distraction. So being with someone I already knew, someone in advertising was just…efficient. And there were commonalities that we could bond over and…”
Bea sighed as her eyes ranged all over the deliciousness that was Austin before returning attention to his ruggedly handsome face.
“We don’t have anything in common.” Apart from a healthy dose of lust. But that was hardly a foundation for anything. “We’ve known each other for a week and there’s been a lot of changes in my life these past couple of months, and that’s probably not the best time for entanglements. You’re new to me; everything here is new to me. This life I’m living is new to me, and I don’t know where it’s going, but I do know I want to start out right.”
“I see.” He nodded calmly, as if he was a psychologist and she was the patient. “And what brought all this on? You’ve gone from titty flashing to I want to start out right.”
God…even in polite conversation, Austin infused titty with just the right kind of dirty. It seemed like such a long time ago now, and Bea marveled at her earlier daring. “Something happened at my old work today that kinda sucked me back into that world again. Also…separate to that and quite randomly, I got offered a job.”
“Ah.” Austin’s voice suddenly went full gravel, and there was a definite tightening of his jaw. “And you…want to take the job?”
“What?” Bea frowned and shook her head vehemently. “No. Absolutely not. But it got me thinking about the reasons I came here and how I might be screwing it all up by…using you as some kind of distraction. Some kind of…treat.”
A big, lazy grin spread over Austin’s face. “I do remember telling you I was perfectly fine with that.”
Why? Why was he grinning? Shouldn’t he be more concerned about the outcome of all this? When Bea was twenty-five, she’d carefully thought through every decision she’d ever made, examining it from every angle. A habit she’d fallen into for the rest of her life.
Until recently, apparently.
“I’m trying to be serious here.” Bea was aware her eyebrows were almost crossing over each other, her brow was that furrowed. “About whatever this is. I mean…what are we? What are we even doing here, Austin?”
He sighed loudly, full of patience, a sigh she imagined probably got a considerable workout in his job. Cops had to have superhuman reserves of patience.
“Beatriss…honey.” He took two steps in her direction and stopped. “Why do we have to define what we’re doing? Why do we have to be anything?” He shrugged. “Why not just be this? You and me hanging out. Watching TV, laughing, going to Jack’s and the lake. Eating popcorn and drinking beer in bed. Having sex. Or not…” He held up his hands in a surrender motion before dropping them again. “If that’s what you really want. But just be this, letting things unfold until we decide to either stop doing it or actually give it a name.”
It sounded so easy. So simple. And so damn tempting when he said it. None of the angst that she’d attached to it. Just two people living in the moment.
“So just…go with the flow?”
“Uh-huh.” He closed the distance between them, sliding his hand into hers and giving it a squeeze. Up close, his presence was almost overwhelming. So big and broad. Solid and dependable. “You came here wanting to break free from the person you were in LA. And you’ve been doing that, and I’ve been happy to help. I’m happy to keep helping for as long as you want. So don’t worry about me, okay? I’m a big boy. I have a voice and a mouth.”
Oh yes he did, and they were both divine. He slid his other hand onto her face, cupping her cheek, and Bea shivered at the touch.
“And free will,” he continued, the lazy stroke of his thumb causing an outbreak of goose bumps down her throat and onto her décolletage. “I can speak for myself, and if I want to stop, I promise you’ll be the first to know.”
Bea dragged in a husky breath. The man was persuasive when he put his mind to it, because she had come to Credence to break the mold. To be a different kind of Beatrice. To let go of the strictures of her life and just do what she wanted.
And God help her, she wanted to do Austin Cooper.
“Okay?” he asked, his voice a soft burr.
Bea swayed toward him, and he stepped in that last little bit to bring their bodies together. He was right, damn it—he was a big boy. He had free will. And she’d given him ample opportunity to turn tail and run. “Uh-huh,” she murmured, her tongue swiping out to wet suddenly dry lips as she stared up at him.
“Good.”
He smiled, and Bea was utterly fascinated with the curve of his bottom lip. She wanted to bite it, then give it a soothing lick. Her belly was turning loops as everything heated. Her breasts felt heavy, an ache kicked to life between her legs.
“So…what do you want to do now?” His other hand slid onto her jaw until he was cradling her face, his gaze zeroing in on her mouth like he wanted a piece of hers as well. “Food? Booze? More Walking Dead?”
