Page 27 of Going Down Hard
“Don’t need to be to have a rabbit.”
“I guess not but I believe customs and quarantine might have a problem with you taking one of those home.”
“Bloody hell. I didn’t even think about that.” She leaned over the small fence and dangled her hand in, trying to pat one of the blurs of fur as it zipped past. “Wow, they’re fast.”
He couldn’t believe he was going to say it, but… “You could get one when you get back to Australia.”
“Oh. I could.” She looked over her shoulder at him, her bright smile flashing for a second before it faded. “But I’m not home a lot of the time. It’s why I don’t have a cat or a dog. I’ve never had a pet, actually. Not even a goldfish.”
Stone wanted to kiss that frown right off her face and get her any damn pet she wanted. Wanted to tell her he’d take care of them when she wasn’t home, but then he realized if he was home and she wasn’t, they wouldn’t be together, and that wasn’t whathewanted.
He hated the idea of not being able to make her happy.
His whole thought process struck him as bizarre. He wanted to be her savior, and not just because it was his job. Things between him and Soph were complicated and tangled beyond his understanding. Figuring it all out would have to wait. Before anything else, they had to remove the threat Hagar represented. Then he had to make sure she was safe from any other nutjob who fixated on her.
Stone cupped her elbow. “C’mon. Finish up your corn so we can take a ride on the Ferris wheel.”
“You heard what Karen said happens up there, right?”
He grinned at her and moved his hand to hers, lacing their fingers. “Sure did.”
“I might not want to ride the wheel withyou,” she said as he pulled her along beside him.
“Yes you do.” Stone was confident of that. Besides, if she didn’t want to ride with him now, he knew how to convince her she didn’t want to get off by the time they reached the top.
“Cocky.”
“Not yet but I will be when weget off.” He emphasized the last two words and added an eyebrow waggle for good measure.
Soph’s laughter floated behind them as they meandered through the crowd.
They reached the ticket booth and Stone got in line while Soph disposed of their finished corncob in a trashcan two feet away. It was the most distance he’d allow between them.
When it was his turn, he handed over a few bills and received a bunch of tickets in return. Pulling Soph away from the booth, he waved the tickets in her face and said, “Ready to take a ride?”
“I’m ready to ride you anytime, anywhere,” she whispered while gazing at him through lowered lashes.
He sucked in a breath as fire licked at his balls. “Fuck woman, you keep that up and you’ll be getting more than a kiss up there.”
“Promises, promises.” She sashayed off towards the entry gate, her ass swaying nicely under the flirty skirt of her dress, her legs looking killer in those sky-high shoes.
Damn. He was in trouble. It didn’t matter what he’d decided. He was stopping at the store and buying a box of condoms. There was no way they were staying in the same room tonight without him getting her naked under him again.
***
Sophie slid to the far side of the seat and laughed at the look on Stone’s face.
“You think being all the way over there is going to stop me?” he asked.
“Can’t make it too easy for you.” She tipped her head down to hide a smile and peered at him though her lashes. Their seat rocked and rose a few feet before stopping.
Curling his hand around her thigh, he tugged her toward him as he moved closer and whispered, “Nothing easy about you.”
When it came to Stone, she was pretty sure thebestdescription for her was easy-peasy. For heaven’s sake, she’d had sex with him within two days of laying eyes on the man. Not that she regretted it, nothing to regret about the passion she’d experienced under his focused attention, but it doesn’t get much easier than that.
“Don’t say it.” Two fingers covered her mouth. “Sleeping with me so soon after we met doesn’t make youeasy.”
That he was in sync with her thoughts brought her up short. She knew it was his job to read situations—people—but he seemed to read her with far too little difficulty. “I’m not sure I like you being in my head.”
