Page 11 of Improper Proposal
“Will…I…I’m not sure I’m supposed to be here,” I admit, hating the secrets I’m keeping. Just then my cell phone pings, and I struggle to pull it from my back pocket. I lose my balance and slide off the saddle, landing on my ass with an undignified thump. A curse flies out of my mouth as I hit the hard ground, dirt flying up in my face. “Mother fu…” My words fall off when Will races around the horse, his eyes wide. When he sees that the only thing I’ve hurt is my pride, he tries to fight off a grin. Son of a bitch. The nerve of him. “Are you laughing at me?”
“Nope.”
“Yes, you are,” I shoot back. He holds his hand out to help me up, and I hit it away. “Stop laughing at me,” I say.
“I’m not.” He looks away, but not before I see the way his lips are quirking.
Bastard!
“You think this is funny?”
“No, I don’t,” he assures me, but I hear the garbled way his voice is coming out. He is so trying to hold back a laugh.
“How is this for funny?” I grab his leg and tug, and he lands on his ass beside me. I laugh. Hard. But it dies an abrupt death when he rolls on top of me, pinning me with his weight. Oh God, it feels so good to be underneath him like this.
Breathe, Harper, breathe.
He dips his head, his lips right there, so close to mine all I have to do is inch up a bit for a taste if I want to.
I want to.
Kissing him wouldn’t be wrong, would it? I mean, I never met his cousin, even if one of the girls was pretending to be me—and I’m definitely going to kill her for that. Still, kissing him wouldn’t be right, either. I don’t want him to get the wrong idea about me.
“Not finding it funny anymore?” he asks, his voice deeper than moments before. I shift beneath him, and he groans. I go still when I feel his erection pressing against my leg. He brushes my hair from my face, his eyes fixated on my mouth. “Are you hurt?” he asks, all humor gone from his voice. “If you are, I could kiss it better.”
“I think I bruised my ass.”
His grin turns devilish, and my insides quiver. “Are you telling me to kiss your ass?”
I lift my chin slightly. “I’m not telling—”
He brushes his thumb over my lips. “Why don’t I start here?”
His mouth comes down over mine, and in that instant, the entire world closes in on me. His tongue slides in, and oh my God, the man can kiss. My hands curl around his back, touch him all over. Our mouths meld together, and we breathe each other in, neither one caring about the cold ground, or the dust settling on our clothes, as my nipples swell, press against his chest. He groans, and his hips roll as he pushes against me, his cock hard against my thigh. Heat flickers through me, and he traces my lips with his tongue before plunging back inside. Oh God, I want him. I feel his desire, need. It matches my own. But before we go any further, he needs to know the truth. He deserves that. But what is the truth?
“Will,” I say, and break the intimacy. “I’m not…I’m not.”
His eyes narrow, like he’s onto me, like he knows my secret. “You’re not what, Harper?”
“I’m not… We shouldn’t be doing this,” I say.
Chapter Four
Will
Son. Of. A. Bitch.
I pace inside my bedroom, going from the bed to the window and back again as the sweet taste of Harper still dances on my tongue. Fuck, I wanted her, but she broke the kiss, said we shouldn’t be doing it—that she was not supposed to be here. I can only imagine she meant she wasn’t supposed to be out alone in the orchard with me. Well, fuck, that’s enough for me to realize she’s committed to George. Maybe she’s not a gold digger after all, not out to take from my family. And maybe I just hoped she was, because there was a part of me that wanted her for myself.
Selfish prick that I am.
I need to back off—keep a measure of distance between us. I should fly back to the States and get out of George’s business is what I should do. The truth is I love the guy and would never do anything to hurt him or come between him and the girl he loves. Decision made, I rip off my dust-covered shirt and kick off my pants. Naked, I step up to the bathroom door to listen for signs that Harper is inside. When silence meets my ears, I step into the bathroom, only to find Harper turning on the shower, not a stitch of clothes on her beautiful body. The world closes in around me as lust and desire expand quickly.
She stands and turns quickly when a groan rumbles from the depths of my throat. With dust on her cheeks, her long hair a tangled mess, she looks so fucking adorable. Every coherent thought but one flies from my brain as I take her in.
Want.
Fuck…more like I need her.
