Читать книгу Drive Me Wild - P.J. Mellor - Страница 16

P enny opened her eyes and gasped.

A little girl walked toward them, her thumb in her mouth, a rag doll hanging from the crook of her scrawny little arm. Not blinking, she raised her other hand and scratched the bridge of her freckled nose.

Penny casually let her hand drop to her side and nudged Braedon. She knew the moment he saw the girl by the way his posture stiffened beneath her.

“Hi,” he said, his voice still sounding a bit husky. “Are you having fun watching the dolphins?”

The little girl nodded, her brown pigtails bobbing with the action. Still staring, she shifted from one pink sneaker clad foot to the other.

“Are you here with your school?” He slowly slid his hands from beneath Penny’s top then slipped his arms around her, anchoring her to his lap.

The girl removed her thumb long enough to answer, “Nope,” then popped it back in.

Penny decided to try. “Are you with your mommy and daddy?”

The girl nodded.

Encouraged, Penny continued, “Well, you should probably go find them. I’m sure they’re very worried about you.”

The little girl nodded, her gaze riveted to something by their feet.

Penny’s face flamed when she followed the girl’s line of vision and saw the thong panties she’d tucked into Braedon’s pocket earlier.

With a saucy grin around her thumb, the little girl turned and skipped from the cave.

Penny collapsed against Braedon’s chest. “I’m so embarrassed! Do you think she’ll say anything to her parents?”

His chuckled vibrated her back. “Nah, she seemed like a pretty smart kid. She won’t want to let on to her parents that she’d wandered away, much less that she was around strangers.” He eased her from his lap. “But we should probably get out of here, just in case. Are you hungry? I saw a little restaurant by the duck pond.”

She moved back into the shadows to pull on her panties, all the while casting furtive glances at the entrance of the cave.

“Ah, Penny?”

She paused in the act of stepping into her thong and glanced up. “What?”

Instead of answering, he gestured, looking down. The front of his jeans was definitely a shade darker than the rest. “I don’t know if that’s from you or me, but we definitely have a problem.”

“Won’t it dry in the sun?” She looked around the trash can, hoping to find some papers or something to help dry his pants.

“Eventually, but I can’t go out like this.”

“Here.” She shoved her satchel toward him. “Carry this in front of you and then while we’re eating lunch, the sun can dry you.”

He hopped back. “I’m not carrying a purse!”

“Don’t be so picky! And it’s not a purse, it’s a carryall. Men carry them, too.”

“Not with flowers on them.”

He had a point.

“Well, what choice do we have? Do you have a better idea?” She bit back a smile watching him fan his hands in front of the damp spot. “How about if you take off your shirt and tie it around your waist?”

It wouldn’t tie around his waist, but didn’t look too weird hanging in front of his pants, and over the offending spot like a plaid loin cloth.

Of course, the sight of his broad chest, clad in only his muscle shirt, brought on another whole set of problems for Penny. How was she going to eat her lunch without doing the other things that were popping into her mind? Things like ripping the thin barrier from him and licking his chest.

“We can just go back home, if you want,” she said as they made their way toward the concession stand.

“No, I’m okay. It’s not totally soaked. The sun should dry it while we eat lunch. Besides, I’m starving.” He leaned close and whispered, “Sex always makes me hungry.”

Funny, she didn’t remember that. Maybe she hadn’t been as in tune with Braedon as she’d assumed.

A few minutes later they tucked into their hot dogs and chili cheese fries, eating in companionable silence.

Ryan set his Coke on the table and leaned back, his face to the sun. “Damn, that was good. I can’t remember the last time I ate junk food.”

She took another napkin from the pile and wiped the sticky cheese from her mouth. “You can’t? What’s the matter, getting short-term memory loss?” she teased. “Brae, you know you always eat this stuff. It’s irritating how you can eat it and never gain an ounce.” She took a sip from her Diet Coke, then ran her fingers over the condensation on the plastic cup to clean the remaining goop off them. At his silence, she paused from drying her hands on another napkin. “What’s wrong? You look weird.”

Damn, why hadn’t he remembered his brother’s affinity for fat laden food? He tossed his cup in the trash, buying time. “Ha. I’m kidding. Of course, I remember.” He stretched out along the picnic bench. “Do you mind if we stay here a little while longer? I’m almost dry.”

“Sure, no problem. I’ll just get a refill on my soda. Be right back.” She made her way to the bank of fountain drinks and refilled her cup, grinning. Braedon had really changed. Until recently, he never asked her opinion about anything. Maybe there was hope for them yet.

“So,” she said, settling back on the bench by his feet. Did she dare broach the subject? “I thought of something the other day.”

He squinted against the sun, raising his head to look at her. “Oh, yeah? Anything in particular?”

It took a moment to reply, since her attention was distracted by his rippling abs. How had she never noticed how defined her fiancé was? “Hmm? Oh, I just realized I don’t know anything about your family. Funny, huh? We’re engaged, and yet you’ve never talked about them.”

He regarded her for a second, then lowered his head, eyes shutting again. “What do you want to know?”

Could it really be that easy? All this time, she’d agonized over possibly getting into a fight, and all she’d had to do was ask. Go figure. “Um, do you have any brothers or sisters?”

“A brother.”

“Older?”

Just when she thought he was not going to answer, he muttered, “Younger.”

“Are you close?”

He snickered. Rising to his elbows, he smiled at her. “You have no idea.” He heaved a sigh and sat up, causing his stomach muscles to contract and show off again. “That wasn’t really an answer. My brother is, well, hard to be close to. But yeah, I guess you could say we’re close. Closer sometimes than others.”

He reached out to twirl a strand of her hair around his index finger. “What about you?”

“What about me?” She knew she should be paying closer attention to their conversation, but lately when he touched her, it seemed to short circuit her thought processes. Maybe she was ovulating.

“Any brothers or sisters?”

Was he kidding? She heaved an inward sigh. No, typically Braedon, he obviously hadn’t listened to much of what she told him. “I’m an only child, remember?”

He dropped her hair. “Oh, yeah. Guess I forgot.” He picked up her soda and took a sip, surprising her further since he’d always maintained he had a thing about sharing straws. “So your parents live around here?”

Had he never heard a word she said? She did a quick mental ten-count. “My mother died when I was a little girl. My dad still lives in their house on Ocean Drive. The place where you go to fish off the dock. Any of this ringing any bells?”

He closed his eyes briefly, then pulled her to him for a kiss. “I’m sorry, babe. I guess I’m just more tired than I thought.”

From doing what? “It’s okay,” she said, leaning into his loose embrace. “We should probably be going. I told Gram we’d be there by five.”

“For what?” He helped her up from the picnic bench.

“Ah, dinner? At my grandparents’ house? You said it was okay when they called last week.” She raised on tiptoe to place her palm on his forehead. “Are you feeling all right?”

His warm hand circled her wrist and brought her hand to his lips, where he kissed the tips of her fingers. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just a little tired. In fact, why don’t you drive to your grandparents’ house?”

“Are you kidding?”

No doubt his brother always refused to allow Penny to drive his sexy car. Well, that was about to change. He drew the tip of his finger across the seam of her lips while he shook his head.

“Braedon,” she said in an exasperated voice, “they live next door.”