“You got a keeper right there, honey,” Linda called as she rolled down the window. “Thanks again!” They watched her drive out of the parking lot, looking at each other when she was gone for a long, silent moment.
Sheridan cracked first, the giggle making her slap her hand over her mouth.
Shaking his head, he chuckled. “Well, that was kind of crazy.”
“You were very sweet, helping out.”
“No way I could leave her.” He held his hands out in front of them. They were dirty, damn it. Not like Sheridan would want him to touch her now.
This night had gone completely south.
“Let’s go get your car then.” He started toward his SUV, surprised when Sheridan grabbed his hand and stopped him. “What’s wrong?”
“I was sort of hoping we could continue where we left off.” A shuddering breath escaped her. Her lids lowered, her gaze locked on his mouth.
Things were once again looking up. Tugging on her hand, he pulled her closer. “Really?”
She nodded. “I was hoping you would kiss me. Before we were so unexpectedly interrupted.”
“I’m all dirty,” he started but she squeezed his hand, stepping toward him, bringing herself within kissing distance.
“I don’t really care,” she whispered. “I’ve wanted you to kiss me all night.”
That was all the incentive he needed. Gathering her close, he captured her mouth with his, the moment their lips touched setting off a spark of electricity and his heart kicked into a thunderous gallop. A breeze blew over them, sending strands of her hair across his face and he pushed them away, drinking from her mouth.
A little moan escaped her when she opened to him. He delved his tongue into the sweetness of her mouth, stroking against hers, slow and easy. She broke the kiss first, her wide-eyed gaze meeting his, their chests brushing against each other with their accelerated breaths.
“Wow,” she whispered and he chuckled, smoothing his thumb across her cheek. “Maybe we should take this someplace else.”
He could bring her to his place but it was so far…and he didn’t want to wait. “You live nearby?”
“In Seaside.” That was at least a fifteen-minute drive. And he didn’t think he could wait another fifteen minutes.
Glancing up, he saw the row of older motels across the street, their neon-lit signs flashing in the darkness. Every single one of them read “Vacancy.” Every one of them fueled his brain into overdrive.
Damn. He wanted to suggest it but didn’t want to offend her. This was so not his usual style, making out with a woman in a parking lot, dragging her to a cheap motel where he could fuck her all night long.
But Sheridan wasn’t his usual type of woman. She was sweet, soft, real.
“How about we find a motel room and get naked,” she suggested, like she said that sort of thing every day. His gaze cut to hers and she winced. “I sound like a total slut, huh? I take it back. We shouldn’t get a motel room. That’s so sleazy.”
The fact that she made the suggestion first was almost a relief. “I think it’s the best idea I’ve heard in a long time,” he said, his voice low. Yeah. More like the best idea ever.
A smile lit up her entire face as she stepped out of his embrace. “Let’s go then, superstar.”
He cocked a brow as he took her hand and headed toward the sidewalk. “Superstar?”
“Well, you are one, aren’t you? Super Bowl winner. Flat tire-changer. Sexy quarterback who parades around in his underwear for all the world to see.”
Laughing, he glanced both ways before they darted across the street. She could move pretty fast in those heels when she wanted to. “I take it you’ve seen the underwear ads, then.”
“What woman hasn’t?” The purely feminine sigh that came from her made him want to puff up his chest with pride. “Am I dreaming? Seriously. I think I might be lying in my own bed right now, dreaming that I’m about to sneak into a crappy motel and have hot and sweaty sex with Jared Quinn all night long.”
The image her words conjured up had him anxious to show her exactly that. “You are not dreaming,” he murmured as he slung his arm around her shoulders and drew her into him. “You are definitely about to sneak into a crappy motel and have hot, sweaty sex with me all night long.”
She stopped in front of the motel’s office, grabbing hold of his shirt as if she needed the support to stand. “One night,” she whispered. “No strings. Just…fun.”
He smiled. Traced her lower lip with his finger. He couldn’t have found a more perfect woman if he’d tried. “Agreed.”