an excerpt from honor Reclaimed

He slid off the barstool and took a step toward her. “I’m a fan of contact sports.”

Maybe she was better at flirting than she thought. She swallowed hard and slid off her barstool. He towered over her by a good six inches and embodied the words tall, dark, and handsome. “Like football?”

“No. Not football.” His voice was low and husky. He downed the rest of the bourbon. His face reddened ever so slightly. “I’m sorry. You’re beautiful. I’m sure you’re used to attention, but I’m being foolish right now.”
He was so close to her that she could feel the heat rolling off his body. The scent of sandalwood and bourbon invaded her senses. “You’re not foolish.”

His eyebrows raised. “I’m not?”

She pushed up on her toes. Good God. He was massive, but not in a threatening way. His aura was more in the I’ll always protect you zone. She reached to press her lips to his, admonishing herself as she moved closer. He met her halfway.

Good girls don’t pick up strangers in bars. Maybe tonight she wanted to be a little bad.

His arms came around her. As he explored her mouth, his hands roamed her back, her hips, the curves of her ass. He was oh-so-thorough in his examination.

As the kiss broke, he whispered against her lips, “What are we doing? You don’t know me.”

“I think maybe I do.” She initiated another kiss, and his body tightened beneath her touch. She slid her hand over his chest and down his abdomen. He had the proverbial washboard body, and she wanted nothing more than to get him out of the skintight jeans and loose-fitting T-shirt and between her sheets.

He broke the kiss and started to move by her. “This is too crazy.”

She slid her arm around his waist and kept him from getting too far away. “You said you don’t want to be alone.”

His gaze came back to hers. “You are something.”

“A good something or a bad something?”

“Oh, it’s good.”

“I could use some company, too.”

“Oh, lady! I’m trying to be a gentleman here. You’re not making it easy.”

She let her arm drop from his body. Immediately, her longing for him returned. “That’s where you’re wrong. My goal is to make this very easy for you.” Her voice came from her mouth, but the words didn’t sound like something she would say. She’d never said things like that to a stranger before.

Emma felt as though her entire life had been about following rules and taking care of others. Any moment that wasn’t spent nose down in a textbook or at the hospital doing her clinical hours was spent with her brother to make things easier on her parents.

Tomorrow, she’d begin the final leg of her research. In August, her residency in family medicine began at Chicago’s Mt. Sinai Hospital. Tonight, she wanted to be carefree Emma, who did something because it felt good. And she knew this man in front of her would make her feel amazing.

His stare bore into her. Pete acted as though he’d never been approached by a woman, but that couldn’t be possible. The man was striking. Stunningly so. Physically fit. And those damn eyes, beautiful as they were, showed a deep well of emotional twists and turns.

He took a step. Was he going to leave her standing at the bar, embarrassed by the way she’d thrown herself at him? Instead, he slid his foot back and wrapped an arm around her waist.

“Fuck it.” His voice was coarse, filled with all the need stirring her gut.

Before she could answer him, his mouth was on hers again. His fingers tangled in her hair. He gripped her tresses and pulled with enough force to get her attention and make her gasp.

He nibbled at her lip. “You like that. Don’t you?”

“Oh, yeah.”

“I only live a few blocks away.”

“I bet I’m closer.”