“You’re right.” Carter set his bottle down on the coffee table and dragged his fingers through his hair. “I’ve fucked up with them.”

“That’s a little melodramatic, don’t you think?” Tess dropped his hand as she scooted closer to him on the couch. Her fingers caressed up his bare arm and heat licked up Carter’s spine. “It’s not like you’ve neglected them or tried to give them away. You’re too hard on yourself, Carter. Try to give yourself a break every once in a while.”

Carter plucked the bottle of Corona from Tess’s grasp and set it beside his. He threaded his fingers through the still-damp locks of her hair. Her lips parted invitingly as he put his mouth to hers. Despite his vow not to fall for her, he felt his world slip out from beneath him and he knew that this couldn’t end any other way but badly. As her tongue slid against his in a sensual caress, Carter didn’t care.

*   *   *

Did Carter realize that he wore his heart on his sleeve? Or that it drove Tess absolutely out of her mind with want? He was the total package. He had the body, the looks, he was thoughtful and sensitive. Truly a good dad whether he thought so or not. And the man had perfected the act of kissing to an art form.

His kisses set her on fire.

What started out as a slow build—tongues meeting, the glancing of lips, soft melding of breaths—escalated into a frenzy. His mouth slanted across hers. He thrust his tongue into her mouth, kissed her deeply, his lips firm and unyielding against hers. Carter laid her out on the couch and hiked her sundress up around her hips. He settled on top of her, and Tess gasped as he jerked her underwear aside and cupped her pussy in his large hand. The pressure of the heel of his palm against her clit caused the bundle of nerves to throb gently. Tess let out a soft moan.

She wound his hair into her fists as she kissed him for all she was worth. He slipped one finger inside of her, withdrawing it slowly before plunging back in and rocking his palm against her clit. Oh … god. Tess’s mind went blank, her thoughts wiped clear by the intense pleasure Carter so easily gave her. He reached for her right leg and guided it up until it hung over the back of the couch opening her fully to him.

“You’re so soft, Tess.” Carter kissed across her jaw to her temple and down to her ear. He took the lobe between his teeth and bit lightly. Chills broke out over Tess’s skin and she whimpered. “So wet. You like this, don’t you? You like what I’m doing to you.”

Was he kidding? She loved it! Couldn’t get enough. “Carter, you’re making me crazy,” she panted.

“I don’t want to waste another second with you.” His words thrilled her. She rocked her hips up to meet the thrust of his finger while pressing her clit harder against his palm. Her own wetness spread over her inner thighs as he worked his finger in and out of her. “I want to fuck you until the sun rises. I want to know every inch of your body, Tess. For tonight, I want you to be mine and no one else’s.”

She’d been his since the day he knocked on her patio window to apologize for his grouchy behavior. Tess couldn’t admit that though. She couldn’t let him know how much of herself she’d already given to him. “Tonight,” she agreed, “I’m yours.”

Disappointment gathered in a knot in Tess’s chest. How could she possibly tell him that she wanted so much more than tonight with him? Or at the very least, a chance at more. If she thought of everything she could lose when reality came crashing down around them tomorrow, she’d fall apart. She had to make the most of the time she had with Carter now. The rest could wait.

Tess let out a contented sigh as Carter continued to work his finger in and out of her pussy with a maddeningly easy pace. He put his lips to her temple and whispered, “Let’s jump in the lake.”

“What?” Laughter bubbled up Tess’s throat. “It’s fifty degrees outside, Carter.”

“I know. We’ll jump in the lake and then get in the hot tub.”

“Naked?” she asked.

“Mmmm.” Carter worked his way back to her ear and sucked her lobe into his mouth. “Yes. The cold water will make your nipples hard and then I’ll suck them.”

As if they weren’t already aroused into diamond peaks. The thought of jumping into the lake with Carter, naked, was too tempting to resist, however. Especially with the promise of his warm mouth on her breasts. “Okay,” she panted as he pressed his palm against her clit. “Let’s do it.”

She let out a whimper when he withdrew his finger from her pussy. She missed the easy rhythm of his caresses, the slick slide of friction, and the slow build of heat that coiled low in her belly.

Carter pushed himself up from the couch and stripped. Tess stared, rapt, at the play of muscles she’d never tire of watching. His erection stood out proud and thick from his hips, and she wanted to take it into her mouth. Suck him hard and deep until he came deep in the back of her throat once again.

“Later,” Carter said with a wry grin.

“Oh, so you know what I’m thinking now?”

“Uh-huh, and I want your mouth on me again so much I can barely stand it.”

A shiver danced over her skin.

“Get naked.”

He didn’t have to ask her again. Tess got up from the couch and stripped. An appreciative growl gathered in Carter’s chest as his gaze roamed over her body. Tess’s nipples puckered under his perusal. She didn’t need a chilly lake, just the heat of Carter’s unabashed stare. He grabbed her hand and led her through the vast living room and past the formal dining room to the sliding glass doors. He pulled the doors open and the kiss of cool air on her bare flesh coaxed goose bumps to the surface of Tess’s skin.

Carter turned to face her. A wicked smile curved his sinful mouth. “Ready?”

She nodded. “Ready.”

They ran like a couple of stupid kids over the patio and onto the cool grass of the lawn. Tess squealed with both joy and embarrassment as they hit the wet sand of the beach.

“Don’t stop,” Carter said. “You’ll lose your edge if you do.”

He’d obviously done this before. With his wife, maybe? Tess stuffed the sad thought to the soles of her feet and picked up her pace until she was right beside him. They hit the water at full speed and Tess gasped as the icy water met her skin. Carter spun and gathered her in his arms before he brought them both down in a graceful arc into the water. Surprisingly, the water was warmer than the air outside, and she experienced a brief moment of weightlessness before Carter brought them both up to the surface.

They laughed and gasped for air as the chill sank in. The nearly full moon shone down on them, bathing their glistening bodies in silver light. Carter drank her in, his gaze so intense that it—not the cold of the water—stole Tess’s breath. “Beautiful,” he said on a breath before lowering his mouth to her breast and taking her nipple into his hot mouth just as he’d promised he would.

He suckled one breast, and then the other, until Tess trembled in his arms. He mistook her reaction for a chill and carried her from the lake up the lawn, and deposited her in the hot tub. He turned on the jets and settled in beside her before gathering her in his arms once again. He kissed her for long moments that seemed to transcend time. Languorous flicks of his tongue and whispers of his lips against hers. His gentleness, the attention he paid to her, nearly broke Tess’s heart.

He turned and lifted her up so that she sat on the lip of the hot tub. Carter’s gaze burned as he spread her legs and dipped his head to her pussy. “I thought you wanted my mouth on you,” she murmured a moment before his lips sealed over her clit.

A low moan worked its way up her throat as Tess’s head rolled back on her shoulders. He brought his head up and the cool kiss of air sent a delicious shiver over Tess’s skin. “I couldn’t wait to taste you,” he said, low. His eyes sparked with mischief and a wicked grin stretched across his lips. “I’ll let you make it up to me later.”