4

      NIKKI CLIMBED INTO the backseat of one of the stretch limousines that had lingered behind to take the out-of-town wedding guests back to the local motel and focused all of her attention on trying to ignore the man who climbed in behind her.

      Her husband.

      The thought rooted in her mind as the driver tipped his hat before rolling the security window into place. The engine roared to life and the massive vehicle rumbled down the road, away from the festivities.

      Not that theirs was a real marriage, but still. At the moment, it almost felt real with the kiss at the altar and the plush limousine and, well, it was their wedding night.

      And she was feeling uncommonly good thanks to half a bottle of wine, one hell of a spectacular kiss and the fact that her mother had turned on her heel and marched off in the opposite direction after Cole’s big display of familial affection.

      “I can’t believe she bought it.”

      “Did you see Sally Fisk and Tara Lawrence?” He grinned. “They were texting before we even said our ‘I dos.’ Half the town has to know about this by now.” His grin widened. “This just might work.”

      “It will work,” she said with more confidence than she’d felt in a long, long time.

      He was so close and so strong and he smelled so good—like sweet vanilla-bean wedding cake and while her palate had graduated to more sophisticated flavors, she found herself with a sudden craving for something simple. Tasty. Satisfying.

      “Yep, I think this is just what the ole doc ordered.” He half turned. A grin tilted the corner of his mouth as he pinned her with a gaze.

      Nikki’s heart stalled and she couldn’t help herself.

      She leaned forward and touched her lips to his. It was nothing short of explosive. The chemistry ignited and mushroomed, and what started as a subtle press of mouths soon morphed into a deep, urgent, delicious probing of tongues.

      No, no, no, a voice whispered. This was too fast, too soon. At the same time, she’d wanted to kiss him like this since she’d been a seventh grader, sitting at the Dairy Freeze, watching him feed a banana split to her oldest sister. She’d been too much younger back then, but now... Now the age difference didn’t matter. They were both adults.

      Married adults.

      Caution melted away in the face of so much heat, and arousal washed through Nikki from her head to the tips of her bright pink toenails. The pulsing awareness started in her scalp and spread through her body, pausing at every major erogenous zone. Her nipples tightened and hardened. Pressure hummed between her legs. Her thighs quivered. Her heart pounded as loud and as fast as the drummer for Buckcherry, and her blood rushed at an alarming rate.

      “We probably shouldn’t be doing this,” she murmured.

      “Then again, if anyone should be doing it, it’s us.” Cole’s hand found its way under her dress and swept a burning path up the inside of her thigh.

      “True enough,” she breathed as his finger traced the lace edge of her panties before dipping underneath.

      His finger ran back and forth, his callused skin arousing Nikki’s sensitized flesh. Back and forth. Up and...oh, boy.

      He pushed into her and she gasped. She wiggled, pivoting her hips, desperate to feel him deeper and harder and... There. Just like that. And that. And—oh, wow—that...

      His lips left her mouth to blaze a trail down her throat to her pulse beat. He rasped the tip of his tongue against her skin and worked his finger inside her body. A moan vibrated from her throat. Cole caught the sound with his mouth and devoured her in another luscious kiss.

      Suddenly, the limo swerved and the driver’s muttered curse penetrated the haze of desire that enveloped them. Not that the driver could actually see anything with the privacy window firmly in place. But it was still obvious from the panting and moaning going on that Cole was doing something, and that Nikki was enjoying it and—

      The thought scattered in a rush of desire as he pushed deep inside.

      She relished his deep, thrusting touch for a few more delicious moments before he pulled out of her completely. The tips of his fingers skimmed her swollen flesh as he caught her thigh. She trembled as he urged her leg up and over his lap until she straddled him. They faced one another, her dress bunched around her waist.

      Cole’s violet gaze drilled into hers, his eyes dilated with hunger and a deep appreciation. Warmth bubbled inside her, a feeling that might have spooked her if she hadn’t been so hot and bothered in the first place.

      Barbie women didn’t do bubbling warmth. Or soft fuzzies. Or any of those girly feelings that undermined even the most determined woman when it came to men. They didn’t let themselves get involved in the emotional aspect of sex because that would only make it harder to walk away the next day. And they always walked away. They had a reputation to maintain, after all.

      Not that Nikki had done a lot of walking away the morning after. Because there hadn’t been much sex the night before. Her sisters perpetuated the reputation with their carousing ways, and so all Nikki had ever had to do was dress the part and flirt her ass off and bam, she’d been part of the one-night-stand club.

      But she’d never actually gotten good at it.

      She might be a Barbie in name, but she didn’t have near the expertise her sisters possessed when it came to pleasuring the opposite sex. Sure, she’d tried. With a basketball player named David. He’d asked her to the senior prom, but before they’d even made it to the dance, he’d had her in the backseat for a little pre-dance action.

      She’d given in and then instead of taking her to the prom, he’d made some lame excuse about having to go home for an emergency. He’d dropped her off at her door so fast she’d had whiplash. He’d gone on to brag about it, but he’d never come back for seconds. No late-night calls to hook up. Nothing.

      Meanwhile, when one of her sisters had given it up, she hadn’t been able to get rid of the guy. Men had chased after them mercilessly. Because her sisters had been great in the sack.

      Nikki? Not so much. Which wasn’t all that much of a problem in itself since she was much too busy to worry over a bunch of sex-crazed guys chasing after her. She had a career to think of. Goals to achieve. Even more, she had a sizable vibrator that did the job just fine and didn’t leave her angsting about a follow-up phone call.

      And so she stuck to flirting to keep up her image rather than actually hooking up.

      A fact that slipped her mind at that moment because she’d had a little too much wine and Cole felt too good and she wanted him too much.

      As if he read her mind, his strong hands cupped her bare bottom and he worked her against the rock-hard bulge pressing tight against his jeans. The friction was incredible and stirring. Her head fell back and her eyes closed as pleasure ripped through her.

      She shimmied her hips and spread her legs even wider, settling more fully on top of him. He let loose a low growl and leaned forward, his hot mouth going to the plump cleavage pushing against the low neckline of her dress. His tongue traced the edge of the material before he reached his hand up to grasp the edge of the material. He was just about to pull it down and free her aching breast when an all-important fact registered.

      Nikki wasn’t clutching at his shoulders to keep from swaying to the side anymore. They were sitting stock still, the limo engine idling, the driver waiting. And probably