But he did. He was good at it, too. Good at a couple of things, he thought, kissing her belly, her ribs as she inhaled sharply, going tense beneath him, quivering with anticipation. Beneath his mouth, her skin was heating up, flushing with arousal. His fingers wrapped around her ankle, bending her knee, placing her foot on the rock so that she was open for him.

Oh, yeah. She wanted him. He let his thumb glide over her creamy heat and she shivered.

“Such a bad idea,” she murmured, even as she rocked up to meet his touch.

“Bad is relative.”

“Yes, but I’m here to learn to be laid-back and chill.” She came up on her elbow and jabbed a pointy finger toward him. “All you ever do is rev me up.”

“Sometimes, you have to rev up first.”

“You just made that up.”

“Nope.”

“Seriously, you just pulled that right out of your ass.”

He laughed and shook his head. “Pay attention. The instructions. You have to repeat them to make them stick. Do you remember them?”

“I’m not an idiot.”

“Then close your eyes.”

She was looking up at him with a mix of heat and irritation and affection. She hadn’t looked away, not once, and that was so damn attractive. She was a woman who wasn’t coy, a woman who might take a hell of a long time—weeks, thank you very much—to decide to give him a shot, but once she made up her mind, she was on board. Need and yearning and lust swirled in his gut at that, and then she smiled at him and stopped his heart.

Stopped it on a dime. “Emma.”

She sighed, rolled her eyes, and then obediently closed them, her face still tilted up to his in a trusting manner that reminded him that this was about far more than hormones and lust. “You are so damn beautiful,” he murmured, taking in her creamy skin, her mouth, including that full bottom lip he wanted to nibble on for his next meal. “What comes next?”

“Be patient.”

“Yeah.” Leaning in, he kissed her temple, her jaw. Brushing the tip of his nose along her cheek, he kissed the sweet spot beneath her ear, and absorbing her shiver, gently sank his teeth into her earlobe.

She drew in a quick breath, and shivered again as her fingers closed around his biceps. “Stone…”

Cupping her face, he kissed her. Kissed her until he couldn’t have come up with his own name if his life depended on it.

She opened her sleep, sexy eyes. “Go with my instincts,” she whispered.

It took him a moment to realize she was quoting the third rule. “Yeah.” His voice was husky and a little thick. He didn’t know exactly what her instincts would be, but he sincerely hoped it didn’t include pulling her clothes back on.

She surprised and shocked him by pulling him down on top of her, rolling so that he was lying flat on his back on the rock and she was straddling him. Wrapping her fingers around him she lifted her hips. Then, slowly—so slowly she almost killed him—she sank over the top of him, threatening to blow his mind and his wad as he entered her, and he gripped her hips in desperation when she rocked against him. “Wait,” he gasped. God. “Don’t move.” He was a fraction of a second from coming. “Christ, Em, don’t move or I’ll—”

The woman never listened. She moved. She rocked her hips again just as she sucked his lower lip into her mouth, and that was it for him. He thrust up into her, and then again, until with a panting cry, she came, and he was right there with her.

The next morning, Spencer stepped into Wishful Delights from Serena’s living quarters.

Serena was behind the counter, her back to him, stirring something in a large bowl, and his mouth watered.

For the woman, not the chocolate, though he happened to know that she made the most amazing chocolate, as he’d spent some time last night licking it off her body. As he’d already known, she was truly the hottest, sexiest woman he’d ever met. What he hadn’t expected…she was also the sweetest, warmest woman he’d ever met. “Hey.”

“Hey yourself.” She looked at him, and the duffle bag hanging off his shoulder. “I was thinking the weather was going to be really bad again today.”

“I have to get back, Serena.”

She nodded. “Well, I guess all fun has to come to an end some time, right?”

“Yeah.” He set the bag down and moved toward her. “I was hoping you could take a little break before I go.”

“I could, but you should know, I only take breaks for orgasms.”

He laughed, then pulled her out from behind the counter and flipped the OPEN sign to CLOSED.

She laughed. “Aw, now you’re just teasing me—”

He put his hands on her face and kissed her. Kissed her until he didn’t know his own damn name, until she was clinging to him, panting for breath, until it took everything he had to pull free and reach into his pocket for the envelope he’d put there.

“What’s this?” she whispered, still breathing heavy.

“I called a cab.”

Her eyes flew up to his. “So that was a good-bye kiss?”

“I hope not.” He kissed her again, softer this time. “More than anything I can think of, I’d like this not to be a good-bye. Come see me in New York, Serena. We’ll go to amazing restaurants and moan over food together.”

“Come to New York?” She sputtered over that for a moment. “Are you crazy?”