Too Hot to Handle (Romancing the Clarksons, #1)

by Tessa Bailey

“Oh, motherfucking Christ, Belmont. I burned down Mom’s restaurant.”

LOL

“She might be dead. But her sense of humor isn’t.”

Lol wth

“Jesus. I thought you were a statue.” “Ha.” “You smell like the ocean.” “You smell like the blood of taxpayers,” Belmont returned.

Im ded

“I hate to disappoint you, but this isn't the first time a woman's threatened me with a knife.” “Yeah, but it would be the last.”

“Well. But you—” “Started it. Is that what you were going to say?” Jasper leaned closer, powerless to keep the grin off his face. “That’s the oldest excuse in the book, but I’m going to let you use it. You know why?” “Why?” “Because I want to finish it, too.”

WHY DID THAT Make me giddy

“Am I the bee in this scenario?” “You surely are.” Slowly, he swiped a thumb over her knee. “And I reckon you sting when provoked.”

“I was thinking it would have been a goddamn shame if you’d broken down one town over.”

“I think I’ll take that kiss now.”

“Come with me, Rita. I want to be with you where no one’s watching.”

Rita sucked in a breath. “I came here so you would fuck me.”

She sounded obnoxiously breathless when she said, “That’s pretty dramatic.” “I’m feeling more than a little dramatic over you, Rita.”

Because a truly turned-on woman was one of life’s treasures. Now, a turned-on Rita? She was the ninth wonder of the world.

“It’s okay, Rita.” The more pressure he applied, the more she started to shake, moan. “I like my fucking a little rough and a lot dirty, too.”

“I have to tell you, I’m kind of nervous taking a chef out for a meal. Are you obligated to storm the kitchen if you don’t like the food?” “Yes, it’s part of the oath we take,”

“You ruined the sky for me today, Rita,” he said gruffly. “It’s flat-out mediocre without you up against it. I reckon it always will be now.”

WOW?!????!

“I’m tired of your mixed signals,” she whispered, dropping to her knees with a hollow thud, and Jasper saw curtains come down, signaling the end of the show. “So I’m going to send you a really clear one.”

“Forget the air, Rita. You only need me to breathe.”

Jasper’s feet carried him around the island until he was in his favorite place: within reaching distance of Rita.

I would make a new bribe every day for the rest of my life if I thought staying here would make you happy.

“This is what’s going to pass for conversation tonight. Small talk is going to be my tongue flicking against your clit until you cry out my name like a swear word. My headboard slapping the wall is going to be our heart-to-heart. And that gorgeous body riding my dick is going to be our nighttime prayers. You with me, Rita?”

“Yeah.” Maybe it was the clear quality of her gaze, the impending sense of finality, but honesty poured forth like the soufflé batter, twisting and spreading.

I love this

“I’ve considered you,” she sobbed. “Of course I have. Just stop talking like that, stop stealing my breath when I’m trying to catch it.” “No.” He pressed their foreheads together. “I don’t want you to catch it. I want it to stay lost and I want to be the man who steals it. All day, every day. Forever. Stay with me right here.”

“It’s so good because I love you, Rita,” Jasper confessed through stiff lips. “It’s good because you love me back. Fuck the amount of time it took. When it’s right, it’s right. We’re above time.”

when you know you know

“And…if you finding a home is all that comes from this trip, it was worth it. I think maybe there’s more for us four on the road, but the road ends for you here. You and your flannel-wearing babies.”

“Where’s my suitcase?” He glanced back toward Hurley. “I left it in the kitchen at Buried Treasure.” Rita’s throat tugged with so much gravity she had to circle it with two hands. “What if I hadn’t figured it out?” Her brother’s sigh joined forces with the desert wind to ruffle her hair. “Then we would’ve had to come back. Or Jasper would have brought it to you. And maybe by then you’d have figured it out.”

“I love you, too. I love you, too.” The words were rambled sweetly into his neck as he stared up at the sky, a man thanking God for his fortune.

“No. I don’t want you feeling guilty. I don’t want you to feel anything but glad you came back to me. Not now, not ever.”

“I never really left. My heart stayed here the whole time.” “It must have crossed paths with mine. It left town when you did.”

LOVE

I need you walking my floors. Need your touch on everything I owned before, the things we’ll own together after today. Need your touch all over me, too. I need so many things and they all begin and end with you.”

“Take me home.” Jasper stood, taking Rita with him. “I’ll take you to our home.”