Her slightly swollen lips curved. “You want to fight in bed?” Was that curiosity in her eyes?

“Sure. We can roll around, wrestle, argue, and then you’ll give in.” He grinned, enjoying the challenge heating her expression. “We can include a healthy spanking, for good measure, if you’d like.”

Her chin lowered. “You want me to spank you?”

He laughed instantly and without thought. Even irritated and aroused, she was quick on her feet. He liked that. A lot. Smart girls had always done it for him, and she was freaking brilliant. And a complete smartass, which only made her more appealing. For answer, he took her hand and placed her palm against his obviously bigger one. Much bigger. “You sure you want to play that game?”

One of her eyebrows lifted, and she studied the impressive size difference in their hands. “It’s not the size of the weapon . . .”

He chuckled. God, she was cute. If she wanted to play, he was more than willing. With one smooth motion, he flipped her around, smacked her sweet ass, and then turned her back to face him. “That was a love tap.”

She gasped, and her face flushed a light pink. Surprise and need glimmered in her eyes. “Oh yeah?” She grabbed his arm and shoved him. He remained in the same place. Frowning, she tugged harder, trying to turn him around to get a good aim at his butt, and yet still keep away from his bandaged hip.

His chest warmed, and realization was like a sledgehammer to the gut. He liked her. Didn’t just respect or want her. He actually enjoyed the woman. So he ducked his head and tossed her over his shoulder, clamping an arm over her legs and turning for the bedroom. “I’m the one who does the spanking, Irish.” For emphasis, he caressed her firm butt.

She shivered and then gave him a glancing blow to the butt, away from his injured hip. “Oh yeah?”

“Yeah.” His smack resonated through her entire body.

She yelped. “You are so going to pay for that.”

“Promises, promises,” he murmured, entering her bedroom and flipping her onto her back on the bed.

“Oh, you’ll see.” Her smile was all imp as she reached down and pulled her shirt over her head. A pretty pale yellow bra curved over her full breasts.

His cock perked right up. “Race you.”

With a sweet chuckle, she reached for her jeans and tried to tear them off just as he ditched his clothes in record time. “I won,” he said, reaching down to help her with her socks.

“Let’s hope that’s the only time tonight,” she snorted, now fully naked and beyond beautiful.