Her blue eyes darkened, reflecting amusement. She reached up and traced the healing cut above his eye. Her touch sent tingles dancing along his spine.
“You said no hanky-panky, Professor,” she whispered.
He slipped one arm around her, reeling her in tight. Her scent swirled up his nose and invaded his senses. Her hands landed on his chest. With his other hand, he caressed her cheek, pushing her riotous curls from her face while he studied her. “I never said that. You said that. I simply acknowledged you.”
She spluttered. “But you—”
He placed a finger against her lips. “I.”
Slid the finger away, lowered his mouth to her base of her throat, and hovered. “Never.”
Placed a kiss there. “Promised.”
Another kiss, and he inched up. “To.”
Planted a lingering kiss and moved again. “Keep.”
Softly sucked below her ear. “My.”
With a sigh, she tilted her head to the side, elongating her neck. Fingers tangled in her hair, he tugged her head back, giving him better access to her sweetly salty skin. “Hands.”
His lips on her ear, he whispered, “Off.”
With the tip of his tongue, he traced the shell of her ear. “You.”
She shuddered in his arms, and a sound like a musical, drawn-out “oh” escaped her, pushing his heartbeat into anaerobic territory. He leaned back and gazed at her half-lidded eyes and parted mouth. She looked drunk, mirroring the thought-paralysis taking place inside his own intoxicated brain.
Her plump, cherry-stained lips were too tempting to resist, and he took them gently, ready to stop if she said no. She didn’t resist, instead gliding her hands to his shoulders, so he kept going, continuing the onslaught he’d begun on her neck. Raising up on tiptoe, she hooked an arm around his neck and dropped the other around his waist, cinching herself closer still. He tightened his hold, nearly engulfing her small frame in his arms. Her tongue found his, sparred with it, and softly sucked it into her mouth. His conscious mind cut out entirely, and he angled her head to deepen the kiss.
She met him stroke for stroke, riding the intense wave of the kiss with him, but she pulled away the moment it ended. Her ragged breathing matched his, and her pink cheeks looked as though they were smudged with strawberry juice. “I must smell awful after the workout.”
Somewhere downstairs, a phone was ringing.
Drumming his palm against his chest, he watched her as though he watched a darting chipmunk. He tried to mask his amusement. “You smell perfect. Now if this is your way of telling me I smell awful, then just say it.”
Her eyes flew wide. “No! That’s not … You … You’re not … You smell … really good.”
He backed up, sat on the edge of the bed, crossed his ankle over his leg, and pulled off a sock, wearing an expression he hoped was a grin and not a leer. “If you’re that self-conscious, I’ve got a shower that accommodates two.”
Jabbing her thumb over her shoulder, she turned. “I should … That call could be about Daisy.”
“That was my phone, and I don’t give a shit who’s calling.” He held out his hand and curled a finger at her. “Come here, beautiful.”
Chapter 19
I’m Not Shy
Guilt nibbled at Lily over what she’d been doing with the sexy, mussed-up man sitting on the edge of his bed. Over the more her girlie parts had her contemplating doing. There’d be no turning back if she followed their lead. Her body was so ready to jump him, but her mind was putting up a fight. Sort of.
Even before the kiss, her stomach had been gyrating. Hell, her whole body! Now she could swear squirrels were scrabbling inside it, making it hard to think.
He didn’t need a shower. He smelled like leather in the pines, and her babbling hormones told her she wanted that intoxicating scent all over her.
Let’s see where the crazy chemistry takes us. Straight to a laboratory explosion of epic proportions! Keeping her hands off him lately had been tougher than doing all of her Christmas shopping on Black Friday. At the mall.
As he eyed her, her rational mind threw up one last gasp, warning her not to give in to her burgeoning desire. But the urge to touch him, to feel his smooth, solid warmth beneath her fingertips nudged away reason, and she leaned against the door frame, arms folded over her chest as if barricading herself. Ankle resting casually on his knee, he pulled off his other sock. The sight of him, in gym shorts and sleeveless T-shirt that exposed his sculpted biceps and powerful shoulders, shot tingles throughout her body, seeming to congregate in her core. Even his feet were beautiful.
Gage regarded her and smiled. Not his usual dazzling smile, but a hesitant one, as though he wasn’t confident what to do next. He straightened. “Are we okay here?”
Little alarm bells clanged. “Why wouldn’t we be?”She waved her hand between them before tucking it back in place. “Nothing’s changed. We’re friends.” The words sounded all wrong for what she wanted to convey. But what exactly did she want to convey? She drew a blank and shut her mouth before it could run away from her. One big barrel of confused, roiling emotions heading for a plunge from the cliffs—that’s what she was.
He arched an eyebrow at her, then neatly placed his socks next to him before swinging his gaze back to her. “Lily, I need to set a few things straight.” Resting his elbows on his thighs, he leaned forward and sighed. Her heart jumped into her throat.
Where’s he going with this?
“I’ve been thinking about this a lot,” he said. “I’m not interested in being friends or business acquaintances or whatever hell label you want to put on it. Not with you. Not anymore.”
Excited, terrified, she
