She floated his fucking boat, but she already knew that. “Your roommate come home yet?”
“No. She’s coming back in a couple of days.” She unlocked her door and stepped inside. He followed her in, closing the door behind him. He locked it, too. “Thanks for the ride,” she said again.
He nodded and rocked back on his heels, taking in her apartment. The flowers he’d given her were in a vase on a table in the dining room. That day felt like lifetimes ago. “Why did you go to Steven’s instead of going home?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did you tell him about what happened? About…my issue?”
“No. Of course I didn’t.” She crossed her arms. “First of all, I didn’t mean to slip up earlier. I just saw you flinch, and before I thought it through, I was asking if you were okay.”
He swallowed hard. “It’s fine.”
“And second of all, how could I have told him? He would have wanted to know why I was there, and what we were doing.” She lifted a shoulder. “But really, I just wanted to walk somewhere to clear my head, so I did. And then I was all ready to yell at Steven for not taking care of you. But then I realized—”
“Hold on.” He held a hand up and took a step closer to her. “You walked there alone, while I was in bed sick?”
She crossed her arms. “Yeah. I’ve been walking by myself for a while now. About twenty-three years, actually.”
“You know what I mean.” He took another step toward her. Two more steps and she’d be in his arms, bent over. He hadn’t been finished with her last night when that headache had struck him. And he wasn’t finished now. “It was dark out.”
Rolling her eyes, she dropped her arms to her sides. “You don’t say? And here I thought it stayed light all day long, and I was just in a really big shadow.”
“Lydia.” Another step, and he grabbed her chin, tilting her face up to his. “You shouldn’t do that kind of shit. What if something happened to you while I was unable to help?”
“I was fine.” She grabbed his wrists, holding onto him but not pushing him away. “I can take care of myself.”
“I know. But I want to.” He paused, trying to form the words perfectly. “Take care of you. Like you did for me.”
She licked her lips. “You do?”
“I do.” He ran his thumb over her jawline. She was so soft and smooth. So very different from him. “I know a great way to do that, actually. Unless that Ian guy would object…”
“It’s not like that,” she said softly. “He’s nothing to me, not like you. He’s just some guy who wants me to—”
“Shh.” He lowered his lips to hers, stopping just short of touching. He hauled her closer by pressing a hand to her lower back. She surged against him, every tantalizing inch of her body touching his. “It doesn’t matter who he is, and I have no right to be a jealous prick over it. For now, you’re mine, and I’m yours. That’s all that matters.”
He backed her against the red wall that led into her kitchen, right next to her bookshelf. It was true. The future and the past weren’t important.
All that mattered was this.
“You’re jealous?” she asked, dipping her fingers down his chest, over his belt buckle, and then cupping his hard cock. She could barely squeeze her hand in, because he was pressed up so tightly against her. “I thought you didn’t get jealous?”
He kissed her, knowing it was enough of an answer. Besides, he didn’t think he could give her a straight reply when her hand was on his dick. As he kissed her, she undid his pants with trembling hands and flicked her tongue over his.
It almost sent him over the edge, just that simple gesture. This undying need to have her, to make her his, in every sense of the word, wasn’t getting any weaker. And that was scary. Despite his attraction to her, he didn’t fool himself into thinking they had anything worth trying to keep. She needed a better man than him.
No, she deserved a better man than him.
But he could be good enough for now.
He swept her into his arms and carried her to her bedroom, his lips never leaving hers. Hell, if he stopped kissing her, he’d die. That’s how much he needed her. It was both scary and new. As soon as they cleared the bedroom door, he tossed her onto the bed, following her down on it and ravishing her mouth even more.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and held on tight, making those hot little whimpering sounds he loved so fucking much. This time, he wouldn’t lose control. This time, he would remain sane and not spew out a shitload of words that made no sense.
But when she slid her hand inside his pants and closed her small hand around his cock…all thoughts fled. Growling, he deepened the kiss and shoved his hand up her skirt. The second he touched her wet heat, he was a goner. He could sit there and say he was going to remain in control until he was blue in the face, but the truth was, around her…
He couldn’t.