I pressed my lips together, forcing my mind to slow and collect my thoughts. Telling my heart to chill, to recalibrate its fascination because right now all it wanted was Nathan every day, all day, and that simply wasn’t an option.
“How can this work?” I asked. “I’m moving soon. And you’re a Shark. You have to be here. Plus, there is your contract that we’re actively risking every damn day for this data, which I’ll never be able to repay you for, by the way.”
“You don’t have to,” he said. “You know this is just as important to me as it is to you.” He leaned a hand against the table, his free one lightly grazing the tips of my fingers. “And I don’t know how this will work,” he continued. “I hate that I don’t have a solution for you, or a hard and fast answer that will give your mind peace to stop working the problem. I know it drives you insane, but I don’t have that information for you, Harper. All I know is I can’t see past today because all I see is you. All I want is you. And if I can only have you for the little time you have left…” he sighed. “Then that is all I’m asking for. I want it to be real, not pretend.”
“You want me…to be your—”
“Girlfriend,” he said, a sweet smile on his face and a laugh in his eyes. “As high school as the word sounds, yes.”
“I’m…I’ve never really done labels before. You know I’m not traditional—”
“I know you,” he repeated. “So, whatever you need to call yourself, fine. But for now, all I want is for you to be mine.”
The last word snaked through me like a sliver of flame, twisting and growing until I ached in so many different places I couldn’t decide if I wanted to moan or cry or sing.
“Yours.”
His hand rose to my cheek, gauging my reaction.
I leaned into his warm touch.
“Is that so much to ask?” His voice was guttural, the space between us diminishing with each breath like a magnet tugged us together.
I shook my head. “It isn’t too much,” I said, brutally honest. “The fear, the want, the need…” I closed my eyes as he brushed his lips along the seam of my neck. “The inevitable doom. I’m in if you are.”
“You sure?” he asked, drawing back to meet my eyes.
“Certain.”
The word unleashed something in him because one second we were standing there and the next my butt was on the table, the cold seeping through my leggings. And Nathan? He was parting my knees, slipping between my thighs, and claiming my mouth so fast and hard he stole my breath. Stole my heart and mind right along with it.
I gripped the back of his neck, locking my ankles around his hips to draw him as close as possible fully clothed. Our tongues danced, the taste of him like a drug, this ultimate high that sent my head spinning.
“Harper,” he moaned against my lips, his hands snaking around my back to hold me tighter. “You should’ve run to my bed instead of your lab,” he said, nipping my bottom lip. “I can’t make you scream here.”
The words alone were enough to draw a moan from my lips.
“I still have your scent on my skin,” I said, biting his ear as he kissed my neck. “And you already want to go again?”
He drew back, resting his forehead against mine. “Again and again. As many times as you can handle.” His hands slipped under my ass, hefting me against the hard length of him. “Like you keep telling me, we have limited time.” He rocked against my center, sending electric tingles straight up my core. “Have to make it count.”
I grinned, eating up the playful tease, and gripped his hair hard enough to force his head back, his mouth just under mine.
“Then take me to your place,” I said and crushed my mouth on his, taking and giving and wanting more, more, more. “Because I can’t stand wasting time.”
Chapter 11
Noble
I swiped the edge of my iPad screen and turned the page of The Hockey News as the bus rumbled from the airport in Denver to the hotel. Seemed like every publication I picked up lately wanted to report on the expansion team. Where the new arena was located. How the practice ice was connected. The state-of-the-art training facilities. The new line of athletic gear the Silas billionaire guy was funding to go with his new team. How the southern city was buzzing with excitement over getting another major sporting team.
Nixon seemed to love calling Charleston home, but Nixon was happy wherever the water was warm and the women were willing. He’d always been a little bit of a manwhore, but joining the NFL had definitely upped that game.