"I called Cam--never mind. We need to talk."
She frowned, then nodded and opened the door, and he was right on her heels. Then he kicked the door closed, turned to face her, and forced himself not to pull her close and kiss her until she renounced all things Ben and promised to only be his.
Instead, he said, "You're still with Ben? You were having a long-distance relationship with my brother and you didn't think to mention it? And then you actually have the nerve to meet him for a date at The Fix--our place. And now you wonder why I'm here? Dammit, Tiffany, why didn't you just ask to borrow a steak knife and jab it in my heart? It would have been kinder."
She stared at him. Just stared, her mouth hanging open a tiny bit. In fact, she stared so long that Eric was beginning to feel as if he were in one of those Sci-Fi movies where the different species wear automatic translation devices. Only hers must be broken, because clearly all she was hearing was garbled words.
"Dammit, Tiffany, say something."
She didn't though. Instead, she burst out laughing.
Which really wasn't the response he'd bee
n expecting. "What the hell?"
"You're an idiot. Adorable, but an idiot."
He cocked his head. "Um. Okay, let's rewind. What?"
"You. Have. It. All. Wrong." She headed toward her kitchen and he followed. "Coffee?"
He only glared.
She smiled sweetly, apparently enjoying herself.
"Tiffany..."
"Your brother and I have not been dating long-distance. On the contrary, I thought his move was a convenient way for me to not have to formally break up with him. I guess I should have, though, because he clearly thought I was still interested. But I wasn't. Don't get me wrong, Ben's a great guy. He's just not my guy."
He nodded, not wanting to interrupt and knock her off track. Because right then, he wanted to hear who was her guy.
"When he called me for coffee earlier this evening, I thought that was all it was. Coffee. And I thought that I should probably say something about you and me, although to be honest I was going to play that by ear. I thought maybe you should be the one to tell him. At any rate, I had no date vibes. I had coffee vibes."
She shrugged, then passed him a packet of Oreos. He opened it and ate one, not really paying attention to what he was doing.
"I told him I didn't love him, and he asked me if I was seeing someone. I said I was, but I didn't say it was you." This time her grin was shy. "And then I told him I loved you. Well, the guy I'm seeing. But between you and me, you're the guy."
His head was spinning, but he had definitely focused in on the key word. Love.
"Tiffany--I-- I'm an idiot."
She snagged an Oreo. "Told you so," she said, then took a bite.
"Love." He swallowed. He loved her, too, but it was too soon to say it. Too soon to do anything about it. "You can't know that," he said. "It's too soon."
She stalked closer, so she was right between his legs. "Don't tell me what I know and don't know."
"But we've only been going out for a couple of days."
"I'm supposed to measure love by a calendar?"
"But--"
"I've known you for years, Eric. You've been in my life--in my heart--for years. I love you. Deal with it." She grinned. "And you know what else? You love me, too." She pressed a finger over his lips. "It's okay if you don't want to say it yet. But just remember who's the psych major. I know what I know."
And he knew she was right, but at the moment, he didn't even care about telling her--after all, he didn't need to. All he wanted was to feel her. To touch her. To claim her so fully and completely that any fear that she belonged to any other man--brother or not--was fully, completely and one hundred percent obliterated.
So he hooked his legs around her, pulled her close, and bent to kiss her. A long, deep kiss. A wild kiss. Her torso was pressed hard between his legs, her body brushing his trapped erection. His tongue dived deep, claiming her. Taking her. It was sex, wild and fast and hot, and he wanted to make her come like this. Wanted to take her to the edge with his mouth on hers and his fingers clutching her hair so that there was no question but that she was his.