“I have to head out. Are you good to get the kids into the car?” I ask Alessandra.
“You go,” Jack says. “I’ll make sure Aly’s okay.”
“Thanks.”
As I’m leaving, Alessandra yells out, “I’m calling you tomorrow morning to try to talk some sense into you.”
I ignore her, my thoughts completely on Lorelei.
There’s no way I’m letting her walk away from this. As much as she thinks she can say no, it’s not a word anyone ever says to me.
21
Lorelei
Fifteen minutes after he hung up on me, Ashton bangs on my front door. The man is infuriating. I told him not to come over for a good reason, and he just barges right on over. I know if I let him in that door, he’ll convince me to change my mind. And goddam it, I don’t want to change my mind. He may have given me the best sex I’ve ever had, but he’s too much in every other way. My heart isn’t ready for what I know he’ll demand.
He bangs harder. “Lorelei, open the door.”
I give in, expecting him to stride through the door, but he doesn’t. Instead, he stays where he is and watches me, waiting. It unnerves me. Just being in his presence is enough to do that, but the way his eyes hold me captive, and the way his body screams desire completely messes with my thinking.
Not to mention the fact my body remembers every inch of his from earlier today.
Pointing my finger at him, I say, “Stop that!”
His brows lift. “I haven’t done a thing yet.”
His deep voice stirs butterflies in my stomach. Damn you, Ashton Scott. I wave my finger in the air. “Yes, you have. You came over here when I told you not to and now you’re just standing there staring at me….”
His lips twitch. “Staring at you isn’t doing anything.”
“Well, you’re talking to me, too. So just stop it all, turn around and go home. We had fun and now it’s ove—”
With one purposeful step, he enters my home and invades my personal space. His arm easily slides around my waist, pulling me hard against his body. “It is so far from over, Lorelei. I know that, and as much as you’re trying to convince yourself otherwise, you know it, too.”
My heart races so fast I can feel it all over my skin. My core is begging for him. Traitor.
He holds me tighter and forces his way further into my home while closing the door behind him. Once the door's closed, he turns me and backs me up against it. Pressing his erection into me, he growls, “Tell me you don’t want this and I’ll leave.”
My hands go to his chest and I attempt to push against him, but my effort is weak at best. I open my mouth to reply, not even sure what I’m about to say. When no words come, I snap my mouth shut.
His eyes search mine. “I thought so.”
A second later his mouth crashes down onto mine. The traitor that it is, my body responds without hesitation. My arms circle him and my hips rock against him while my lips show him just how much I want this.
No, no, no.
Unwrapping my arms from around him, I push on his chest. Breathless, I manage to get out, “I don’t… I can’t…. You need to go.” I’m scattered and still fighting to think straight, but I need to end this.
“Why?”
I blink, staring up at him. Again, he didn’t do what I expected. I assumed he would continue to try and force his way in, but he’s not. And that only bewilders me more.
“I told you on the phone, we’re too different for this to go anywhere.”
“Leaving aside the fact I don’t agree, why do we have to know where it will go before we begin?”
“Because I like to have a plan and know where I’m going.”