His eyes are dark as he comes to a stop, dark and hot. His chest is a wall in front of me. He leans in, bracing a hand on the fire escape, and his gaze dips to my mouth.
Am I imagining this? Is it a dream?
I’ve been thinking about him, about the boy I knew, the man he is now. About how little I know about him. I can’t stop myself from wanting to find out more, but a quick search online came up with nothing.
And now he’s right here.
“Jarett.” I put a hand on his chest, as if to stop him, but it’s a mistake. Even through the jacket I can feel how hard his abs are, all ridges and hollows, like sculpted rock under my palm.
A tremor goes through him. His chest rises and falls beneath my hand.
“Gigi,” he whispers, his voice rough. He’s wound up so tightly, his jaw clenched, his lashes dipping low. He lifts a hand to my face, and I flinch when he cups my cheek, but that’s all he does, his fingers warm on my cold skin. “Fuck, Gigi.”
Now he seems to remember who I am, I think, a tiny bit of resentment trying to make its way through the confusion and excitement and desire.
But my body is arching toward him on its own, not waiting for any instructions from my conscious brain. He smells of tobacco and sexy man.
He’s going to kiss me, I think.
He’s going to press his powerful body to mine.
After all this time, all these years imagining how it could be, I’m going to feel it. Taste his mouth. Get crushed under his body. Feel the stubble on his face under my hands.
Know what it’s like to be wanted by Jarett Lowe.
But he doesn’t.
Kiss me, that is. His mouth stays inches from mine, his lips slightly parted, his breaths rasping in the cold night air, but he’s still.
“You should really go now,” he says. “Run away before I take a bite out of you.”
“I’m not a cupcake, or a… a cookie for you to bite,” I breathe, my brain sluggish. My heartbeat is beating a maddening rhythm between my legs.
“But you fucking smell like one,” he growls, “and I’ll just bet you taste like one, too. You just…”
“Just what?” I whisper.
He pushes off me and swallows hard. “Fuck. Nothing. Leave me the hell alone, dammit.”
I blink at him, still caught in his spell. “But…”
“Go back to your druggie friend, Gigi.”
That clears the cobwebs. Gathering my wits about me, I lift my chin. “No. Not until you say you’ll help me.”
“With what?”
I tug on the hem of my skirt. “I want you to keep an eye out for Sydney.”
“No fucking way in hell.”
I glance up, surprised at the vehemence in his tone. “Why not?”
“I’m not capable of taking care of more people, Gigi, okay? I just can’t.”
Something in his voice stops me, a crack that resonates inside me. “What other people are you taking care of?”
He kicks at a piece of trash on the filthy alley floor. “Forget it, Gigi. Look, you really shouldn’t be near me, got it? Scram.”