This time it was real.
She tried to speak but her voice wouldn’t work properly. She could hardly breathe. “You found it hard?”
“Let’s put it like this—Josh and I may have had our differences over the years, but I’ve never wanted to kill him before the other night.” He rose to his feet, and she took another step backward, afraid of what she’d unleashed. He was the most familiar thing in her life, but nothing about this situation felt familiar.
“I’m going back to bed before one of us says something we can’t take back.”
“Too late.” He slid an arm around her waist, locking her against him while he used his free hand to stroke her hair back from her face. “Brenna.” He spoke her name softly, and his tone was one she’d never heard before.
She stood, frozen by shock as his fingers trailed slowly over her face, tracing the line of her jaw, the curve of her cheek, as if he was seeing her for the first time. She felt the warmth of his hand through the thin fabric of her pajamas, the hardness and power of his thighs pressed against hers, and it felt incredible.
It felt like a dream.
She didn’t want to breathe, didn’t want to move in case she did something to break the spell, to spoil what was turning out to be the best moment of her life.
She felt his jaw brush against the top of her head, the warmth of his touch against her skin and she closed her eyes because it was so close, so close, to what she’d spent her whole life hoping for.
He cupped her face in his hands and dragged his thumbs over her cheeks. “Brenna—” he lowered his forehead to hers, holding her gaze “—do you know how I felt watching you go out with Josh?”
“How did you feel?” She whispered the words, mesmerized by the look in his eyes.
“Uncivilized.” His voice was thickened. “I’ve known the guy since high school, and I wanted to flatten him.”
“You were jealous?” It shouldn’t have thrilled her but it did. She locked her hand in the front of his shirt. “That wasn’t why I did it.”
“I know.”
“I thought you didn’t— I mean, I assumed—”
“You assumed wrong.”
She licked her lips. “You never noticed me. There were days when you didn’t even look at me.”
“Yeah, those were the days I worked extra hard.” His eyes were on her mouth. “I noticed you. Every day. Turns out that when it’s something that really matters, I have more control than I thought.”
She lifted her hand and stroked his face, feeling the roughness of his jaw against her palm. “Why didn’t you say something?”
“Because what we have is important. We’ve been friends for years. Ours is the only relationship I haven’t messed up. I didn’t want to risk what we have by confessing that all I wanted to do was have mind-blowing sex with you.”
She was shaking. “I—I’ve never had mind-blowing sex.”
His eyes darkened. “You’re not—?”
“No!” She felt the heat flare in her cheeks. “I’m not used to talking about this.”
“So you’ve had sex, but not mind-blowing sex?” His voice was rough, the words barely audible, and she saw his mouth curve into a slow smile. “Maybe it’s time we did something about that.”
She could feel the warmth of his breath against her mouth. His lips were close enough to tease but not touch, and she stood like a bird about to fly for the first time, exhilarated and terrified.
He was going to kiss her.
Finally, after waiting a lifetime, Tyler O’Neil was going to kiss her.
Bold, terrified he might change his mind, she rose on tiptoe and closed the gap, bringing her mouth to his.
A second’s delay, a moment of heart-stopping hesitation, and then his mouth claimed hers, slowly at first and then with deep, sensual hunger. Raw, electrifying excitement rushed through her, and she moaned against his lips, opening her mouth as she felt the skilled slide of his tongue against hers.
Everything inside her melted, and she clung to his shoulders, grateful for the solid strength that kept them both upright.