Chapter 9
Stephanie’s heart pounded as she stood staring at her front door. She’d told herself she was just making sure the deadbolt was locked. That was confirmed oh, about ten minutes ago and yet here she was, impersonating a statue in her foyer.
Her mind was telling her to go to bed but her feet weren’t cooperating. They’d cemented themselves in place. The knowledge that Ace was behind that door, well that door and one more, was keeping them there. It was like there was an invisible force that she was powerless to fight.
In the hour since their awkward goodnight all she’d been able to think about was Ace. He’d left so abruptly. At first she’d chalked it up to her laying her whole life story on him, but the more she thought about it, the more she was convinced that the real game changer had been when she’d asked if he was leaving. That was the moment the tides had turned.
She hadn’t meant to sound needy. Although it probably seemed like that. First, she went into all the gory details of her less than happy upbringing then he goes in for the kiss and she asks if he’s leaving.
Yeah. Way to kill the mood.
Honestly, she wasn’t even sure why she’d asked. She’d just blurted it out. This was the problem with having no filter and no dating social skills.
As much as she’d tried to put the entire thing out of her mind and move on from her humiliation with a shred of dignity, she couldn’t because she kept thinking of one thing. Ace. More specifically, Ace’s arms. How strong they were. How amazing they felt wrapped around her. In all of her (nearly!) twenty-six years, she’d never experienced feeling so safe, so protected, and so turned-on.
On the dance floor Ace’s embrace had made her body melt and his fingers grazing her back spread through her like a wildfire of tingles. And she wanted more. More melting. More tingles. Her skin was crawling with the desire to be wrapped up in his strength. Like an addict, she wanted her next hit.
She wanted to have a night with him. That was it. No strings. Just an audition and then she’d move on with her life. He’d gotten the wrong idea and thought that she wanted a relationship. She didn’t. There was no room in her life for commitment. Her “dance card” was full with Scott, Simone, work and bills. She just wanted a night to lose herself in passion. A night that she could close her eyes and think about when times got tough. If she explained that to him maybe they could…
“This is ridiculous,” she mumbled to herself as she shook her head. “You’re being ridiculous. He left. He’s not interested. Go to bed.”
Her reprimand didn’t magically break the spell that was holding her hostage at her front door. Her feet did move, but their direction was pointed straight towards trouble.
Thoughts whizzed through her mind and she opened her door and shut it. Honestly, she had no idea what she was actually going to do as she stood on Ace’s doorstep. As a planner she felt very out of her depth. She was flying by the seat of her pants, literally. It was like her body had pushed the overdrive button on her motor skills and her hormones were now controlling her actions.
She’d dated. Not a lot and not often but she had dated. And she’d been in one serious relationship. But no man had ever made her feel the kind of pull that she felt when it came to Ace. Never had she been unable to sleep. To think. To process rational thought.
She felt helpless to stop herself from…she wasn’t sure what. This wasn’t attraction. This was borderline obsession. Oh no. Was she obsessed? Had she become Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction? That unflattering comparison served as a life vest in the sea of infatuation she was drowning in.
Who just shows up at someone’s door when that someone, just an hour before, has offered a polite dinner invitation for when they get back in town and rushed off? An unstable person. That’s who.
She shook her head in a moment of clarity. “What am I doing?”
Both relief and panic at the fool she’d almost made of herself washed over her as she pivoted on her heel to head back to her condo. Her safe place. The place where she would work to regain her sanity before doing something else that was totally out of character.
Before she made it back to the refuge of her condo she heard the distinctive creak of the door opening. It was immediately followed by the voice that would cause a nun to think impure thoughts. “Stephanie.”
She froze.
There was something about your name being said by the man that starred in your fantasies that was indescribable. Especially when said man’s voice was deeper than the South that he was from.
This was it. Moment of truth. Did she make a lame excuse about why she was on the porch or did she face this thing, whatever this thing was, head on and be honest about what she wanted? Which was him, if that was unclear.
Her mind bounced back and forth between the two options. But mental eenie, meenie, miney, moe wasn’t cutting it. She needed to make a decision that wasn’t based on chance. Was she going to put herself out there and possibly be rejected, or was she going to say she thought she heard raccoons, wish him a goodnight and rush back inside to hide? Taking a deep breath she turned her head and the moment her eyes met his any question of what she was going to do dissolved faster than sugar in hot coffee.
That was it. One look was all it took to seal the deal. In his stare she found what she’d been trying to retreat to and more. In his eyes she found the courage to be her true self. This act no longer seemed out of character. Wanting to be with Ace was the definition of sanity.
“Do you want to come in?” He opened the door further and the lopsided grin his lips turned up into was the cherry on top of her delicious decision sundae.
Since she didn’t trust herself to speak, she nodded. He shifted to the side so she could walk past him, but he still stood close enough that her arm grazed his T-shirt covered chest as she moved past him. Heat radiated off of his body through the cotton barrier. Normally Stephanie was attracted to suit and tie guys, when she’d seen Ace tonight in his slacks and button up she’d drooled. Literally, she had to wipe her mouth. She was sure her attraction to the white-collar professional look had something to do with it representing security and stability, two things she’d always craved. But Ace wearing a white cotton T-shirt and baggy sweat pants was hands down the sexiest thing she’d ever seen.
Nerves raced through her as she continued inside a place she’d been at least a dozen times over the past two years. The space felt different. It wasn’t just that the furniture was more masculine and the walls were bare, although that did make a difference. It was Ace himself. His all-encompassing energy filled the condo like nothing she’d ever experienced before.
The hairs on her arms stood up as she heard the click of the door behind her. Her mind was swirling with the consequences of her life-altering decision. She was going to have sex with her neighbor. Or at least she was going to ask to have sex with her neighbor.
She didn’t want things to get awkward. She didn’t want either of them to regret anything that might happen. She just wanted her fairytale night to end with her back in Ace’s arms and maybe even his bed. It was time that this Cinderella got held, touched, kissed and…more. Much more. If he agreed, maybe there should be ground rules. That way they both knew what to expect, and not expect.
“Are you okay?”