Possessiveness lashed through me. “It’s not? You’d better not be asking anyone else to show you.”
Emily laughed and put her hands on her hips. “Just get on with it.”
“Fine.” I took a breath and brought my hands up, cupping her breasts. Whatever she thought of them, they were the most perfect handfuls that I’d ever held, and I could happily spend my life touching them. She tensed, her mouth dropping open in shock. Her nipples pebbled immediately, pressing against my palms. If I wasn’t careful, I’d come in my swim shorts any second. I swallowed so loudly it seemed to echo in the silence between us.
“Diesel,” Emily whispered. I had to tear my eyes away from the sight of my huge, calloused hands on her petite chest.
“Hmm?”
“I meant show meon yourself, you fucking idiot!” She pushed hard at my chest, and the feeling of her disappeared, my palms instantly missing it. She pushed me again, her cheeks red as hell, as horror filled me.
“Be more clear in the future,” I ground out, as I turned around and tried to hide my embarrassment and raging arousal. “Why do you think I asked you if you were sure?”
“I don’t know, you’re always asking that,” she said, grabbing a loose t-shirt from the counter and pulling it over her head. I avoided her eyes, and she avoided mine.
“Well, not anymore. After next week, you don’t have to see me again for months,” I ground out.
“Good!”
“Now get out. I’m taking a shower,” I told her. A freezing cold one.
“Fine, thanks for nothing,” she muttered, and made to go past me. Something in my chest that was possessive and dark — and totally inappropriate — forced itself out. I grabbed her arm as she passed me. “I’m sorry, ok? I’m sorry. I never wanted to touch you when you hadn’t asked me to. I will never touch you like that again, unless you ask me to.”
“You think I’ll ask you to one day?” she asked, looking at me. Her goading expression destroyed me. I really fucking hope so.There was no answer I could give to that.
“Don’t let any guy make you feel that you’re not perfect the way you are, Emily. I can attest to it. Stop hating various body parts and enjoy your senior year. You are perfect, and you would still be perfect, even if every part of you looked completely different.”
Her eyes met mine, and something soft appeared in the gray depths. She had the same eyes as her brother. The thought of Bennet sent ice down my spine.
“Diesel—” she started.
I let her go and turned away. My heart was pounding, my body in agony, and if she stayed a moment longer, I would stop being able to think straight.
“Get out of here, kid. Bennet invited some girls over, and they’ll be here in ten.” I tried to put as much coldness into my voice as possible. I must have succeeded, because I heard the bathroom door closing. I closed my eyes, and rested my head against the tile beside the shower.
When it came to Emily Archer, I was really fucked.
CHAPTER5
Emily
Diesel took me home. I tried not to enjoy the ride too much, but the truth was I loved sitting behind him, the wind blowing through my hair and his body pressed against my chest. It really was a superior form of transport.
“Well, thanks, I guess,” I muttered, sliding off the back of the bike and handing him the spare helmet.
“You’re welcome, I guess,” Diesel teased me. I stared at him a moment and then turned away. The things I felt toward this man, as always, were too complicated to put into words. He annoyed me, fascinated me, and drew me in like no one else.
I headed up the small, well-tended path to my front door. Yes, that’s right, I was thirty-two and liked to garden.
As I put my keys into the lock, I hissed at the sting in my wrists.
“Let me,” Diesel said, making me jump. I turned around as he plucked my keys from my hand.
“What are you doing?” I wondered as he unlocked the door.
“Coming in. We need to talk,” he said.
“We really don’t,” I snapped back. When I failed to enter, he shrugged, and stepped inside himself. I blinked after him and then followed.