“What?”
“Trust me. I don’t bite.”
What if I want you to?was on the tip of my tongue. Which I bit to keep it quiet. I turned sidesaddle on the couch, and he touched my shoulders lightly, caressing them through my T-shirt. I knew this was innocent, a little massage between friends, but every cell he touched lit up like pegs in a Lite Brite. His touch became more deliberate, more delicious, until he was digging into the rigid muscles like a pro, rubbing away my worries with his fingers in slow, circular, magical motions.
I hadn’t realized just how much I ached until the tension started to melt away under his skilled touch, until he dug deeper and massaged the base of my neck and the center of my back. My head drooped, and I groaned.
Oh, shit.
In response to my guttural sound of pleasure, Landon made a noise at the back of his throat and shifted slightly behind me. What must he think? That I was totally turned on and just waiting for him to jump my bones?
Because let’s face it. That’s exactly what I was thinking.
He smelled like his soap, that cedar-citrus aroma, like a forest studded with lime trees. Enhanced by the warmth of his body, which suddenly seemed closer and warmer than ever, the scent was completely intoxicating. Before I even realized what I was doing, my body was drifting back against him —whether in a sleepy dream or completely awake arousal, I couldn’t testify —and his hands slipped down from my shoulders to curl around my waist.
He didn’t say anything. But his warm breath against my neck set every nerve on fire. My nerves were like those little plastic players in that old electric football game, buzzing and vibrating and going every which way.
“Landon?” I whispered.
His arms drew me closer against him, against every hard angle of his body, including one particular angle as hard as a two-by-four (and possibly as large, given its prominence). His warm lips brushed against the skin under my right ear, and my senses exploded.
An unsteady musical breath skirled out of me and up to the stars as I leaned my head sideways to give him access. He took my invitation, laying open-mouthed kisses against my skin there, licking the delicate shell of my ear, tugging at it with his teeth. Molten heat shot right to my honeybun.
What am I doing?I was scared shitless. I was in too deep. I was loving it.
He deftly turned me, lifted me so I was in his lap. His eyes were hooded, and I closed mine as I leaned in close, in denial that this was happening, wanting so much more. He grasped my face with both hands and crushed his lips to mine.
Holy leaping narwhals! My mouth blazed like a sparkler on a birthday cake, all hot flecks of light and butter and sugar. I opened to his tongue, moaning again, and this time he growled in answer as he slid one hand up my waist, under the soft cotton of the tee. He traced the lower curve of my breast with one finger so slowly I thought I’d scream. I had de-bra’d as soon as I’d had my shower, of course, because we wereplatonic roommates, for God’s sake!And now my nipples tingled, turning diamond hard as his tantalizing, rough fingers inched closer to the aching peaks.
And that’s when I came to my senses and pushed him away. Only he didn’t move, and my push ended up toppling me off his lap and onto my ass on the floor.
“Ouch.”
“Kayla, are you all right?” was Landon’s first reaction, though it was more than concern I saw in his face. He was flushed and breathing hard. I resisted looking farther down, except I couldn’t help myself, and then I snapped my gaze back up to his, trying not to think of that big beautiful thing he was hiding in his shorts.
“I’m fine,” I croaked, scrambling up and stepping back.
“Are — are you sure? Come back here and take it easy.”
“No. No, I can’t do that. We shouldn’t do this.”
“It’s totally natural, Kayla.”
“Duh, I know sex is natural!”
He let out a little laugh. “Yeah, but what I mean is, we’ve been spending all this time together, and I like — I like working with you. It’s natural we should have a little attraction, right?”
A little attraction? I’d been ready to let his rocket ship blast into my spiral galaxy.
“This is a bad idea. We’re working together.”And I don’t want to be another notch on the virtual Landon bedpost.
Yes, I do.
No, you don’t.
“Oh, shut up. I mean, me,me! Meshut up.Ineed to shut up and go to bed,” I said. He looked confused and — hurt? Was he hurt?
“We’re not working together like employees. We’re working together like — like friends,” he said.
