His eyes weren’t lifeless like the last time. His eyes shone with an emotion I saw on my mother’s face before the truth of her affair with a married man caught up to her, and they shone instead with sadness.
Unconditional love.
Whatever Carlos would say next, he loved this person unconditionally.
Tell her to live for me, always.
Just like it felt right to tell Ever Carlos’s dream, it felt right to say to her, Live for me, Ever, when her eyes were closed, waiting for me, her bad boy and secret lover, to live out her fantasy.
“We’d better move along, sweetness. We have a long drive ahead of us.” I slide my arm across her small shoulders, guide her to my truck, and open the passenger-side door. She gets inside. I buckle her in and trail my fingers down her thigh and tap her shoe. “Teal Chucks. Cute.”
“A gift from my best friend for learning the bachata.”
I chuckle. “You’re serious about your dancing, aren’t you? I mean, that username . . . What was it again?” I wink.
Her beautiful eyes twinkle. “That one awesome dancer.”
“Not just awesome, but the way you moved, you had every hot-blooded male’s attention and the women’s, too, when you stepped onto the dance floor.”
“Only your attention matters.”
“Is that so?” My voice drops to a rumble of need.
“So.” She stares at my mouth.
I want to kiss her until she’s out of breath with need and her small fingers are trenched in my hair, but if I do so, we won’t make it to our destination.
She lifts her feet and taps the air with her shoes. “You didn’t send me something suitable for the dress.”
“For a reason.”
Her face softens. “You like the Chucks.”
“I don’t like them, I love them. Suits you.”
“The dress?—”
I straighten to my full height and grasp her chin between my thick fingers. “Is for us.”
“For us?” Her words come out in a breathy whisper.
I reach over, cup her hip, and lean in until I’m crowding her space. “For us.” I squeeze her hip.
She visibly swallows. Her pulse under her jawline jumps.
I swipe my thumb over her bottom lip. “Is that okay with you? Or would you like me to keep my hands off you? Ask for what you want but know you’ll have to follow my rules and give up something in return.”
“First, I gave up happiness for time with you. Then you tell me I have your time, and so I don’t have to give up anything else. Now, you want to touch me. That’s why I’m wearing this dress. It makes my body more accessible than wearing pants.”
“Spot on, sweetness.”
“You want my body. I want yours,” she admits with color high on her cheeks. “When it’s mutual, I don’t have to give up something. Is that right?”
“Yes.” This woman is smart, and my cock is at full mast.
“Then what are we waiting for?” She grabs me by the collar and tugs me to her. “Get in already and drive.”
17
