“What are you doing here?” He was being rude, but he was scrambling to catch up.
“I should have invited you in last night.”
“No. We needed some space.”
She moved deeper into his room. He stayed near the door. He needed to hop in the shower before they talked.
Liana didn’t notice. She turned, her fingers twisting in the soft cotton of her t-shirt. “I dreamed about you last night,” she said softly. “About your hands and your mouth. I missed you.”
Jesus. His mouth went dry. “I—”
She waited.
He didn’t say anything more. He couldn’t.
She moved closer again. He took in her yoga pants and t-shirt. Bare face and loosely twisted hair.
“I need a shower.”
“I could scrub your back.”
So. Damn. Tempting. “Give me two minutes.”
“If you take more than three, I’m coming in there.”
He wouldn’t. He threw himself under the spray when it was still cold and did the world’s fastest once over with shampoo from head to toe.
When he re-entered the main room, a towel slung low around his waist, she was curled up in the chair beside the window.
She gave him a lopsided smile. “I like the towel.”
He stopped a few paces from her. “Should I get dressed?”
She shook her head. “If this goes as I plan, we can go back to bed together for a few hours.”
His dick pressed against the cotton terrycloth at that promise. He told himself to settle down. There was a solid chance this wouldn’t go according to her plan. “Maybe I should dress anyway.”
“Or maybe you should take off the towel completely.” Her eyes danced as she slowly, languidly unfolded herself from the chair and reached her hand for his. “Come on.”
He let her lead him to the bed. They lay side-by-side, facing each other, hands tangled in between their bodies.
“I like you.” Her eyes sparkled, brave and bright. “In a too-much, too-soon kind of way. It’s really scary. But I want you to know that.”
He nodded slowly. “I like you, too. So much. But I’ve got a pretty shitty track record with relationships.”
“Me, too.”
He shook his head. He couldn’t let her think it was the same. “No. You’ve been burned. This is different.”
She gave him a too-knowing look. “You’ve always been the one to break it off.”
“No.” God, he was way too underdressed for this kind of admission. “That would be better some ways, maybe.”
“Dean.” She said his name lightly, but there was a new strength in her voice.
He made himself look her right in the eye, and hold his gaze there.
She lifted her eyebrows and gave him a gentle glare. “Fatalists forever, right? I know you don’t trust relationships. That’s not a big surprise to me, I promise.”
