“Both.” He chuckled. Something about Erin brought out laughter. “What’s up with your apartment?”
“No idea. I haven’t fiddled with the thermostat at all, but suddenly it got super-hot inside. Then my oven went on the fritz.”
“Since the heat and the gas oven aren’t related, you have an unhappy coincidence.”
“Great,” she groaned. “Now how am I going to prep Tilly’s meals?”
“You can use my place if you need to,” popped out before he could catch it. Her smile of thanks erased any hint of unease.
“Thanks. I can make them in her house too. I just like to make her food ahead of time, so I know if I need to buy groceries or to plan around her tastes. Tilly’s a little picky.”
“Who would have guessed?”
He ate more pizza before he realized Erin was watching him with wide eyes. “What?”
“You really put a lot away.” Her gaze wandered the breadth of his chest, and it was all he could do not to perk up and flex for her. “Where does it go? Not to fat, that’s for sure.” She sighed and looked down at her stomach. “You’re so lucky.”
“What are you talking about?” He drained the rest of his beer and got another, then grabbed her a water when she asked for it. “You’re tiny.”
“I could lose five pounds.”
He rolled his eyes. “From your feet? Gimme a break.”
She frowned. “Guys have no idea how hard it is to be a girl. Everyone expects you to be so skinny.”
“Yeah? Well you have no idea how tough it is to keep a girl interested without muscle.”
“What areyoutalking about?”
He flushed. “I don’t mean me. I’ve been into lifting since I first tried it in high school. It helped with my aggression problems.”
“Aggressive? You?” she teased. “No way.”
“I know. What a shock.” He glanced at his weight bench, and his smile faded as he remembered trying so hard to be strong to impress Meg. When that had failed, he’d stuck with it because it made him feel better. “Sometimes you think the only thing you have going for you is on the outside, because the inside sucks. But then you get big, and it still doesn’t matter.”
He saw her watching him with keen eyes and flushed. “I mean, that’s what I heard. A few friends in the Corps use to share stories. It’s not easy when you’re naturally small as a guy. Women can be just as superficial, you know.”
“I believe you.” She sighed. “But men only care about boobs and butts. Cody liked me thinner.”
“Cody is a horse’s ass. I thought we established that.”
She smiled. “We did.”
“Besides, where the hell could you lose five pounds from? Not your ass, which is perfect. Or your belly, which I happen to know is nice and firm.” He drank more beer, staring at her perfect breasts. To his satisfaction, her nipples beaded through the material. He decided to make his move. He put the beer down and rounded the island to stand directly in front of her. “And not those pretty breasts. They’re perfect.” He watched her and raised a hand, seeing her eyes wide, her breath coming faster. She made no move to stop him. He put a hand on her breast and cupped the mound.
“Oh, that feels good.”
“Yeah?” He molded her flesh, then teased her nipple, loving how she responded to him. “You want more?”
“I, I… I don’t know.” She clearly wanted him, but now she played hard to get? She pushed his hand from her. “We need to talk.”
He was so stupid. Why had he been teasing her when he could have kissed her into saying yes from the get-go? He’d lost his moment, and now she wanted “to talk.” He groaned, crossed his arms over his chest, and leaned against the island. “Fine. So talk.”
Erin feltthree kinds of foolish as she tried to calm her raging body. She had no idea how to act with Smith, confused at her feelings and at a loss as to how to control her body around the man. She also wasn’t very good at playing games and never had been.
“Look, I’m just going to be honest with you.” She noted the narrowing of his gaze, but he only nodded. “You confuse me.”
“Iconfuseyou?” He barked out a laugh. “I think it’s the other way around.”
