I sucked in a breath. The image of him raising a hand over my bare backside made my pussy throb with need. “You wouldn’t dare.”
“Wouldn’t I?” He slowly turned to face me. Reaching up, he tucked my hair behind my ear, then traced his finger down the curve of my cheek. “You’re playing a dangerous game, Baby Girl. I might be honorable, but I’m still just a man. Don’t push me unless you’re willing to deal with the consequences.”
The mix of desire and need in his eyes left me speechless. He pulled his hand back and moved away to retrieve his phone. I stood there, too shellshocked to move.
Cole walked into the other room, leaving me alone inthe bedroom. I needed a few minutes to pull myself together and clear my head. That vision of his large, strong palm connecting with my ass had left me uncomfortably hot and bothered. Clearly, I was in over my head.
He thought I was playing a game, and maybe I was, but one thing was clear—he wanted me. Possibly almost as much as I wanted him.
CHAPTER 5
COLE
I wasn’t usedto being rattled, but somehow all Winter had to do was look at me and I became putty in her hands. And touching her—fuck—I shouldn’t have allowed myself the pleasure of running my finger down her cheek. The thrill that went through me at the contact would be something I’d cherish long after we went our separate ways.
The only thing keeping me from thrusting my hands into her silky hair and claiming her as mine was my son. I’d never known my father and didn’t have any kind of role model to follow, but fucking my son’s ex-girlfriend didn’t seem like a move that would strengthen the already tenuous bond between me and Ryan.
That was the problem, though. I didn’t want to just fuck Winter—I wanted to possess her. She did not know what kind of power she held over me. With one crook of her finger, I’d be tempted to give up everything for her. It didn’t make any sense, but I couldn’t deny it.
I finished placing an online order including someproper pajamas for her and poured myself a generous amount of the scotch my room attendant had left on the bar. The alcohol would take the edge off, but I needed to watch myself and not get carried away.
Winter came into the living room, but I didn’t look up. “Everything should be here in about an hour. Do you want to go somewhere for dinner or order in?”
“It doesn’t matter to me. What do you want to do?” Her tone held an undercurrent of wariness, like I’d hurt her feelings or shocked her when I threatened to spank her. It was for her own good. In a perfect world, she’d be on a plane to Texas right now and I never would have bumped into her at the airport. Instead, I was going to spend the next twelve hours fighting off a tragic case of blue balls.
My gaze swept over her. As much as I’d like to get her out of the hotel and away from the temptation of that huge bed, neither of us was dressed for the hotel restaurant, and I didn’t want to make her go out in this weather.
“Let’s order in. Do you want room service or something else?” I swirled the liquid around in my glass as I studied her. My fingers itched to run over the roundness of her perfect ass, or wrap around her slim throat and force her to look into my eyes as she shattered around my cock.
“You know what I really want?” The way she sucked her bottom lip into her mouth had my dick pressing up against my zipper in record time.
“What’s that, Winter?”
Her brows arched and a light pink stain crept over hercheeks. “Chicago style pizza. Isn’t that what this town is known for?”
I wondered if I could make her cheeks flush like that if I buried my tongue deep inside her.
“Cole? Do you not like pizza?” Her face fell.
Goddammit. I shifted my attention back to her. “Pizza’s great, and I know just the place where we can get authentic deep dish. Is sausage okay?”
She nodded.
I called down to the concierge and asked for a large deep dish from my favorite pizza place in Chicago and also for them to send up a bottle of Chianti from their wine collection when it arrived. With nothing to do but sit around and wait, I poured a little more scotch in my glass.
“We’ve got about an hour until dinner arrives.” I gestured to the couch. “Want to sit down and finish getting caught up?”
“Sure.” She slid onto the cushion and tucked one leg up underneath her. “Tell me how you’ve been since the last time I saw you.”
The last time… the memory had been etched onto my brain. She and Ryan had come to my place last Christmas. Ryan had been grumpy as hell—like father like son, I guess—but Winter had been full of the holiday spirit. She’d wondered how we could celebrate Christmas with no tree. That same afternoon, I’d driven all over LA until I found a Christmas tree farm that hadn’t sold out. We’d spent the rest of the afternoon listening to Christmas carols, hanging ornaments, and putting presents underneath the tree.
Being around her had sparked something back to life inside my dark, dead heart. It was like she carried sunshine in her pockets and sprinkled it around like confetti.
I couldn’t very well tell her I’d spent the last year thinking about her, so I kept things vague. “Work has been going well. Between spending time at the office and the gym, I don’t have room for anything else.”
“No? That’s too bad.”
“What about you?” Eager to shift the conversation away from me, I rested my arm on the back of the couch and gave her an encouraging smile.
