She slid her hands into her jumpsuit’s pockets. “I’m thinking it would be a lot simpler to be around you if you were easier to resist.”
His lips curved. “It would be a lot easier if youdidn’tresist.”
Heat swirled in her abdomen. “The other night at Leigh’s? When we danced?”
“Yeah?”
“I liked it. It didn’t frighten me. So ever since then, I’ve been wanting to . . .”
“To?”
She shrugged. “Be close to you like that again, I suppose.”
“What do you suggest?”
She wet her lips. Her imagination conjured up an image of what she honestly wanted to do—press him against the hallway wall and make out with him. “I’m not sure. I don’t know what kind of closeness I’ll be able to handle.”
“Why don’t you test it and see?”
She gave him a questioning look.
“I volunteer myself. I’ll remain still. And you can experiment with the level of closeness you’re comfortable with.”
“Really?”
“Do I have reason to worry you’ll take advantage of me?”
“No.”
“Then yes. Really.”
Sheyearnedto touch him. She’d love having carte blanche to explore, though that would come with the cost of awkwardness and uncertainty. Was she brave enough to try what he was suggesting? “You arrived two minutes ago. We haven’t even eaten.”
Humor tugged at his mouth. “You don’t have to wine me and dine me first.”
“I can trust you not to make a move?”
“Yes.”
“And you won’t be grumpy with me when I stop?”
“I promise you that I won’t.”
The invitation he was giving her felt like someone had thrown open the doors to a shop full of wood-carving tools and told her she could take all of them she wanted for free. Too delicious to turn down. “Then . . . yes,” she said. “I’ll take you up on that offer.”
“Excellent.”
“Now?”
“Now is good for me.”
ChapterTwenty-One
“Where should we . . . ? Hmm.” Instinctively, she patted her pockets the way she did when looking for her phone. As if she was going to find the answer to how to handle this situation in the pockets of her jumpsuit.
She glanced around her studio. Then went digging in her hair and fished out her glasses, setting them aside. She couldn’t very well place Jeremiah on her worktable like a slab of mahogany. He was quite tall! How could she position him and herself so this would be as un-embarrassing as possible?
It was rapidly becoming clear that some level of embarrassment would be unavoidable. Closeness was vulnerable by definition. More so because she was extremely rusty at physical interactions with men.
