I sighed back into my seat, grimacing. “Yes.”
“So why are you making that face?”
“Becauseshe’s a friend,” I said. “I’ve known her for a long time. And it’s weird . . .”
“Maybe you could return it to her for me.”
I glared across the car at him and then narrowed my eyes when his shoulders pulsed with a suppressed laugh. “It’s not funny,” I said. “The idea of you two together makes me sick.”
I dropped my head between my knees, and he went silent. I knew I was being unfair, but I didn’t care. When it came to David, none of my reactions seemed to be in my control.
“I’m sorry,” he said graciously, grasping the back of my neck. “Nothing’s happened, though.”
I peeked over at him. “Have you broken things off?”
“Not technically, but—”
“Then something stillcouldhappen,” I clipped.
He sighed heavily.Why isn’t he reassuring me that it won’t?I ran my hands over my face and decided not to let it ruin one of the best nights of my life. I took a soothing breath and looked over at him. “I’m sorry. It’s not my place.”
His gaze remained fixed out the windshield when he said, “It could be.”
My heart skipped. What would it be like to be the woman who held David’s full attention? Who got to tell others he was officially off the market? I couldn’t wonder, or I might make even more mistakes tonight. Instead, I reached over and put my hand on his thigh.
“So what now?” I asked. Outside, the sky gradually lightened to pink with the rising sun.
“I don’t know.” He rubbed my forearm. “I’m going back to New York, though. I need to spend some time on that project.”
“For how long?”
“A week or so.”
“Oh.” A week suddenly felt like a lifetime.
“I’ll e-mail you when I return. At work?”
I sighed and looked out the window. Even without my veil of lust, why couldn’t I just say no? And why did it feel like not saying no was almost worse than anything I’d done up to that point?
Even when he sat across from me, I yearned for him. I felt myself being pulled in opposing directions, crumbling under the pressure of two men. Bill, who I loved and who had been there for me whenever I’d needed him. And David, who drew me in so completely that I didn’t see anything but him. Maybe not even myself. But it wasn’t just the way David physically consumed me, it was an emotional, intense, overwhelming conquest of my body, mind, and heart.
David parked the car outside my apartment building. “Here we are, Miss Olivia.”
I squeezed his thigh and looked back at him. “Thanks for driving me.”
“Wait,” he said when I moved to get out.
“Oops, almost forgot,” I said, zipping out of the hoodie. “You’re crazy if you think I’m going to return it to her.”
“Not that. Come here.” He reached out a long arm and pulled my jaw to him. A palpable silence settled around us when he gave me a hard peck that softened into an open-mouth kiss.
“I’ll miss you,” I blurted.
His smile faltered, and he swallowed hard. With a nod, he said, “I’ll miss you, too.”
17
David had meant to convey something with the way he’d looked at me in the pool Saturday night, but I wasn’t prepared to learn what it was. Nonetheless, being looked at that way was addicting. In fact, I couldn’t get it, or other intimate things, off my mind the remainder of the weekend.
