“I have a little alcove.” She pointed against the wall. “No door, but it’s set off enough for a little bit of privacy and a great view.”
“I can see that,” I said, my gaze drifting down her face and snagging on where she chewed on her bottom lip. “I’m in the market for a paperback,” I said, nodding toward her top shelf, lined with all the titles I’d come to know. “How much?”
“Like I’d charge you. If you want one, just take it. I’ll even sign it for you.”
“I was hoping you would.” I reached over to the top shelf and slipped one of the books off. “This is the one I started with, so you can sign this one.”
She took it from me, narrowing her eyes as she grabbed a pen.
“You really read my books?” She eyed me as she popped off the cap and opened the book to the first page, darting her eyes from the book to me as she scribbled.
“I did. I like how they’re a series, but if you start in the middle, you’re not really lost.”
Her head snapped up, her cute little nose scrunched as she met my gaze.
“That is great to hear. I try hard to make sure they’re stand-alone stories. Here you go,” she sang, handing me the book. “You’re really something.”
“Why, because I can read? We jocks can read.”
“No,” she said, letting out a chuckle. “You didn’t ask for my number, but you asked for my pen name. I wasn’t sure if you wanted to look me up or if you wanted to see if I was lying.”
“No, I knew you were telling the truth.”
“So, you intended to read my books, just not speak to me again? Hey, I didn’t ask for your number either because I figured we were?—”
“Your books feel like you. Smart. Beautiful. Hot.”
She blinked when she met my gaze, an adorable blush staining her cheeks.
“If you ever want to post that in a review, feel free,” she teased. I had to remember my promise to leave tonight and take it slow if I wanted to get this woman to be mine. The problem was, all I’d wanted was to stay and go full speed ahead.
“I mean it.” I set the book down on her desk as I inched closer. “That’s why I’m halfway through all of them now.”
She dragged a hand down her face.
“Thanks to you, I had to explain to my sister when we were watchingRoger Rabbitthe other day why I got so misty when Jessica came on-screen. I still think you’re a little nuts for saying that.”
“Look at you,” I rasped, draping an arm around her waist to pull her to me. “This body…” I glided my hands down the silky material of her dress, lingering over her ass. “Those eyes,” I whispered, slipping my hand around the nape of her neck, goose bumps pebbling under my thumb as I drifted it back and forth. “And that fucking mouth,” I growled out, sweeping the pad of my thumb over her faded red lips.
I hissed out a “fuck” when she opened her mouth to bite it. I relinquished that last fraying thread of control and took her mouth in a hungry kiss. I swallowed her whimpers as I slipped my tongue inside and took long, desperate strokes. She tasted like sweet memories that weren’t supposed to become reality again.
This would be a better reality. One that wouldn’t end tomorrow.
I lifted her by the waist and carried her over to the hallway. She wrapped her legs around my waist as she scratched her nails up and down my back until I backed her against the wall and set her down.
“You taste like you missed me,” I murmured against her mouth, pulling at her bottom lip with my teeth. After all this time of willing myself to go slow, I was about to fuck her inher hallway because there was too much blood in my cock and not enough in my brain to think. Rachel was all I saw and all I wanted, and instead of wondering why, I was taking it and her, instead of talking myself out of it.
“Maybe,” she said on a moan as I hooked her leg over my hip.
“Only maybe, huh? Feel how much I missed you?” I pressed my aching erection against her core, drawing a whimper out of her.
“This is exactly what I was thinking about all night,” I whispered in her ear as I slipped my hand inside her panties. “Maybe I wasn’t the only one? You’re soaked, sweetheart. You want to come for me like a good girl?” I slipped two fingers deep inside her as I thumbed her clit, my knees almost giving out as she dripped all over my hand.
Just like the day we met, I was consumed by her enough not to think or care about anything else. It had been a mindfuck of crazy lust and an instant connection I still couldn’t understand.
“Fuck, Silas,” she groaned and dropped her head against my shoulder.
“Oh no, you don’t. Look at me, Slugger.”
