Expression blank, he doesn’t move for a moment, seemingly stunned to see me here.Slowly, he pulls off his gloves and tucks them into his back pocket, his eyes darkening.
I move a few steps toward him.“I’m sorry I didn’t call.I—I needed?—”
My words cut off as he looks down my body with reverence and appreciation.His gaze stops on my mouth, a look of hunger in his eyes making my belly tighten.
How does he do that?Just one look and I want to spring at him and kiss him all over.Okay, maybe I wanted to do that from the moment I entered, but the look he’s giving me intensifies the desire.
Jaeger rubs his forehead and leans against the table.
“I had to figure some things out,” I finish, crossing my arms to keep the pounding of my heart from lurching out of my chest.
He follows the motion, his gaze in line with my breasts, taking its leisurely time back up to my face.Naughty, naughty boy—putting dirty thoughts in my mind.Okay—truth—they were already there.
Stay on track!“I wasn’t sure I could trust you.”
He gives his head a quick shake.“What?”
God, his deep, rumbly voice.Focus!“I saw you with Gen,” I say in a rush.“At the casino.You were holding her.”
Jaeger’s brow furrows and he peers down, as if thinking.“When?”
“A week ago.I went to visit her, and you were there.Your arms were wrapped around each other.”
“Cali, I have no idea—wait, do you mean after that piece of shit touched her?”
Huh?Someone touched Gen?Like, groped her?
I have no idea what Jaeger’s talking about, and that’s just sad.My next point of business is to sit Gen down and figure out what’s been going on.“What are you talking about?”
“Some coworker at the casino groped her—I don’t know.You’ll have to ask her for specifics.It happened while I was visiting Mason.She was shaken up.I talked to her and gave her a hug.”
“That’s all?”
Jaeger lets out a long breath.“Is this why you’ve been avoiding me?You still think there’s something going on between me and Gen?”
I blink several times.Why does it sound reactionary and ridiculous when he says it?My logic seemed perfectly sound a week ago.“It’s not as bad as it seems.Things happened.Gen and I are having trust issues.”
“But you can trustme.”Anger and frustration fill his voice.
He’s right.I had no reason not to trust him.“I’m sorry.It’s just, well, it upset me—seeing you with someone else.And with my friend?”
Jaeger stalks across the room and I take a step back.I don’t think he’ll hurt me, but instinct dictates I move out of the path of a large, determined male.He stops abruptly and grabs my hips, pulling me toward him.My hands fly to his arms for balance, and because he’s hot and his biceps call to me.If the timing weren’t so inappropriate, I’d nuzzle his chest too.
“The only woman I think about is you.”He pushes me back and cradles my head before it slams into the wall.“I’ve been pretty direct about my intentions toward you.”Jaeger skims his hands down and around the backs of my thighs, lifting and wrapping my legs around his waist.
I grasp his shoulders and he presses me to the wall, anchoring us.“I’m beginning to understand,” I say in as calm a voice as I can manage.In reality, my heart is rampaging inside my chest like a wild animal, my entire body quivering like some virgin about to be deflowered.
He runs his nose down my neck, tickling my skin.“You sure?Need me to be clearer?”His hand slides up my thigh to my ass and squeezes.
I let out a breathy exhale.“It couldn’t hurt,” I say, voice thready.
Jaeger kisses my neck, his tongue dipping to the hollow at my throat.The scruff of his stubble brushes my skin as he drags his mouth toward my lips.“I want you,” he says before taking my mouth in a deep, searing kiss.
I moan and kiss him with everything I’ve held back—everything I haven’t said that’s simmered inside from the moment we met.
His arms tighten around me, chest rising and falling more quickly.He rocks his hard length right where I want it and a ripple of pleasure shoots through me.
Oh God.That.Again.
