They’re both silent before Ward finally takes the hint. “I promised my buddy I’d meet him early for breakfast. I should go.”
“I’ll walk you to the door,” Betty volunteers, slipping her arm around his and leading him the opposite direction from me around the island.
I watch them move the short distance to the door, where I have to listen to the sound of him kissing the mouth that should be on mine.
The sound of the door closing lifts my spirits. It’s just her and me, and now we can have a chat. A conversation I have no business starting if I’m not going to follow through. I don’t understand why I am so upset at seeing her with someone else.
Betty. Is. Not. Mine.
The word “yet” floats through my mind, and I have to swat it away.Fuck, what is happening to me?
The clap of her bare feet on the hardwood almost makes me turn around, until she grabs my wrist, leading me down the hall to her bedroom, slamming the door behind us. “What the hell was that, Nash?”
I’ve never seen Betty angry. I’ve never seen her as anything but fun-loving, smiling Betty. She’s the woman everyone wants to be friends with. The woman who never says no if someone needs help. She’s the life of the party and everyone’s best friend after a single interaction.
That’s not the Betty standing in front of me. Her nostrils flare with her barely contained frustration as her face turns a shade of red that wouldn’t even be healthy for a tomato.
“I just wanted to get some sleep, and you were seconds from fucking that guy in the kitchen.” It’s the wrong thing to say. I know that the moment the words pass my lips. I’m not an asshole, especially not to her or any other woman. Yet the words spewed free as the green monster of jealousy took over.
She rears back as if slapped, before a glassy sheen settles over her eyes.Fuck, no. If she cries, I will lose it. “Is that what you think of me?” Her words are watery as she holds back tears. Her voice is so broken that I immediately hate myself.
“No, I don’t. I’m sorry, Betty.” Reaching for her, she quickly steps back, sorrow tugging at her gorgeous features.Please don’t cry, baby. “I’m just tired, but that’s not an excuse for speaking to you that way.”
“What did I ever see in you?” she whimpers. “All these years, I thought you were nothing but a kind man. I thought you cared about the people in your life, but you don’t. Not after… not after last week and the way you just spoke to me. I’m not a kid anymore, so you can’t charge in here and tell me what to do. You made it clear you could never want me.” Her hands run down her body as if reminding me she’s standing right there. “I’ve wasted years pining over you, and for what?”
The first tear finally breaks free, and I can’t help myself. Cupping the side of her face, I wipe it away with my thumb. “Andromeda, I’m sorry.”
Her eyes flare at the nickname. I used to call her that as a kid. It was her favorite galaxy. She said she was just like the Andromeda constellation. I never considered what she meant by that back then, but now I do.
“You remembered?” she breathes, finally melting into my touch.
“I’m going to level with you, and I need you not to hate me for it.” Her breath quickens as she tries to pull away from me, but I grab hold of her hip, pulling her body flush against mine. My cock swells in my jeans, but I don’t hide it. Instead, I hold her tight to me so she can feel me when I say this.
“Nash, if you’re…”
“I’m talking. You’re going to listen.” She nods. “I think it’s pretty clear I am attracted to you. My cock is so hard right now, the fucker hurts enough to bring me to my knees. I think we both know that what happened a week ago would have been a mistake if I’d taken it further.” Once again, she tries to pull away. “Stop trying to run from me.” Her glassy eyes meet mine as her mouth presses into a straight line. Lowering my face to hers, I’m so close that a flick of my tongue would allow me a taste of her. “I am a man with particular needs. Needs that don’t align with what you need.”
“And tell me, how do you know what I need?” Those soft lips brush over mine as she speaks.
And, fuck, I once again can’t control myself, dipping my head to capture her mouth with mine. It doesn’t matter that she had another man’s mouth on hers ten minutes ago. I needed to taste her. Betty is what I imagine sunshine would taste like, or an explosion of twinkling stars in the sky. It’s consuming and addictive.
Her short nails scrape over my scalp as she deepens the kiss, her moan vibrating down my throat. I’m a crazed man when her skin is on mine. There’s no control or telling myself to stop. Gripping her under her ass, her legs immediately wrap around my waist before my free arm clears everything on the six-drawer dresser, and I drop her there.
Her grin stretches across my mouth, but she doesn’t break contact as her hands dig into my hair and her pussy grinds against my throbbing dick.
“Are you wet for me again?”
“If you want to know, you should check for yourself,” she breathes, tugging at the back of my head. But I resist, dipping down in front of her, while pushing her dress up her toned thighs.
“You’re beautiful,” I mumble, placing wet kisses up the inside of her thigh, before my nose drags along the crotch of her panties.
“Nash, you can’t.”
“I can, and I am. Hush.” Every neuron in my brain tells me to stop. Not to do this because once I cross this line, I won’t be able to stop. But I don’t want to be logical. I want to feel.
She obeys, her fingers playing in my hair as I nip at her tender flesh through her panties. I’m too eager not to taste her soaked pussy. Too amped up not to go through with the exact thing I know I shouldn’t. “Betty, do you understand what it means if I don’t stop?”
Glancing up at her, she sinks her teeth into her bottom lip, her hips rotating as my finger lazily runs over her panties.
