Then, to my shock, Keira rose on her tiptoes and pressed her lips to my cheek.
Nerve endings ignited all over my body. When she pulled back, there was less than an inch between us. A single step, and I could fit our bodies together like we’d been on that dance floor two years ago. When I’d told her I was leaving, even though my heart had been telling me with every beat,Stay.
“Thanks for letting me crash here tonight,” she said. “And for the fancy driving earlier. You saved us.”
“Any time. Goodnight, Keira.”
“Night.”
Keira went into the bathroom, so I took the opportunity to grab some clothes for her. In case she wanted to change.
After rushing upstairs and taking several long minutes todecide what to grab for her, I jogged back down. She was still in the bathroom.
I set the small stack of clothes on the dresser, glancing around one last time at the bedroom. A room I hadn’t slept in once, yet it had been the first part of this house I’d finished.
Why? Fuck if I knew.
But now Keira was here, and she had a nice place to sleep. And maybe that was answer enough to the mysteries inside my brain. It was for her. Everything I did, no matter how contradictory.
It wasallfor her.
While Keira finished up in the bathroom, I tidied up the kitchen. I heard her emerge. Then the click of the bedroom door latch closing.
Go upstairs, I told myself.
But I didn’t.
Instead, I quietly padded over to the hallway again. Stared at the closed bedroom door. Like a damn creeper. One question was suddenly wearing a groove inside my mind.
I was pretty sure she’d wanted me two years ago. Did she still?
Make that two questions: if she did want me, could I allow anything to happen between us?
I stood there and put my palm flat on the smooth wood surface, wanting so fucking bad to be inside that room with her.
What if I told her how much she really meant to me? How much it drove me crazy to think of her with anyone else. Would she let me kiss her? Would she kiss me back?
I imagined walking inside. Lifting her gently into my arms. Lowering her to the bed and slowly undressing her, being careful of her injuries.
Way too fast, my fantasy turned filthy instead of sweet. Iimagined Keira telling me she needed me, and then I’d strip down, freeing my cock. My tongue would work its way down her body, inch by inch, until I got a taste of all her hidden places. I’d thrust myself inside her, going slow. What I’d wanted for so long.
Shit, we would be so good. And so unforgivably wrong at the same time.
She was never supposed to be yours.
Finally, I forced myself to back up and turned away.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Keira
When I wokein the morning and blinked at the ceiling, there was no moment of confusion. I knew exactly where I was. Remembered everything, every minute of yesterday.
Holding on for dear life while that SUV tried to force us off the road. The way Dean held me afterward, breathing me in, his touch lingering on my skin.
Yes, I’d noticed.
Then how he drove me out here to the house he somehow owns. Even though he’d told me he’s the wandering type, never staying in one place too long.
