Aspen’s gaze lowered to his shirt. “You’re soaked.”
An entire five seconds of silence passed before she realized she was still touching his chest. Not just touching—exploring. Moving her hands over his hard ridges, feeling every muscle beneath her fingertips.
She looked up to see his eyes had become a darker shade of brown. And the way he was looking at her…
She took a hurried step back. “I’ll get you a towel.”
She spun and moved to the linen closet, breathing through the tingle in her lower belly. She shouldn’t be thinking about anything but the stranger in the window right now. That should be taking up her entire focus.
Movement sounded behind her, near his room, but she didn’t turn. She took out a large navy towel. When she reached his bedroom, she swallowed hard.
He’d set his flashlight pointing up to cast a dim glow over the room.
His shirt was already off, and his chest glistened with drops of water. For the second time that night, her fingers itched to touch him. Run her hands over his now bare skin.
She internally shook her head.
Stop it, Aspen.
Her gaze remained focused on his face, just his face, as she crossed the space between them.
She stepped forward and handed him the towel, their hands grazing as he took it.
“I didn’t like you going out there tonight,” she whispered.
“I know how to take care of myself.”
She knew that. Out of everyone in her life, this man was one of the deadliest. That didn’t change how not okay she was with him going outside when some weirdo was lurking around.
He touched her chin with his thumb and tilted her face up, his gaze boring into hers. “You don’t need to worry about me.”
“You worry about me.”
“That’s different.”
His breath brushed her skin, causing little whispers of awareness to shoot down to her lower belly. She swallowed, studying his intense gaze. The way his damp hair clung to his forehead.
She reached up and grazed a lock from his face. “It isn’t. I want you to be safe, just like you want me to be safe.”
He gripped her waist, tugging her closer so her thighs touched his damp pants. “I like that you care.”
Without her permission, her focus lowered to his lips. They were full lips…and God, they looked kissable.
“If you keep looking at me like that, I can’t be held responsible for what happens next,” he whispered.
Her gaze flew back to his, her mind a jumbled mess of possibilities. “It would be stupid of me to kiss you right now, wouldn’t it? Tell me it would be stupid.”
“I can think of many words to describe what a kiss between you and me would be, but stupid isn’t one of them. I could lie, but do you really want me to do that?”
“I don’t know what I want.”
He lowered his head, his lips brushing her cheek as he whispered, “Liar.”
He lifted his head, and suddenly his lips were right there, a mere fraction from hers.
She couldn’t stop herself—she lifted to her toes and kissed him.
Jesse’s bloodroared between his ears, deafening the storm outside. Aspen’s lips were on his, and they were just as soft as he knew they would be.
