“Hmm, okay,” she answered. “If you insist. But Brody? I’m a grown woman, and these days I’m very clear on what I want. I’mnot some newbie. I’ve spent the last nearly two years here really getting to know myself. I can assure you, I understand what I’d be getting myself into. Unless, you’d rather not…”
“I may be cautious, but I’m not crazy,” he said with a chuckle. “But taking some time to think about it is as much for me as it is for you.”
And in the meantime, the idea of getting her under his hands, of taking her to the Dungeon and playing with her, was going to keep him up at night. Because he’d never felt such an intense attraction to anyone before in his life.
Time to shift gears or he was going to be noticeably hard right there in the barn.
He cleared his throat. “Want to introduce me to China?”
“Yes, sure. She’s in the last stall at the end,” Claudia said, her hips swaying as she moved down the center aisle of the barn.
Was she insulted that he’d asked her to wait to decide to scene with him? He’dhadto; he wanted her too damn badly. But it was so much more than that itch to have her under his hands. It washer, who she was, and an honest need to drive away her pain—pain she wasn’t fully admitting to, despite all the work she’d done on herself. He could sense it like some undercurrent hidden beneath her intrinsic sensuality and the way she moved with such confidence. There was still some struggle there. He could feel it.
Only time would tell. And he was here for just six weeks, which really wasn’t much time. But he would need her to be certain. Because the truth was, he’d been completely enamored since the first time they’d spoken. It was a sweetness that radiated from her, and that battled with a stubborn streak he would love to be the one to break, while rebuilding the woman she deserved to be, the woman she should know bone deep deserved every good thing the world had to offer.
Oh yeah, he was in deep trouble. Because even though they were barely acquainted, even though he’d never touched her, he was half in love with this woman already.
Chapter Three
Claudia paced her apartment as she waited for Reese to arrive, then finally went to stand by the big picture window that looked out at the mountains. Snow capped the tall peaks, and the mountain was dotted with sturdy pine trees, still green even though it was almost February. She tried to force herself to focus on the beauty of the scenery instead of the anxiety gnawing at her.
“Just need to calm down,” she said aloud to the empty room, then pulled in a long, deep breath and held it a moment before letting it out on a slow exhale. But her heart continued to pound like a hammer in her chest.
She jumped at the knock on her door, then had to laugh at herself.
“C’est ridicule,” she murmured to herself in French as she went to open the door. “Stop being ridiculous!”
“Claudia, are you okay? What’s the emergency?” Reese asked before stepping inside and using one of her pink boots to nudge the door shut behind her.
“Yes, yes, I’m fine. It’s not quite an emergency. Well, not really.”
“Uh, that was a little confusing,” her friend said, taking her hand. “Let’s go sit down and you can tell me all about it.”
Claudia let Reese lead her to the small sofa, and she sat, Reese settling in next to her.
“Okay, tell me what’s going on, Claud. You’re flushed. Is something wrong?”
“I’m alright. I am. I’m just… thinking too much.”
“Hmm. Let me guess what about. Or who, should I say?”
“Your eyes don’t need to twinkle like that,” Claudia accused.
“Oh, really? Because I’d say you have a mad, mad crush, and I know who you’re crushing on. And if that’s the problem, let me just say you have my blessing, which I think you already know.”
Claudia sighed. “The crush is not the problem. I mean, look at him. And I swear he’s attracted to me. Or, he is for now.”
“What do you mean ‘for now’?”
Claudia shrugged. “I like him. I do. I’ve always known that. And once I got past the initial shock of my divorce, I realized I was insanely attracted to him, especially after the summer he spent in Dallas, when we saw each other a lot. But that’s all it is. That’s all it can be.”
“Okayyyy,” Reese answered, drawing the last syllable out. “I don’t really understand what the problem is. Are you saying you feel like he’s rejecting you, or something?”
“No.Non. Quite the opposite.”
Reese let out a sigh. “I’m just getting more and more confused.”
“The issue is, I am far too old for him, I’m just going to continue getting older, and we both need to be aware of that fact.”
