“Of Caruso?”
She shrugs, a thin, watery smile tugging at her lips. “Of him, yeah. But mostly I’m scared of this. Of how I feel about you. Allof you. It’s fast. It’s a lot. And it feels like I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop.”
My chest tightens. I shift closer and cup her jaw, thumb brushing softly beneath her cheekbone.
“It’s okay to be scared,” I murmur. “Hell, I’d be worried if you weren’t.”
She lets out a shaky breath. I rest my forehead against hers, holding her gaze.
“We’re not here because you need us. We’re here because wewantto be. You’ve seen how we commit to the house, to the business, to each other. When we’re in, we’re all in.”
A tiny, hopeful smile curves her mouth. Her eyes soften just enough, and that’s hat’s all it takes.
I lean in and kiss her, slowly and carefully at first. Her fingers slide into my hair, and the soft sound she makes goes straight down my spine.
As soon as I feel her grip on me tighten, I stop being careful with her. I kiss her like she’s sunshine and I’m a dying, desperate plant. Her body arches into mine, her mouth opening to let me deepen the kiss. Our breathing becomes hot and uneven, her hands clutching at my shoulders like she can’t decide whether to pull me closer or hold herself together.
By the time we finally break apart, we’re both gasping like we’ve just run a damn marathon, our foreheads pressed together. I swallow hard, trying to rein myself in and only barely succeeding.
“You should go take a shower,” I rasp. “Get cleaned up. Dinner will be ready soon.”
She blinks, her eyes a little dazed and her lips swollen. “What are you going to do?”
I meet her gaze dead-on. “Probably hit the gym.”
She stands on unsteady legs and I can’t help but run my gaze over her, drinking her in wearing Boone’s huge shirt and those leggings hugging her calves. As I watch, she hooks her fingers under the hem of the shirt and pulls it over her head.
I forget how to breathe, but she holds my gaze steadily until she turns and starts walking slowly to the bathroom. I stare after her, my fingers digging into the edge of the bed until she pauses at the door and glances at me over her shoulder.
A wicked little smile ghosts across her mouth. “You could go work out, or you could join me.”
My brain has a one-second delay, trying to reboot so I can act like a rational adult, but need obliterates the attempt. I practically trip over my own damn feet getting to her.
Steam curls out of the shower by the time I shut the door behind us. Roxie stands at the edge of the shower with her back to me, her fingers hooking into the waistband of her leggings.
She doesn’t look over her shoulder this time, just peels them down slowly, like she knows I’m watching.Like she wants me watching.
My pulse kicks hard enough to shake something loose in my ribs. I step in behind her, close enough that the heat coming off her bare skin seeps into me.
“Are you sure about this?” My voice comes out sounding wrecked and rough. “I need to hear you say it, angel.”
“Yes,” she whispers, resting her head on my shoulder and looking up at me. “I want you, Chance.”
My restraint snaps clean in half.
I reach for her gently but with an urgency I can’t hide, sliding my palms over her hips and pulling her back against me. She lets out a soft sigh, leaning into my chest like she’s been waiting to fit there all along.
Lowering my head, I press a kiss to her shoulder, then another to the curve of her neck, lingering on her pulse. The way it flutters beneath my lips makes something primal surge up inside me, protective, hungry, and reverent all at the same time.
My hand trails up to cup her jaw and I kiss her again, deeper this time, letting everything I felt bleed into it. Her hands fist in my shirt, and I break away long enough to pull the damn thing off, then my pants, and then nothing separates us anymore.
The shower roars behind her, a curtain of steam filling the room as I open the door, walking forward to guide her inside. Hot water runs in rivulets down her shoulders, her spine, and her thighs, and for a moment I forget every coherent thought I’ve ever had.
She turns toward me in the spray, her wet hair clinging to her skin, and I step under it with her, caging her gently against the tiled wall and letting her know she has me right here. All of me.
Her fingers trail over my chest in slow and exploratory patterns, and I feel every drag of her nails like an electrical current.
“Chance,” she murmurs, breathless as her gaze comes up to mine.
