“Even if it does feel a little like we are doing the one-night-stand thing,” she adds.
“I would have fucked you on the beach the night I met you if I wanted a one-night stand, Malena. This is just a way to keep things less complicated. You said it yourself: relationships are complicated in a small town. Isn’t simplicity what you want?”Say no. Tell me you want me and only me.The realization that I’m desperately seeking her approval makes my head swim and my stomach flip. I don’t need her approval. I don’t need her.I want her.
She folds her arms across her chest as a trail of goose bumps washes over her exposed skin. “If you say so, Leif. I never would have fucked you on the beach. Just so we’re clear about that. Go on. What’s the next rule? I’m intrigued.”
“But you would have taken me home and fucked me here?” I ask, stepping forward to close the distance between our bodies because I can’t stand it. I need to taste her breaths. “Like you asked. Remember?” Reaching out, a tentative move, I let a couple fingers glide down her side, ending at those fucking exposed bikini bottom strings. “Right?” My gaze rises from her tight body up to her face. “Malena,” I add. Her eyes look sleepy, and her resolve is faltering.
“Yes,” she answers.
“Why?”
The chemistry between us crackles. There’s a current of desire laced with need exiting my body and entering hers.“There’s something about you,” she says, voice low. “I know it will be…good between us.”
“Good?” I pick up on her word usage. “It will just be good?” There are a million words I could use to describe what being with Malena would feel like. Good isn’t one of them.
“You know what I mean,” she says, looking down at my hand, the one stroking her soft skin. My hard-on is raging out of control as I let my other hand wander to the other side of her waist. My fingers can almost touch on her back when I hold the smallest part of her stomach.
Shaking my head. “I don’t know what you mean. Explain,” I order, raising a brow in challenge. Malena looks at me, eyes wide, lips parted, and I know something resembling truth is coming, and I crave it.
Licking her perfect fucking lips, she says, “There’s something about you that makes me…want you. Do you feel that way about me?”
I want her because she’s a walking billboard of everything I’m subconsciously drawn to. I have a type. Most men do, and it is almost as if I didn’t know what I was looking for until I saw her. Malena doesn’t fit into my usual hookup box. Her brown hair and realness aren’t my typical attraction du jour. The bottle blonds from my past don’t hold a candle to Malena’s beauty. The attraction to her was immediate and all-consuming.
I meet her eyes instead of watching her skin react to my touch. “It’s why I’m here right now,” I reply honestly, when it’s a time I should have lied. “There’s something about you that I can’t turn away from. I want you to be mine.” An understatement, I hope she realizes, as her own gaze darts down to the front of my shorts and all that she’s creating.
A flush rises from her chest to spread across her high cheekbones. “Any more rules?” Her voice cracks, her breaths heavier than they were moments before.
Swallowing hard, I run my hands up her delicate arms. “Just one more rule. The most important one,” I reply. I pause for a beat or two, then say, “You can’t fall in love with me, Malena Winterset.”
She jumps a little when I say the wordlove, and rears out of my grasp. I’ve shocked her. I meant to, because she needs to know it’s integral to whatever might happen between us.
“Okay,” she agrees. “You definitely don’t have to worry about that.” Except the tone of her voice tells me I do have to worry about that. There’s a softness about her demeanor that signals weakness.
“We’re in agreement?” I confirm, closing the distance between us once more, leaning my head down. She smells like coconut and clean hair. My mouth waters, and my balls ache. “To explain further, I’m not the type of man you fall in love with. I’m the kind of man you use for a bit and then toss.” I shake my head. “I’m sure my life will be short, and I don’t want to leave any threads behind when I go in a blaze of glory. Do you understand?” While my statement makes it seem as if I’m being altruistic, I’m not. Life is easier when you live with your guard up. My career has also taught me that some guards should never be lowered.
“Yes,” she says, interrupting my thoughts. “We’re in agreement.” Licking her lips, her brown eyes widen, her frame leaning in closer to my chest.
“Now that the details are out of the way, I’m going to kiss you.” Her smile is wide and white as she sets her hands on top of mine. “If you’re up for it,” I add.
“Let’s go to my room,” she replies, tugging one of my hands. My stomach flips as her eyes finish the sentence for me. “If you’re up for it?” Malena uses my words, grabbing the monitor from the table.
Guiding me to the opposite side of the house, she opens the door to a wing of the house that looks like it was added after the fact. “This is my space,” she says, spinning on her toes to face me as I take in my surroundings. “I had it modified when I realized I’d probably be spending the rest of my life here,” she says, glancing at the device in her right hand. She sets it down on a bookshelf to her right. “When my dad left, I knew it was up to me to take care of things. He left a good amount of money in our checking account. I used some of it to make this section of the house my own and left most of it untouched to pay for Mom’s care. The day and night nurses and stuff. The treatments and medicines are expensive,” she rattles on, her demeanor changing completely. Shaking her head, she whispers, “Shut up, Malena.” Looking at me, she grins. “I’m sorry. You don’t want to know that. It’s one of my flaws. I over explain things. Instead of a ‘this is my room,’ I give you my life rundown.”
It’s warmer in here, and I see why she’s wearing her bathing suit. The windows are cracked, and the ceiling fan is wobbling out a staccato beat, pushing around the heat. There are books and antique toys sitting on shelves and tables. “As much as I want to kiss you, learning about you comes in a close second. You can over explain anytime you want. This is really nice,” I exclaim, walking in a few more steps.
“You’re just saying that,” she says, eyes focused on the light hardwood beneath her bare feet. “I live with my mom. That’s not sexy.”
I laugh and reach behind my head to shrug out of my T-shirt. It slides off, and I toss it on the giant, pale purple bedspread. “And you have toys in your room. Lucky for you sex appeal isn’t something you have to worry about, Malena.” Cocking my head to the side, I let my gaze wander over her body, very obviously up and down. “I’d want you if you lived in a convent.” Clearing my throat, I walk to the window. “Was this a garage?” One ofthe walls is exposed red brick. It lends a loft-like feel that isn’t typical for single-family homes.
“Yeah,” she says, dragging a finger along the rough wall. “I liked the brick and didn’t want to cover it up. Makes it feel a little bit like a city apartment or something,” she explains. “Something of my own.”
I raise one brow. “You like the city?”
Clearing her throat, she shakes her head. “I’m indifferent,” she says. The questions are there behind her chocolate-covered eyes. “Why do you think you aren’t going to live a long life?” Her question is aimed like a dagger.
“Still thinking about that, huh?” Facing the wide window, I readjust my dick and try to will my libido to slow down. This room smells like her, and it’s been a long time since I’ve been in a woman’s bedroom. The only time I’m ever in one, it isn’t to talk. “My career is dangerous. It’s not a foregone conclusion that I will die young, but it’s also more probable given statistics that I’m in more risky situations on a daily basis.”
She nods, lips pressed into a thin line.
