She didn’t do any of those things. Instead, she stunned him stupid by stepping so close that their bodies touched, raising herself up on her tiptoes, and pressing her lips against his in a lightning-quick, featherlight kiss. She retreated instantly and plastered herself back against her apartment door, leaving Sean reeling.
Had Ivy Harrington kissed him? There was still the wet tingling where her mouth had touched his. But then again… It had happened so quickly maybe he’d imagined it.
Ivy stared at him with wide, luminous eyes. Like a trapped doe. She had. She’d kissed him.
Move!His body screamed.
Careful, this is important.His brain cautioned.
This was Ivy. He had to think.
While he stood thinking, Ivy grabbed the doorknob behind her, twisted it open, and took a step backward into her apartment—moving away.
No!
He stopped thinking and let his body react in time with his heart. He reached for her, held her arms lightly, and when he didn’t feel any resistance in her, he dipped his head and pressed his lips against hers. He kissed her fully, the way he’d always fantasied about, licking his tongue across the seam of her mouth until it opened for him.
He’d dreamed of this so many times, and it was a thousand times sweeter than he’d ever imagined. Ivy didn’t show one hint of the hesitation he was half expecting from her. Instead, she looped her arms around his neck and opened her mouth so he could access more of her. They clung together, tongues dancing, seeking, exploring.
God, she tasted so sweet. He wanted to devour her.
Careful.
From a distant part of his brain that was still functioning, he heard the warning. If he feasted on her the way he wanted to, he’d scare her.
Needing to get a hold of his self-control, he grabbed the last tiny thread of sanity that remained and clung to it.
One more second.
His body had never been this desperate. Her mouth against his unleashed months of yearning inside him, years even. And it took everything to pull back from her.
When he did, her limp body slid down his. She was breathing hard and looked more than a little dazed. Several seconds ticked by before she tilted her face up to his, her crystalline eyes darkened by lust and desire. The dredges of his control wavered.
“That’s what you want, Ivy?” His voice was hoarse with need.Please say yes, please say yes, he silently begged her.
Sean’s heart burst wide open when she offered up a small nod. But after years of doing this dance with her, he needed more than a nod.
“Say it.” His voice sounded rough with the intensity of everything he was feeling, but his world had shifted dramatically, and he couldn’t keep the emotion out of it.
Ivy straightened, her shoulders squaring as she regained some of her composure. “I want this.” Her voice was clear and determined. Her eyes had refocused, and she moved away from him. Not a full step, but enough that there was space between their bodies. “But only this.”
The romantic music playing in his brain came to a screeching halt.
Say what?All the elation and hope that had been building and spinning inside him stopped dead.
“This?” he repeated numbly.
“This,” she replied adamantly, with a brisk, business-like nod. “Sex. With you.”
“Sex?” He knew he sounded like a parrot, but none of this was making sense. Why did he suddenly feel like he was in some fucked up business negotiation?
But Ivy nodded again, sharply. “Yes. Sex. Just sex.”
Oh hell no. He was not hearing what he was hearing.
“You want me to be your fuck buddy?” he asked bluntly, needing to be clear that this was actually happening.
Ivy rolled the gorgeous blue eyes that had slayed him more than once over the years. “Don’t be crude,” she said, her voice haughty, almost disdainful. It sounded foreign.
