“Am I?”
“If I die of lust, it’ll be manslaughter.”
“Good luck getting a jury to convict me.” His arms went around me and he nuzzled my neck.
“They’ll convict you.” His lips found my skin and I gasped under the sudden assault. “One look and they’ll know you’re a lady killer.”
He kept kissing my neck, tugging the neckline aside to reveal my shoulder. I sighed and pressed back into him, awash with desire.
“Cole, please.”
“Please, what, Regina?”
“Uh…”
“Use your words.”
“I can’t?—”
I pivoted and pressed my mouth on his. He kissed me back, a hand coming up to knot in my hair. His lips were forceful and claiming.
Then he jerked my head back. “Enough,” he said, and stood, leaving me wet and panting.
And bereft.
“Cole?” I stared at his straight back, the rigid line of his shoulders.
“Yes, Regina?”
I blinked back tears. This was more humiliating and painful than all the past twenty-four hours put together. “Do you not want me?”
His reaction was instantaneous. He turned and scooped me into his arms, settling back on the couch. “It’s not that, sweetheart. You’re beautiful.”
“Then why—?” My breath caught as pain sliced through me. “Why would you make me do this, if you won’t have sex with me?” My clit throbbed unhappily.
“Shhh, sweetheart,” he said. “It’s not you. It’s me. I just want everything to be perfect.”
“Do I please you?”
His arms tightened. “Yes, my god yes, you please me. You’re all I ever wanted.”
A huge weight lifted off of me. To go from secure, independent working woman to disheveled sex object should’ve been disconcerting, but somehow with Cole it wasn’t. It was what I’d always wanted.
“Then why?”
“Because I want everything to be perfect. I want it to be right. I need things to be a certain way.”
I sighed heavily. “Okay.”
He gave me a little kiss, right below my ear. “You believe me?”
“I do. It hurts but…I trust you. You’re the biggest control freak I know. You even fold your underwear.”
“Not anymore. That’s your job.”
I let out a mock groan, breaking the serious mood, at least until he kissed me again, taking my breath away.
“Come on, little maid. Time for dinner.”
