“I’m glad you think so. But you are here to sort out your life and I already have one. One that you didn’t want to be a part of.”
“We don’t know that. This second chance?—”
“Is for you,” she said. “It’s not for me and I have to remember that. I’m not going to let you hurt me again.”
The very last thing he wanted was to hurt Alysse, but he wasn’t about to let his chance—his chance at...what?—go. He had no idea what she going to be to him, though his gut said she was his golden ticket and a man didn’t get too many of those.
“I get that,” he said. “Thanks for staying for dinner.”
“You’re welcome,” she replied, making ready to leave. Then he noticed the Sweet Dreams bakery box.
“Dessert!” he said. That was the excuse he’d used to get her down here and maybe now it would be reason enough for her to stay. He could only hope so.
“Dessert?” she asked.
“We haven’t had whatever you brought for us yet,” he said. “You can’t leave until we have dessert.”
With an almost sad look on her face, she pushed her sunglasses to the top of her head and he saw her pretty blue eyes. Saw the pain and fear she’d alluded to earlier and he knew he was a goner. He was never going to be able to make an unbiased decision where she was concerned.
He was alive but not well and he wanted to take care ofhimself and find out if he had any chance at life, a real life, but he wasn’t going to be able to put himself before her.
“Please,” he said at last, because any other words were beyond him.
She blinked and then nodded. “We have to get past this.”
“I know,” he said. “You’re afraid I’m going to hurt you and I’d rather die than do that.”
“You can’t be vulnerable to me,” she said slowly. “If you are...we will both lose.”
“This isn’t about winning,” he said, closing the gap between them and pulling her into his arms. “This is about...”
She tipped her head back and put her hands on his shoulders. Going up on tiptoe she leaned up and brushed her lips over his. Then she slowly opened her mouth and her tongue sneaked out to touch his and he melted.
He forgot that he didn’t want to screw this up and went with his gut. And his gut said this woman belonged in his arms. She belonged with him.
ALYSSE KNEWSHE’DMADE a huge mistake by coming here. She’d already been in a “romantic” mood, thinking that this Marine was going to make a gesture that would win back his woman. Being the woman in question...well, a cupcake wasn’t enough, but sadly Jay was. He was the guy she’d been waiting for and now she found she was ready.
Her control of the kiss lasted briefly and then Jay’s hands were on her hips and he pulled her off balance and into him. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and was overcome with an emotion that was embarrassing. She felt the sting of tears so abruptly she stopped the kiss and rested her head on his shoulder.
It had been too long. She took a deep shuddering breath. She refused to cry. But she couldn’t help it when he slid one hand up her back to her neck and rubbed her shoulders.
“Ah, Aly. I’m so sorry.”
“Me, too,” she admitted, the truth finally revealing itself. Jay wasn’t someone she could be casual about, as he’d said. If she couldn’t walk away now and not look back, she was never going to be able to do it.
She might want to pretend that she had some say over her emotions, but truthfully she didn’t, not where he was concerned.
He tipped her chin up, looking down at her with those big dark chocolate-brown eyes of his and he kissed her. His hands framed her face as his mouth moved over hers with the confidence and surety she remembered.
But then his tongue slid against hers and she stopped thinking. She just let her feelings take over. Shivers spread down her spine. Her breasts felt full and needy. She shifted her shoulders to rub against him and he moaned deep in his throat as he widened his stance so that his hips cradled hers.
She felt the nudge of his cock as he hardened and she moaned a little as he rubbed himself against her.
She was alive and nothing else mattered to her in that moment. Jay’s hands were under her shirt and sliding over her back. His big calloused hands caressed up and down her spine until she was arching against him, trying to get even closer.
He lifted her off her feet and took a few steps before sitting down on the closest chair. She straddled him and looked down at him, smiling.
“I want you,” he said. He took the tip of his finger and drew it down the center of her throat and then caressed the skin where her neck and throat met. It was a particularly sensitive spot for her and she shuddered with awareness.
