He grimaces at the music, reaching for his phone. “Fucking awful,” he mutters, changing the song. The soft voice of Etta James comes on and he smiles at me hopefully. “Is this okay?”
I nod, biting back a grin.Good choice, Myles.
With a sigh, he sets his glass down and takes a step toward me. “Can I touch you now?”
I hold my glass tight, eying him over the top of it. “In a minute,” I say, thinking. “If we are going to do this, we need to have some ground rules.”
“Okay.” He regards me warily. “What are your ground rules?”
I drain my glass and set it down. “We don’t tell Cory.”
“Of course.”
“No joking about it afterward—making me feel weird when we’re trying to do business stuff or when I see you at the bar.”
His eyes glitter and I shoot him a look. “Alright, alright,” he says, holding up his hands.
“And no kissing.”
His mouth opens in surprise. “What?”
I shrug, looking at his lips. They look soft and delicious and—I’d never noticed before—verykissable. But kissing is too intimate, and the very fact that Iwantto kiss them is enough to tell me I shouldn’t. There’s no point pretending this is something it isn’t.
“It’s just… it’s too intimate. This is about sex, nothing else.”
Myles sags, staring at my mouth. “But I want—”
“No.”
He rubs the back of his neck and I watch the way his shirt lifts up, exposing his firm, taut abdomen. A shiver runs through me at the sight, and for a brief second I waver. Ireallywant to kiss him. I’m sure he’d be a fucking fantastic kisser. Would it be the worst thing to—
“Fine,” he says at last, and relief and disappointment battle in my chest. A grin peeks at the edge of his lips. “I won’t kiss your mouth. But I can kiss you other places, right?”
My pulse accelerates at the promise in his words, and I nod.
“Good.” He takes my hand and leads me to the bed.
I stop at the edge, turning back to him. “Doyouhave any conditions?”
He pauses, thinking, his hand still in mine. Then he gives me his cocky grin, squeezing my hand. “Yes. That you have a good time.”
“We’ll see,” I say wryly, relieved to see the old Myles again. Things were beginning to feel a little too serious.
We kick off our shoes and socks, then stand there facing one another, trapped in each other’s gaze. Then slowly—like, intentionally slowly—he pulls his shirt up over his head and tosses it onto the floor. His hair is all rumpled now, and as I let my eyes rove across his bare chest, his mouth hooks into a smile.
I run my tongue over my lips, moistening them.God, he’s hot. Has he always been this hot?
His eyes spark as he steps toward me, taking my hands and placing them on his chest. I slide them down over the warm skin, trailing my fingers through the patch of hair. My whole body hums from touching him, and even though I was the one who said no kissing, I can’t help but lean forward and press my lips to the hot, salty skin of his shoulder.
His head tips back and he lets out a little sigh, before nudging me onto my back on the bed. When he climbs over me, my hands go to his shoulders, smoothing down the curve of his biceps. I study his tattoo, admiring the detail in the map and compass as it wraps around his wrist, then lean in to drag my teeth over the indelible lines, biting gently. I haven’t touched a man in so long and I’m famished. I could swallow him whole.
“Fuck, Cat.” His voice is thick as he watches my mouth graze his skin. “I never thought I’d get you here.”
I glance up into his eyes. “You’ve really thought about this?”
“Uh, yeah.” He gives me a strange look. “Surely you know that.” He lowers his head, burying his face in my neck. “You smell amazing.”
He smells good too—a combination of his cologne and sweat, in just the right way. He’s so close, pressing his lips to the sensitive skin of my neck, and I inhale a lungful of his scent, realizing how familiar it is to me now.
