“Fine by me.” Elias came around the table and lightly laid his hand on the small of her back. He guided her through the bar until they stepped onto the dance floor. She rewarded him with a grin as she rose up on her tiptoes and leaned toward his ear. Her breath tickled him and this time, he couldn’t suppress his shiver.
“Another reason why I wasn’t happy with your care? You didn’t touch me nearly enough.”
Elias inhaled sharply.Damn. He was used to being the pursuer, leaving no doubt in a woman’s mind what he wanted. Wren was outpacing him, and that was a first.
He liked it.
As she faced him, he pressed his hand against her back and drew her closer just as the first notes of Riley Green’s “Worst Way” started playing. The way Wren smiled told him that she knew the lyrics too. The way her eyes locked with his told him she was feeling every word of a song about desire so strong you skip the wine and roses and go straight for the good stuff.
Elias slid his hands from her back to her swaying hips. He took his time, running his fingers along the stretch of warm, bare skin between her shirt and her shorts, luxuriating in the way her skin rippled under his fingers and her eyelids dropped to half-mast.
“How’s that for touching you?” he breathed against her ear.
Wren rolled her lower lip into her mouth and let it slide back out under her teeth. “It’s a good start.”
She ran her fingers up his chest—lightly, teasingly, just like he’d imagined—and laced them behind his head. Her fingertips played with the nape of his neck and her thumbs caressed the sides of his throat, sending electric tingles throughout his body. Wren swayed to the music like a pendulum, her body casually brushing against his. Teasing. Infuriating. Building a fire inside him that threatened to rage out of control if he didn’t maintain his composure.
He realized his body had other ideas when he found himself pulling her tightly against him, turning the teasing brushes into firm pressure. It still wasn’t enough to satisfy him.
“Wren Stapleton,” he murmured in her ear. “I don’t want to be here with you.”
She jerked in his arms and he gripped her tighter so she couldn’t get away. She looked into his eyes, hers full of sudden confusion.
“That’s not what your body’s telling me.”
“No? It’s not telling you that I’d rather be with you someplace quiet and dark and as far away from other people as possible?” He grinned as warmth replaced the confusion in her eyes. “Guess I’ll have to work on my communication skills.”
“Oh, I see. Ifeelit, actually.” She pressed against his hardness and did a little shimmy with her hips that made him groan.
“So.” He swallowed hard. “What do you say you come home with me right now?” He felt slightly dizzy at the realization that his happiness depended on her answer. He never asked a woman to his home anymore, but always went to hers so that he could leave before morning.
I never get in this deep, this quickly, with anyone.
But he couldn’t deny it—there was something special about Wren, from the moment she opened her mouth and made him laugh. He wanted more of her.
No. All of her.Now.
He waited for an answer that never came.
Wren only looked him in the eye, saying nothing. She unlaced her fingers and dropped her hands to her sides. He let go of her hips, his gut churning.Dammit. He’d gone too fast, made her think she was just another cheap pick-up.
What an idiot. I’m a fucking moron. Why did I tell her to meet me here?
She turned her back on him and he followed her to their table, trying to think of something to say that might salvage the evening. Wren slung her oversized purse onto her shoulder. Then she picked up his scrubs top and held it out for him. He took it.
“Wren, I?—”
She smiled as she grabbed his hand.
“Drive fast, but not so fast that I lose you as I follow. I’m still new in town and the last thing I want is to get lost tonight.”
THREE
Elias’ hands damn near shook as he unlocked his front door. He barely registered the early summer night sounds around them—crickets chirping, the ping of moths hitting the porch light overhead, the ticking of his truck and Wren’s car in the drive as they cooled down after they sped through the winding foothills to his house. No—his senses hyper-focused down to the woman standing just behind him—the heat radiating from her body, the sound of her breath coming in excited pants, the salty-sweet smell of her skin mingling with the earthy forest around them.
Elias swore he felt a spot on his back grew warmer just before she touched him there. Her hand slid up his back to his shoulder, the one he’d slung his scrubs top over. Suddenly, trying to get into his house was too much of a bother. He contemplated picking her up and carrying her around to the backyard and the hammock strung up under the trees where he sometimes slept on hot summer nights.
Wren slid her hand down from his shoulder to his hand, which was definitely shaking now. She steadied it.
