His eyes are hidden beneath lowered lashes, but I know he’s watching me. I can feel his piercing stare, even in the dark. He’s been watching me long enough to know that I was watching him.
I swallow the dry lump in my throat and run my fingers through my hair, forcing my attention back to the screen.
“You fight your attraction to me so poorly.” Baylor’s deep voice makes my insides buzz.
I don’t look at him. “I’m not fighting anything.”
The movie fills the silence that falls between us, but I can feel his smile burning into the side of my face.
A beat passes. And then another. And another.
I scooch down in my seat, hoping some of the couch can block his view of me, but my not-so-graceful movement makes my dress scrunch up at my waist, exposing my entire thigh and hip crease. The heat I feel on my face from his stare travels down my side and settles on my bare hip. I should cover myself, but I freeze instead because my fight-or-flight instincts are apparently broken. That, and my ability to think straight.
The couch dips as he leans in next to my ear, and I stiffen. “Do you still think about your first night here? I do. I know it was only days ago, but it feels longer.” His knuckles dance along my thigh with the lightest touch. “You were so wet, weren’t you?”
My cheeks warm at his starkness. “I’d just gotten out of the shower.”
He breathes out a laugh that tickles my neck. “You know that’s not what I mean. You can’t tell me that if I had slid my fingers between your legs, you wouldn’t have been ready for me.” His hand stretches over my leg and flexes.
I feel the same pressure from that night building and press my thighs together.
“You’re ready for me right now, aren’t you?” He pulls my dress over my shoulder and brushes his lips against my skin. “This dress looks more like it was meant to fall off of you than it was to be worn by you.” His mouth moves inward across my collarbone.
I shudder and let my head fall a little to the side. “Baylor, don’t.”
“Why? Do you actually want me to stop? Or do you just hate the fact that you want this more than you’re willing to admit?”
He pulls back slowly, kisses my shoulder again, and then tastes me. The heat of his tongue sends shivers over my skin.
My eyes close as I stifle a groan. “I want you to stop because I know you’re messing with me, like you always do.”
He’s never used these types of measures to get under my skin, but I can only presume he’s testing out new tactics.
I take a steady breath, trying to calm my pounding heart, and then turn to level him with a look of warning. “I’m not falling for it, okay? This is just another game to you.”
I can feel his breath against the corner of my mouth right before the enticing scent of sweet cinnamon hits my nose. My mouth waters.
He hesitates mere centimeters from my lips with a strangely vulnerable look in his eyes. “What if it’s not?”
There’s a softness to Baylor’s voice he shouldn’t possess. I’m used to the one that boasts confidence and breathes threats. This voice turns me to mush and makes my head foggy. I resent it. At least, I would if I could just stop staring at his lips. God, they’re perfect. I wonder how many girls have gotten to kiss them, to feel the hot touch of them claim the soft peaks of their breasts.
My tongue wets my lips at the thought.
“Aspen, you down here?” Henry calls from a distance, sending off a silent alarm in my brain.
“Shh.” Baylor grins and tries to hide us both by lying on top of me, but he’s left to catch himself as I scurry out from underneath him and flee from the movie room.
I turn the corner of the staircase when Henry almost plows me over.
“Whoa!” Henry catches me with his hands on my shoulders.
“You’re back early.” I rush the words out. I’m flushed all over, and I hope he doesn’t notice.
“Yeah, the winds were unbearable, so we decided to call it quits.” Faint windburn colors the tops of his cheeks. “Did I interrupt something?”
My heart skips. “What do you mean?”
He nods down at my hands. Somehow, in the midst of my escape, I managed to hold on to my popcorn bowl.
