“You okay?” Sterling asks. I try to refocus, forcing my thoughts to the back of my head, and I notice we are parked in front of Jade’sapartment.
“Oh—yeah, sorry.I’mfine.”
“So, tomorrownight?”
“Can I call you when I see what the day’s schedule looks like?” I’m sure he can easily sense the excuse, but I don’t have anansweryet.
“Of course, but you might want my phone number.” His words are soft and a bit despondent. I probably shouldn’t have let that kiss happen. “If this doesn’t feel right to you, you can be honest with me. I’m a grown man. I can handle it,Julia.”
I pull at a small thread coming loose from the hem of my dress, silently piecing my words together so they come out right because my thoughts aren’t making a whole ton of sense to me now. “It doesn’t feel wrong,” I begin. “I’m not sure what right is, to be honest, but I just got here, and I’m not sure I’m ready to fall into a routine outside of work yet, so I was kind of hoping to take things a bit slower.” I release the air from my lungs as if my mouth were the pinched opening to a balloon. I hope he understands, especially knowing that we’ll be seeing each other daily during Dylan’s lifeguardtraining.
“You’re doing right by yourself, and I can’t fault you for that when it’s all I’ve been trying to do for me. Take all of the time you need, but I hope it’s okay that I remain patient with a little hope because I trulylikeyou.”
He’s breaking me down, and the little love devil in my head is about to push the wrong words out of my mouth. The way he’s looking at me, as if I were a delicate flower he’s too scared to touch, it’s making me melt. These hot guys and their goddamn eyemagic.
“I just need a little time, but I’ll see you tomorrow morning at Dylan’straining,okay?”
Sterling’s hand sweeps against my cheek like he did earlier before he kissed me. Maybe he was quick to figure out the effect his touch has on me. In that case, he’s playing me like a fine-tuned instrument because I’m about to say yes to whatever he proposes, and if I don’t get out of this Jeep in a matter of seconds, I will end up in his bedroomtonight.
“I’ll be thinking about you and that bikini of yours tomorrow, doing my best to ignore your presence duringtraining.”
My cheeks burn with a combination of embarrassment and excitement. “Sorry to make things hard for you ...” Two seconds, that’s all it takes for me to realize the stupidity coming out of my mouth.Make things hard for you?Are you freakingkiddingme?
Sterling shifts in his seat and tugs at his shorts a bit because I feel like I just made things more than a little hard for him.I wonder how big he is. Iwonderif—
“Hey, eyes up here, sicko,” he says with a cocky-soundingchuckle.
What is wrong with me?I was just staring at his dick, wondering if it was magically going to pop out of his shorts. Though, judging by the satisfaction stretching across the coarse, grizzly fuzz lining his jaw, I believe I just made hisnight.
“Good night, Sterling.” I couldn’t sound any more sheepish if I tried. I pull my chair forward to let Jade and Cleary out, but they’re not hereanymore.
“They hopped out almost the second we pulled in. You were lost in that head of yours, probably daydreaming about something hard I’llassume.”
Oh my—I can’t take anymore. I open the door, but Sterling’s arm wraps around my neck, and he pulls me in, planting his lips firmly on mine. His hand slowly falls from my shoulders, letting the tips of his fingers feather down the length of my arm as he pulls away. “Good night, Julia.” I can’t feel my mouth. I can’t feel my heart beating in my chest or air coming and going from my lungs. I step out of the Jeep feeling totally numb, and not so surprisingly; I tumble to thepavement.
I hear a seatbelt clink against the metal door, and Sterling flops over the front seats with his head poking out the door. “Areyouokay?”
A snort louder than I intended follows an almost hysterical laugh from embarrassment. I’m fine, Ithink.
I yank myself up by the dark runner lining the opening of his car door and smooth my tight-as-hell dress over my thighs. Dammit. “I’m fine. It’s just really dark, and I stumbled over a hole in thepavement.”
“My lips do that,” he says with a wink. Dear God, I must leave now. I reach into my purse for my car keys and pull them out, tripping myself on the way to my car. Of course, I trip. Why not? “Drive safe,” is the last thing he says before I close him outside of mycardoor.
Sometimes I wonder if anyone taught me how to walk or if I just sort of figured it out on my own. The number of times I end up hurt in one day is a little unreal for a grown woman. I’m not sure I can fall under the definition of a klutz anymore. There needs to be a new word to describe the challenges I face to survive each day in onepiece.
I’m seriously pressingmy luck here. It’s like five before midnight, and I’m sneaking into this house like a teenage girl who’s out past curfew. Apparently, everyone is asleep, so at least there’s that. I slip off my shoes and pick them up to avoid any sound as I tiptoe up thefirststep.
“How did it go with Long Horn?” I nearly choke on own spit as his voice pierces through the dark, silent room.LongHorn?
Somehow, I manage not to fall back down the one step I’ve already taken. Instead, I clutch my chest. “You just scared me half to death. What the hell are you doing down here in the dark?” Really, why is he sitting in a dark room? What aweirdo.
“Waiting up for you so I can lock up the house.” I can only hear the sigh spilling from his mouth, but I’m sure there’s a matching look of annoyance to accompany thesound.
“Well, I’m here on time for my curfew, so you can lockupnow.”
I see Liam’s dark shadowy figure stand up from the couch and walk toward me. “Thankyou.”
“What isLongHorn?”
