Lifting his mouth from mine, he breathed heavily.“I toldmyself I was going to behave tonight.”
My hands clenched over his shoulders, wrinkling the materialof his shirt.“You’re not?”
He kissed my jaw.“Well, I was planning on being agentleman.”
“Why?”I asked, surprising myself.
“Hell.Good question.”His lips moved over my neck as Itipped my head back against the wall.“I’m not even sure.”
I gasped when I felt his tongue circle where my pulsepounded.
“I just can’t keep my hands off you.”He lifted my leg justenough that he was able to settle his hips against my core, and oh God, theache that blossomed almost made me weep.“Damn,” he groaned, burying his facein my neck.“That didn’t help.”
My chest rose and fell sharply.“No.No, it didn’t.”
A deep groan rumbled out of him, and I felt his hand on mythigh move, slipping under the hem of my skirt.The glide of his palm againstmy bare skin shook me, pushing a soft moan out from between my parted lips, andthat was nothing compared to what came next.He dragged his hand up and over,cupping my rear as he pushed his hips in.Muscles coiled in response.
He dragged his lips up my throat, finding my mouth as hishand kneaded my bottom.The kiss rocked me, and there was little doubt in mymind that I’d stop him if he pulled my panties down and took me right againstthe wall.The mere thought of him doing so burned my skin, twisted up myinsides in a crazy way.
The attraction I felt toward him was startling.
His kiss slowed as he dragged his hand out from under mydress.“Okay,” he murmured.“I told myself I wasn’t going to do this tonight.”
I opened my eyes, barely making out his features in the softglow radiating from the stairwell light.My heart thundered.I wanted to tellhim to ignore what he’d told himself.I was damp between the thighs, ready andwanting.Iwantedhim.
Colton lowered my leg as he rested his forehead againstmine.His chest rose just as rapidly.I didn’t say anything as we bothstruggled to gain control over what our bodies demanded, but him putting thebrakes on where this was heading was obviously the smart thing to do.
All of this felt so fast and I knew it could quickly get outof hand, but I…I wanted it to do that.I liked Colton.I’d liked him in highschool.I’d liked him from afar when I’d moved back home.I really,reallyliked him now.
And that was terrifying.
Chapter 10
Hittingsendon the e-mail, I smiled at thecomputer screen.I’d busted ass since I’d woken up, foregoing showering andeven changing out of pajamas until I reached the last page.
The glamorous life of an editor.
Finished with the edits, I pushed out of my chair and pickedup a dry erase pen.Carrying it to the whiteboard hung near the desk, Iscratched a line overOther Lives.Nothing made me more giddy thanmarking something off from my to-do list.
Actually, that wasn’t entirely true.
Colton took the top spot of things that made me giddy rightabout now.
This last week had been…absolutely amazing, almost like Iwas a teen again or in my early twenties, buzzing around happily.I’d forgottenhow it feels, to be…to be caught up in the excitement and anticipation ofseeing someone, to actually be feeling something strongly again, because ifthis week had taught me anything, it was that the last four years had been onlyabout my career and nothing else.
But this week had also taught me a lot more.
Since Colton worked ten-hour shifts, he had three daysoff—Sunday, Monday, and oddly, Wednesday.Of course, he was on call those daysand it didn’t seem like he really had them off.Due to the shooting last week,he was in the office both Monday and Wednesday, following up on leads, but bothevenings I spent time with him.Monday was the movies, something I hadn’treally enjoyed since Kevin.Wednesday we grabbed dinner at this restaurant intown, one I’d never been to before because it seemed like a couples kind ofplace.
Both nights had ended like Sunday night, in a way.He wouldkiss me at the door, but somehow we ended up on my couch, his body coveringmine, his mouth claiming mine, and his hands doing crazy-insane things to mybody.Just thinking about it now, as I rolled the pen between my hands, createda heady rush of sensations.I flushed and my body responded as I remembered howhis hand felt between my thighs and how easily his skilled caresses worked mybody into a frenzy.
And he always stopped before either of us found any release.He was an expert tease.Or maybe he just didn’t want to go that far and—I cutthat thought off, slapping it away like it was nothing more than a worrisomefly.That thought didn’t even make sense.It was stupid.
I was done with being stupid.
Besides, things were already progressing crazy fast betweenus.It made sense that some area of our relationship would be slowed down,which is basically what he’d said.I could and did respect that, and part of mewas glad that there was something holding us back.Deep down, I knew I wasn’tready for that.Well, my body was.I had a feeling that what beat strongly inmy chest was also on board, but my head…my head had a hard time letting go ofthe noxious, poisonous whispers.
I’d never thought of myself as someone who had self-esteemissues.I had my body hang-ups, like any normal woman, but the lack of intimacyand the reintroduction of it shined a really harsh light on the way I viewedmyself, on how unconnected I was with my own body.
