Tara could not be his.
But he already wanted her again.
Tara could tell the second Jeff startedto have doubts. His languid body tensed, and he stopped combing a hand through her hair mid-stroke.
Just froze.
She’d told him no promises or expectations as much to convince herself as to reassure him, but despite her admonition that there’d be no regrets, she’d been lying.
To both of them.
God, would she never learn?
She couldn’t even look him in the eye as she climbed from his magnificentbody, her skin still tingling. “I have to pee.”
Sex with him had been incredible. Eye-opening. A whole other level she’d never known could exist.
Maybe none of that had anything to do with her. Maybe Jeff was just that good. Maybe he gave that kind of careful attention and total focus to all of his lovers. Tara knew from personal experience how rare that was.
“Hey,” Jeff sat up and snaggedher hand before she slipped away. “You okay?”
“Of course.”No. Couldn’t he see the broken shards of her heart scattered across the bed? All that sexual experience and she only now realized how much she’d cheated herself. Even Colin—who’d supposedly loved her—hadn’t made her feel…worshipped. Treasured. Not really. None of them had. “Why wouldn’t I be?” Her attempt at unaffected flippancy didn’tquite work.
Not with him sitting unabashedly naked in front of her, his warm brown eyes full of concern. For her.
“You’re really good at that,” she said, placing a quick kiss on his lips and adopting a saucy smile as she freed her hand.
His brow furrowed. “I wasn’t too…”—his cheeks turned pink—“rough?”
He was worried about her? Tara’s eyes burned, but she shook it off, flipping her hairover one shoulder and straightening her spine. “To be honest, it’s been a few years, so I’ll probably be a little sore.”
Jeff frowned. He probably had no idea how big a deal it was that she’d chosen to be with him after years of celibacy.
“But just in case we ever do that again,” she said, “you should know something.” Giving in to the urge to caress his coarse jaw one last time, she leanedclose to whisper in his ear. “Ilikeit a little rough.”
His sharp intake of breath followed her as she gathered her clothes and walked to the tiny bathroom with her head held high.
Her satisfaction was short-lived, however. It wasn’t like her to be petty, but she hadn’t wanted to be the only one suffering from regret. Not regret that they’d made love, but that they wouldn’t do it again. Ifthat was how he treated a one-night stand, his past girlfriends were the luckiest women on earth. He deserved better than having Tara take out her frustrations out on him.
Wasn’t he going through enough?
After washing her face and brushing her teeth, she twisted her messy hair into a knot on top of her head and dressed. Taking a deep breath she stared into the mirror. Somehow she had to faceJeff, knowing what he could do with his hands and mouth, how he tasted, how he felt moving inside her.
God. Her body flushed hot.
Maybe it was time for them to part ways. Once Jeff got Evan back, he was returning to Colorado anyway. His life was there, without her.
She took a deep breath and stood tall, ready to march out and tell him she would find someplace else to stay and leave in themorning. She couldn’t run from Greg Luciano forever.
When she opened the bathroom door, a fully dressed Jeff blocked her path. Her stomach jumped, and for a split second she imagined he’d come to convince her that he wasn’t ready to give her up. That he wanted to take her into his arms, kiss her into oblivion, and fuck her against the wall.
“Valerie just called,” he said, holding out his phoneas if to prove it. “Luciano was arrested an hour ago.”
“Hewas?” Her lips parted of their own accord, and all the knots in her shoulders released, even as she absorbed the idea that their time together was truly about to end. “That was fast.”
Jeff nodded. “Apparently the police found damning pictures of him on Mars’s computer or something.”
“Holy shit.” Her hand flew to her mouth, and shemoved to the nearby loveseat before her legs gave out and she landed on the floor. “I didn’t even realize how stressed out I was until now.” This was probably only a fraction of how Jeff had felt when he learned Evan was safe. A shaky laugh escaped her lips and she let out a long breath. “Wow. Okay. So, I can go home.” Perfect timing, right?
