Theo studied her carefully as she worked. “What about you? Are you going home to Florida?”
“No. I usually spend the holidays with Violet and her family in Jersey. I can’t afford to fly back to Tampa, and I’m not sure I’d call it home anymore anyway.” She finished fixing the connection and set the iron aside.
“But what about Gladys? You always speak so highly of her.”
She sighed. “I’dloveto see her. She was the closest thing I everhad to a home and I try to keep up with her as much as I can, but she usually has her hands full with other foster kids. She doesn’t have time for me, and can’t afford to help me out. You don’t get all that much from the state as a foster parent.”
“When was the last time you saw her?”
“Before I moved here and started college. Almost five and a half years ago now.” She pointed down at her experimental battery prototype. “So what do you think of the design, Mr.Master Electrician? I need a professional opinion before my capstone presentation.”
“It looks great. My expertise is more in the practical implementation, not the theoretical, and I don’t really work on sustainability—not expressly, anyway. But it looks good to me.” Theo leaned his hands on the table surface and rocked back and forth on his heels. “Is your presentation a public thing?” Audrey nodded. “Can I come?”
Her heart raced at his question. He wanted to be there? For her? But she chose a casual shrug rather than show how excited that made her. “It’s open to the whole university, so I suppose the public can technically attend.”
“So I’m just ‘the public’ then, huh?” He shifted and loomed over her, his voice dropping low enough to almost qualify as a growl while he pointedly eyed her mouth and rolled his jaw pensively. She had an excellent view of his soft, plush lips from where she stood.
“Yep. Just the public. Just some guy.” She bit her own lip and closed the gap between them, sliding a hand up his sweater and trying not to grin as the muscles of his torso twitched beneath her touch. He was somehow the perfect combination of both soft and sculpted, and he shuddered as he bent over her, burying his face in her shoulder.
He’d done this to her in his studio. They were in hers now.
Fair was only fair.
“I’m not special at all?” he breathed, pressing his lips to her neck and settling his hips against her own.
The bulge in his jeans was intriguing.
“Nope.” She changed direction and slid back down, her fingers toying with the elastic waistband of his briefs. When she paused, his breathing quickened. “Positively plebeian.”
She pushed her hand beneath.
And his breath caught in a sharp inhale.
“You’re playing with fire, Miss Adams,” he rasped. He’d wrapped her in his arms and his fingers tightened at her back as her own curled in his dark hair.
“Can I touch you?” she whispered back. Her fingertips grazed against something hard and silken, but before she could explore further, he grabbed her wrist and held her still.
“Naughty girl,” he rumbled as he finally pulled back and looked her in the eye. His pupils were blown black and wide. “This isn’t the right place. I told you: I don’t do anything by halves. And I haveplans.” He tossed her hand away and grabbed the back of her neck, yanking her lips to his. When his tongue swept insistently into her mouth, tasting her expertly like he was searching for something, the temperature in the lab was suddenly sweltering. It was entirely too warm to continue working in those conditions.
“We’re getting out of here,” he growled against her skin. “And you’re coming home with me.”
Walking into Theo’shouse just before sunset felt so different the third time.
It was the first time Audrey had planned to be there, the first time she’d ever done such a thing with any sort of intention, and even though she was so comfortable with Theo now, her body stillvibrated with electricity when he shut the door and locked it before helping her out of her coat.
Part of it was the anticipation. He’d kept mum about what he was planning, and she knew he was planningsomething. He was nothing if not deliberate.
Part of it was the length of time. Their longest date so far had stretched overnight, sure, butthree days? Three days and three nights with one person? What if they got bored with each other? What if it didn’t go well? What if they got into a fight? At least they weren’t going on a trip and she could go home if that were the case. But even imagining the possibility felt awful, and Audrey tried to shove the thought away from her mind.
The last part of it was the expectation—not his, but hers. She’d started taking her new birth control after going down into Theo’s studio.
She wanted more of that. More ofhim.
But she was also scared.
Violet said sex could be a lot of things. It could be good, bad, mediocre, incredible, short, long, painful, soft, intimate, impersonal. It could be any of those things, sometimes all at once, and not knowing for sure what sex withTheomight be made Audrey want to crawl out of her own skin with anxiety.
That same restless feeling had coursed through her veins while they made a quick trip to her apartment to grab her things after somehow making it out of the lab with their clothes still on. It didn’t let up as Theo helped her pack her bag—and especially not when he peered curiously into her drawers and pulled out her summer bikini.
