My ankle twists suddenly, and I’m falling back on my broken heel. A yelp escapes my throat, but before I tumble to the ground, JJ wraps an arm around my waist and hoists me into his warm, hard chest.
A flush of heat coats my cheeks as his body hunches over mine. He doesn’t release me, he remains close. Our faces are merely inches apart. His eyes flick between mine, then down to my parted lips that are still trying to inhale oxygen.
There goes my heart again.Thump. Thump. Thump.
JJ leans closer, the tip of his nose grazing mine. I draw in a sudden breath, my entire body bursting into flames at the gentle action. Goddamn those sambuca shots because I can’t take my eyes off him.
My head is telling me to go home, to call a cab, to end this night now. But I can’t. Something is stopping me from moving. Instead, I lick my lips and tremble in his hold as he spreads his fingers wide against my back.
I almost lose myself to the sensation.
JJ inhales, his eyes slightly hooded. “Come home with me,” he rasps. “Let me show you how much of a gentleman I can be.”
My eyes flutter shut for a brief second, and I step into his hold, his warmth surrounding me like a soft hug.
I am well and truly screwed.
When I open my eyes, he’s staring down at me with an unexpected tenderness. Oh god. That handsome face.
“If by gentleman you mean you’ll make me a good cup of tea to cure this hangover for tomorrow,” I say with a stroke of confidence. “Then I’m all for it.”
A playful smirk flashes across his lips. “I make a fucking great cup of tea.”
For a moment, I expect him to drop my waist, but he doesn’t. He draws me in impossibly closer until I’m throbbing all over.
“Do you have oat milk?”
“No,” he admits with a small chuckle. “But there is a twenty-four-hour shop beside my apartment. I can grab you some on the way.”
I slowly remove myself from his grip, but his fingers remain resting against my hip to stabilise me on my heel. “Fine,” I say as I fold my arms over my chest. “You’ve sold me.”
JJ fishes his phone out of his pocket and orders a cab to his apartment, which is on the other side of town. When it arrives, he guides me over to it before helping me into the car.
I’m trying my damn hardest to keep my breathing quiet because I am being anything but cool right now, and I don’t need JJ to see how badly this situation is affecting me.
We arrive at JJ’s apartment, and he guides me up to the second floor before I slip off my shoes and carry them the rest of the way. I don’t bother asking who he lives with, I doubt he’d be bringing me back to his parents’ house after what he told me tonight.
He shows me inside. It’s clean and simple and smells like fresh laundry and thick aftershave, but mixed together, it’s not too prominent.
The door shuts behind me with a soft click, and I turn to him with wide eyes. “We forgot the oat milk,” I blurt.
JJ’s delicious mouth twists into another soft smirk. “What a shame,” he murmurs before sliding his hand across my cheekdelicately. He takes a step towards me, and I flutter my lashes up at him. “But I don’t really think you came for the tea.”
His voice is soft like silk and seductive like sin; it makes me want to close my eyes and submit. He’s right, of course I didn’t come for the tea.
It’s been a while. I deserve pleasure as much as the next person. And from someone devastatingly handsome? Yes, please.
“Did you,Ivy?”
My mouth opens, but nothing comes out. His eyes have me stuck in a trance, and his lips curl like he knows exactly what I’m thinking.
His lips drop to the other side of my jaw, brushing my skin softly. “Tell me or I won’t touch you any more than this.”
I tilt my head, looking up at his tall stature as he straightens his spine for a brief second. Only now without my heels do I notice how damn tall he is, and it’s doing absolutely nothing for my pounding core.
“No,” I whisper. “I didn’t come for the tea.”
JJ smirks against my jaw, and I despise how wobbly my voice came out. He’s got me wrapped around his finger, and I don’t even think I hate it, he can have me.
