I slip my keys into my pocket and pull my phone out to make sure it’s on silent, because the idea of Aster calling—and Nova asking questions—is horrifying enough to wrap a vise around my lungs and squeeze. Finally, I put my phone away and start toward the porch stairs, running a hand through my hair as nerves trickle through my veins.
Before I make it onto the first step, Nova’s front door swings wide, and the woman herself smiles. She fucking glows.
“You’re not late.” She leans against the doorframe in a dress that hugs her curves and emphasizes her chest perfectly. With a high neckline that leaves her shoulders on show, and dips at her hips that make my mouth water, she kicks one heeled foot over the other and smirks. “I was pre-cranky at you for being late, seeing as how ridiculously inconsiderate that would be, especially because you’re only next door. But now you’re here, and all that arguing I was hyping myself up for has gone to waste.”
“I have something we can argue about.” I stalk up the stairs and grab her arm, yanking her into the house and slamming the door until the windows on each side hum. “You wait for a man to knock, Nova.” I release her and pace toward the kitchen doorway, only to turn back again and scowl. “You’re expecting a date? You make him knock. And those curtains?” I snarl, spinning and pacing away. “They’re crap! Curtains are for aesthetics. They’re not for security. I could see you while I was outside, which means other people can see you, too.” I turn back againand meet her smiling eyes. “Stop being happy! Jesus. Start thinking about safety.”
“You sound like my brother.” She covers her grin, though it does nothing to hide the bounce of her chest. “Nice temper, though. Also, you skipped the part where you’re supposed to tell me I’m pretty. Something about how my legs look in these heels, and how I’m wearing shapewear so my butt is popping extra tonight.” She points toward the sky and purses her lips. “I even washed and dried my hair. And for what? Not even a ‘Wow, Nov. You look cute. Wanna bang?’”
Anger is like popping candy in my blood. Like lava burning my veins.
My eyes drop to her legs anyway, without my conscious permission, and my cock turns hard.
I want so badly to touch. To explore.
“You look cute.” Swallowing, I drag my gaze up again. “Also, I’m buying you blinds tomorrow. Permission to come in while you’re working and install them? Or I could come by after work, so you don’t worry that I’m gonna steal your shit.”
Ironic. I know.
“Permission?” She slides her tongue along her teeth, her smile beautiful and blinding. “Am I your drill sergeant?”
“Just answer the damn question!”
“Permission denied.” She smirks. “I’ll buy the blinds myself, since you’re kind of unemployed. I’d feel bad about spending your money. Once they arrive, you can come over andhelpme install them.” She folds her arms, pushing her breasts higher and drawing my eyes the way a snake charmer controls his serpent. “Did you come here in a bad mood, or is that a result of me opening my door and robbing you of your chance to knock?Because I saw you two hours ago.” She crinkles her nose. “You weren’t shouting then.”
“The curtains and door thing,” I grumble. “Mostly. But you’re really pretty, too, and I made that big speech aboutnotbanging you while you’re vulnerable.”
She snorts and twists, peeking back at her ass. “Regret your words yet? Because I look damn good, and these Spanx are doing things for my rear end.”
“Have you ever had casual sex with a man after letting him peel your shapewear off?” I lift a brow and wait for her eyes to come back around. “It takes an extremely confident woman to still feel sexy after fighting for her life against the stretchy straightjacket.”
“Two glasses of wine, and I won’t give a shit.”
“So, vulnerableandunder the influence.” I throw my hand up and drop my head back, a long, pained groan clawing along my throat. “Jesus. You’re asking me to take advantage of you, Nova. You’re practicallybeggingme to take something not truly offered.” I bring my eyes down again and search hers. “There’s gonna come a point where my moral code and attempt at being a good, decent gentleman count for nothing. Because I’m a man, and you’re a woman, and there’s this thing about biology and animals and attaching one thing to another. Eventually, evolution is gonna fuck us over.”
“Terrible, horrible excuse for a lack of self-control,” she teases. “Evolution, my ass. If I’m offering, I’m offering. At two glasses of wine, consent still exists. Twobottlesand I’m sitting under a table? Then you’re gonna need that moral code of yours.” She strides my way with a delicious, hip-swinging gait with the power to weave magic in my blood. Then she pats myshoulder and continues past. “You’re gonna be okay, big boy. We’re all grownups here.”
I snarl and spin and study her slender back. “Where are you going?”
“To get my purse and a jumbo box of super-sized condoms. If they don’t fit, I don’t sit.”
She laughs at her own joke andclick-click-clicksinto the kitchen, snatching up a little clutch, then returning with rosy cheeks and dancing eyes. “Come on, Linc. That was funny.”
“If they don’t fit, you don’t sit? Nova!”
“We can swing by the grocery store, I suppose, and consider the regular-sized rubbers. But if you so much as peek at the smalls, I’m walking.”
“Youarestress!” I crush my palms against my eyes and groan. “Not stressful, like it’s a temporary situation.Stress. Noun. You’re the whole emotion. You—are—stress, Nova Nichols. And stress kills, dontcha know that? You’re risking my life with this bullshit, all because you want a fun distraction and an extended stroll along Dissociation Lane.”
“Uh-huh, but that’s how I choose to spend my time. You also have freedom of choice. And though you complain a lot, all I see is a man in my living room, thinking about sex and secretly wondering if my Spanx are black to match my dress, or beige to match my skin. Oh! And speaking of avoidance—” She darts around the couch and bends over the coffee table, and though my focus is horribly and selfishly on her thighs when her dress rides up, my heart drops to my fucking asshole when she stands again and reveals a USB drive pinched between her fingers.
“W-what is that?”
“I found it on the floor of my brother’s bedroom this afternoon.”Slower now, less silly, she wanders closer and stops just three feet away. “I’m not entirely sure why I even went in there, since I was on my way into the bathroom so I could shower for tonight, but I saw his door, and…” She trails off, ending her sentence with a shrug.
“You, uh…” I dig my hands into my pockets and swallow the giant fucking ball of dread taking up residence in my windpipe. “Do you know what that is?”
“Well… yeah. It’s a USB thingy, which means it’s probably got pictures or files or whatever on it.”
