She quickly crossed the apartment, brushing invisible lint from her jeans as her nerves sparked again with every step.
She opened the door. And there he was.
Pierce stood in her doorway, looking like every dangerous and tempting thought she’d been trying not to have since she met him. He wore jeans that fit perfectly against his thighs and, from her angle, his ass as well. The hunter green button-up, rolled at the sleeves, revealed his strong forearms, which should have come with a warning label. His brown hair was slightly tousled, his smile easy and warm, but his brown eyes were focused entirely on her.
Charley felt as if her brain had short-circuited.
So much for playing it cool.
???
Pierce pulled into a parking spot in front of Charley’s apartment building. His hands gripped the steering wheel as if it owed him something.
It’s just dinner,he told himself. Dinner with friends at Ray and Jessica’s house. A place he’d been to a hundred times before. It wasn’t a big deal.
Except this time, he wasn’t rolling in solo, grabbing a beer, and stuffing his face with tamales. This time, he was picking up Charley.
And his stomach had absolutely no business acting like it was jumping out of a plane.
He climbed out of the Jeep, brushing his palms over his jeans and tugging his sleeves halfway down before rolling them rightback up. He popped a piece of gum in his mouth before making his way up to her apartment.
He knocked, then waited until the door swung open. And just like that, all his tactical mental prep went straight to hell.
She looked absolutely stunning. Casual, butdamn. The soft brown top dipped off one shoulder, clinging in all the right places. Her dark jeans hugged her legs, her long hair falling in soft waves that made it almost impossible not to stare.
For a second, all he could do was take her in.
“I—uh,” he cleared his throat, smiled. “You look really beautiful.”
A faint flush bloomed on her cheeks as she smiled back. “Thank you.”
He leaned in and brushed a soft kiss against her cheek.
“You ready?”
She smiled. “Yep.”
She locked her door behind her, and they started walking toward the stairs and elevator. Before he could ask which one she preferred, she spoke up.
“We can take the stairs. This elevator is slow as molasses.”
Pierce nodded. He wasn’t going to complain. He wasn’t a fan of tight spaces with no exit.
“Jessica’s already texting me, asking if we’ve left yet,” Charley said, glancing down at her phone.
Pierce laughed as they stepped off the last step. He slipped a hand to the small of her back to guide her around a chunk of missing concrete in the sidewalk. “That sounds like Jessica. She treats every get-together like a military op, minus the camouflage. However, there is more food and a bit more interrogation.”
Charley smiled. “Good to know what I’m walking into.”
Pierce grinned. “Too late to turn back now.”
Charley tipped her head and glanced up at him through her lashes, a teasing smile tugging at her mouth. “Who says I want to?”
A surprised laugh left him before he could stop it, and something hot and satisfying curled in his chest. It was that spark in her that he was starting to crave way more than he should.
He turned his head just enough to catch the look on her face and that little smile of hers. For a second, all he could think about was hauling her closer and claiming those pretty pink lips of hers.
Instead, he let out a quiet laugh and shook his head, trying and failing to ignore the way his pulse had kicked up. Charley had no business being that damn cute and that damn tempting all at once.
