“That’s why I was in Seattle that weekend.”
He swallows hard. “It’s how we met.”
A heavy pause follows, suffocating with all the implications of that unforgettable night. The memory is stamped on the forefront of my mind, raising my body temperature and kicking my heartbeat up.
He scratches his neck. “My best friend plans to ask my sister soon too.”
“We’re getting to that age, aren’t we?”
Ian shrugs. “I think if you know, you know.”
The need to know more about him pushes me to ask, “So, how was their relationship for you?”
His face scrunches up. “They both give me shit for keeping them apart, which frankly, I didn’t even know about their relationship they had behind my back. Still…”
I giggle. “You’re the possessive type, aren’t you?”
“I am. I don’t share.” His voice deepens, sending a jolt through me.
At the innuendo, my thighs clench. I remember the sex with him too well—all in, delivering the ultimate pleasure.Think other thoughts, I urge myself, not knowing what to reply when he opens his mouth. I am so grateful I could kiss him. Damn. I am screwed.
“But with them it stemmed more from wanting to protect them and myself from potential fallout.”
“Understandable.”
He jerks his chin to me. “So, what did relationship two do?”
He wasn’t you.
“He was nice and all on paper…”
“Sounds like a dick.”
I smack him playfully with a towel, and he looks me right in the eyes with a heated expression that burns me up. “You don’t want just nice, Lilly.”
“What do I want then?” I ask breathlessly.
He pushes himself off the counter, erasing every inch of space between us. I gulp hard, the closeness sending my senses in a tizzy.
His eyes burn with a sheer intensity that dizzies me. “To feel coveted. To feel as if you’re everything to someone. Passion, love, adoration. You want a man who treats you right outside the bedroom and fucks you senseless behind closed doors.”
He’s speaking to the part of me where I keep all my hidden desires and wishes.
“You want a guy to look at you and forget the world around him. So no, you don’t want nice because it’s implied. You want smitten.”
He resumes his position, gripping the edges of the counter so hard that it wouldn’t surprise me if it cracked under the pressure. The bit of space does nothing to quench my sudden thirst. I raise the glass, and the water sloshes with the slight tremble of my hand. I am all hot, but that’s nothing new in his presence.
“And what do you want from a woman?” I murmur.
He closes his eyes for a second and says, “To see and love me for who I am.”
The air crackles between us. The unapologetic desire mixed with delicious tension swirls around us in tendrils of temptation, wrapping around my senses, drugging me. I take a step toward him, and he spreads his legs in invitation when the oven goes off.
I escape the trance, turning around too quickly. I slam my hip into the table’s corner, hissing.
He groans in the back of his throat and stands up. Placing his hand on the throbbing pain, he rubs gently, making other types of ache flare to life.
“You okay? Does it hurt?”
