My cheeks heat at the compliment, and I look away from him, concentrating on examining the repairs he’s done to the bike. “You don’t have to do that, you know.”
“Do what?”
“Constantly compliment me.” I peek at him over the bike. “I have good self-esteem.”
He barks out a laugh. “Believe me, I know you do, but that’s not why I do it.”
“Why, then? Because you’re trying to get in my pants?”
He raises a blond brow and wiggles his fingers. “Wasn’t I already in them?”
Hell…
My pussy throbs at the memory of him getting me off in the park, and I press my thighs together to try to ease the ache without being obvious about it. “That’s not what I meant.”
He smirks and pushes off the counter to move toward me. I stay frozen in place, watching him approach like a deer caught in the headlights of a Mustang Fastback barreling down on it. He rounds the bike, and I turn so it’s at my back and I’m facing him.
Bad idea.
Gage slowly cages me in so I have nowhere left to go, my butt bumping the bike stand. He captures my face in his palm, the rough callouses brushing against my skin, sending a little shiver through me. “Do you really not know why I always say you’re impressive?”
I thought I did.
Men aren’t generally very hard to figure out. They’re usually motivated by one thing and one thing only. But staring into his warm blue eyes, there is far more than just sexual attraction and need burning there.
He tilts my face up toward him. “I tell you you’re impressive because I am constantly in awe of you, and apparently, I really suck at expressing that with words.”
Could have fooled me…
I don’t even know how to respond to that, or really to anything Gage says or does because he doesn’t fit into any of the boxes I’ve always shoved other men into. Boxes that served their purpose and then were easily tossed away when I was done with them.
His thumb brushes lazily over my cheek, sending another shiver through me. “God, I would love to fuck you right here, up against this bike.” He leans in, feathering his lips over mine. “But for what I have planned, I need something much sturdier.”
Jesus Christ…
My knees start to give out, but I lock them, keeping myself upright because I refuse to do anything embarrassing like collapse into this man’s arms. Instead, I force myself to take a breath and meet his gaze with one I hope doesn’t make me look like the quivering, needy mess I’m becoming. “What do you have planned?”
He grins. “Come upstairs with me and I’ll show you.”
It’s the type of invitation I normally wouldn’t refuse; a handsome man who’s clearly very talented with his hands, and probably would be with everything else, is offering me a night in his bed. One I desperately need to work out all this tension.
But something holds me back from immediately jumping on his offer.
The fact that I was right.
Gage Newhart has secrets, things that he was keeping from me.
“Why didn’t you tell me about being a Ranger?”
His hand freezes on my cheek. “Because it wasn’t relevant to any of the conversations we were having.”
I narrow my gaze on him. Though he’s technically correct, he had plenty of opportunity to reveal something that was such a major part of his life and molded him into who he is today. And he didn’t. “Is there anything else important I need to know?”
He shakes his head and leans in, his warm breath fanning across my cheek as he makes his way over to my ear and presses his lips to it. “At the moment, all you need to know is that the plans I have will be quite beneficial to you.”
That throbbing heat returns in my core, and he presses against me tighter, until I can feel the hard line of his cock on my leg.
Shit…
