My hands are on her hips in seconds, and I swear to God, I feel the delicious shudder as it racks through her small frame.
“Talk about what?” I ask, dropping my forehead against hers. “Because if it’s about schedules or social media content, then I’m not sticking around.”
She shakes her head. “You didn’t come here to talk work, and I think this thing between us isn’t going to go away with time and distance. Is it?” Drew says the final two words like she’s seeking reassurance from me.
I’m happy to validate her thoughts.
“No, Baby, it won’t. Because I’m not going anywhere,” I whisper softly, tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear. The rest is piled on top of her head in a way that only adds to her sexual appeal.
Fuck me, I want her so freaking badly.
“Let me kiss you,” I softly plead. “Just once, and I promise with no tongue.”
She shakes her head again. “I can’t let you do that.”
“Why not?”
She swallows thickly. “Because I don’t trust myself around you.”
“Then I’ll leave, and we’ll go back to the way things were before September.”
After a beat, she sets a hand on my right cheek, and, wow, the feel of her warm palm has my knees ready to give out.
Keep it together, Will.
“I’ve been sitting here all night, thinking about New York and what happens after the Japanese restaurant.”
My cheeks ache from the grin I’m unable to suppress. “You’ve been thinking about me?”
She’s all innocence, and all I want to do is wrap her legs around my waist and corrupt every part of her.
“You test me in ways I’ve never been tested before, Drew. I’ve never chased a girl because I’ve never been interested in pursuing someone.” I bite down on my lip. “The way I would move fucking mountains to spend a night with you.”
She rises on her tiptoes, our lips a hairbreadth apart when she whispers, “Would it be like how you are with all the other girls? One night, and you’re done with me?”
My forehead is back against hers. “It’s funny you should ask that.”
Drew pulls back to look at me properly. “Why?”
I bring her body into mine, hands slowly moving from her hips to the tie holding her robe together. When I slowly start to unravel the knot and she doesn’t stop me or take her eyes away from mine, I’m certain she’s comfortable with me seeing her.
When her robe is hanging open, my gaze slowly descends her body, hands back on her hips.
This time—and without a robe in the way—I feel the heat from her skin radiating into my palms. I can make out the faint outline of perfect pink nipples through her white tank top, and when they harden beneath my gaze, I yank my black T-shirt overhead and toss it on the floor behind us.
See me, Drew.
Her jaw pops open as she takes in my upper body. I’m acutely aware that I haven’t answered her last question, but words aren’t what’s needed in this moment.
I suck a sharp breath through my teeth when she sets a hand in the center of my chest. It must be at least thirty seconds before she finally asks me, “Why?” again.
I’m in deep. Way out of my comfort zone but powerless to hold back in my pursuit of Drew Callaghan.
“Because I’ve been wondering the same thing about you—if I take you to bed and risk feeling things I’ve never felt with anyone else, will I wake up in the morning to find your side cold and empty with an email in my inbox, telling me that we can’t work together anymore?”
Pulling one hand from her hip, I tip Drew’s chin up to look at me. My lips are right there, hovering over a kiss that will plunge me straight into an ocean of darkness. An unknown I’m so desperate and fearful to explore.
Would she yank herself away and scream at me to leave if I went ahead and took what I wanted, or would it be the biggest payoff of my life? By nature, I’m a huge risk-taker, but this is fucking risky, even by my own standards.
