‘You didn’t lose,’ she says with a wave of her hand. ‘And I mean the ride itself.’ Her eyes drop to my body, undertaking thesame inspection I’d just carried out. Looking for bruises, sign of physical pain.
‘More than it used to,’ I say, putting my wine glass down next to hers and keeping my tone light. As though the expiration date of my career doesn’t keep me up at night. I know some guys ride well into their thirties, some even their forties, but the toll this is taking on me is something I’m critically aware of. I won’t be going for another ten years. Probably not even another five.
She moves then, taking a step toward me, a tentative look in her eyes as she slowly lifts her hand to my chest. Like she’s waiting for me to pull away, or to tell her not to touch me. Maybe she wants me to do that, to put an end to this. To be sensible enough for both of us. But not touching Bailey has quickly become a form of torture. I’d prefer not to keep feeling that way.
Her touch is so light, it’s barely there. I move closer toward her. Her eyes flick to mine; she sucks in a sharp, sudden breath.
‘You scared, Bailey?’
She shakes her head slowly from side to side. ‘Nope.’
Something surges inside of me. A mix of relief and heat.
The hand on my chest is suddenly less tentative, as a fire seems to take hold of her. She pushes me back toward the bed, her teeth biting down on her lower lip as I sit on the edge and lift both hands to her hips, holding her right there, between my legs. The towel is dangerously placed, but I don’t give a shit.
‘Remember what I said last night?’
I rack my brain but don’t need to answer. She jumps right ahead.
‘This doesn’t mean anything. I’ve got plans for my life, and they don’t involve you.’ She says it in a lighthearted way, almost like she’s teasing herself. As if she’s embarrassed I might think this is serious or something. Yet I can’t help but wonder about her plans, can’t help wanting to know more, even as need is surging through my body like a summer storm.
‘Goddamn it, you’re cute when you’re laying down the law.’ I grin, to defuse the effect she’s having on me. Honestly, it halfway scares the hell out of me, how much I want this woman.
‘I meant what I said the other day too.’
‘Let’s just agree you always mean what you say.’
A smile flits across her face.
‘This is seriously frowned on for a reporter. I wouldloveto not be doing this, you know.’
‘Well, the door’s right there.’
She rolls her eyes. ‘I think that horse has bolted, don’t you?’ She glances down at my barely covered lap, making her meaning abundantly clear. ‘But no one can know about this. No one. It’s hard enough for me to be taken seriously as it is?—’
I frown. ‘Now, why’s that, Bailey James?’
She shakes her head. ‘I don’t want to talk about it.’
I lift a single brow, silently pushing her.
She curves her hand over my shoulder. ‘Do we have a deal?’
I know we’ll come back to my question later, because I don’t wanna let it go. I move my hands to the lowest button of her shirt, holding her gaze as I begin to unfasten it, so I see thesecond her breath hitches in her throat and a pretty pink colour stains her cheeks.
‘Do you have anything to add?’ she asks, but the question comes out strangled and breathless.
I move to the next button. ‘You’ve already covered off the things I care about.’ I glance up at her eyes. ‘I don’t do serious. Never have, probably never will. If you’re up for a good time, no strings, I’m your man.’
‘That’s exactly what I’m after,’ she says on a rushed exhalation. ‘Easy, no promises, no drama.’
‘No promises except for this one?’ I prompt, grinning up at her.
‘Well, yeah.’ She smiles back at me. My chest twists with heat. God, but she’s stunning.
‘Now that we’ve got that out of the way …’ She moves to straddle me, knees on the mattress, either side of my body. ‘Kiss me, cowboy, and don’t you dare fucking stop.’
I don’t need to be asked twice.
