Page 78 of Last Resort

But I held my ground. I didn’t push her against the wall and take and taint her like I wanted to right there in the club. There’s something to be said for that because restraint isn’t my strong suit.

That’s what she wants, isn’t it? For me to prove I have no control? That I only think of my needs and not hers or the possible repercussions and fallout that would harm her?

So I did the unthinkable, something the me of last week would have never done—I walked the fuck away.

And now as the clock keeps ticking later and later, I’m sitting in our darkened villa questioning my choices.

Next time, I won’t.

Next time, I’ll say fuck the bullshit game and take exactly what I want because this, her, us, is driving me fucking insane.

So I take another sip of my whiskey, waiting with my eyes closed and my head swimming and my thoughts running.

Two in the morning. That’s when I hear the fumbling at the front door and the laughed-out curse as the lock beeps to tell her that her key card didn’t engage.

Then the door pushes open and Sutton stumbles inside with a “Whoopsie,” falling from her mouth. She drops her purse on the counter with a loud thud and then clumsily pulls her shoes off one by one before tossing them haphazardly to the floor.

She giggles again—that’s twice tonight she’s giggled. It’s so strange to hear the sound from such a controlled, headstrong woman, but it pulls a smile to my lips. She weaves over to pick up a water bottle from the table and takes a long, greedy gulp before simply standing there with her eyes closed and a dopey smile on her lips.

Her skirt is crooked and her top is falling off one shoulder. She looks like a hot mess and yet, still adorable when before, I’ve only seen her as sexy.

Stop, Callahan. Let her go to bed and not know you’re sitting here.

I can’t resist.

“Have fun?”

She jumps at the sound of my voice and then visibly relaxes when she finds me sitting across the room from her in the dark. “You waited up for me?” She moves across the room. “How cute.”

“Just unwinding,” I murmur, angling my head to look up at her where she stands in front of me.

“In the dark at whatever time this is?”

“Mm-hmm. I like this time of night when everyone is asleep and the silence speaks.”

“I thought you were a morning person.”

“I’m a lot of things, Sutton.”

She stares at me, head tilted, teeth biting her bottom lip. Fuck, she’s cute. “What does the silence say?” she whispers as she takes it upon herself to step between my legs and sit on one of my knees. I put one hand on her waist to help steady her. Her glassy eyes meet mine and she narrows them while she waits for an answer.

“That you’re going to have one hell of a headache in the morning.” I move my hand off her waist and play with a lock of hair that’s fallen out of her ponytail, rubbing it between my fingers.

“Maybe. Maybe not.” She yawns and looks at me with half-closed eyelids. “Do I have an expiration date, Johnnie?”

“A what?” I laugh.

“Brady told me you’re the type of man who gives a woman an expiration date—that you only play with them for so long—so I was wondering if I have one?” The look in her eyes is so earnest it undoes me in a way I’ve never been undone before.

Is this her way of asking if I’m over her?

Does she not see that that’s the furthest thing from the truth?

“Sutton—”

“I’m sleepy,” she murmurs and then without any warning, leans forward and lays on my chest. Her body snuggles into mine with her cheek on my shoulder and the tip of her nose under my jaw.

I hesitate. I’m not sure why I do after we slept together in her bed the other night, but I do.