Page 48 of Something Like That

Popping off the seatbelt, she turned toward him. He sat straight, staring out the windshield. His hands were folded in his lap, his shoulders tight. “What are you doing?” He kept his tone even, no hint of anything in this voice this time.

“Will you look at me, please?”

He turned his head toward her, but nothing else. Crap, she needed to fix this.

“You know this isn’t about you, right?” She kept her voice low, the words quiet, but made sure to fill them with truth.

He shrugged, but his shoulders remained rigid. “Whatever.” He turned back to stare out the windshield.

Ugh, she wanted to scream. Frustrating man. She drew a deep breath in through her nose and counted to five. “Nicholas Sadler, stop being a stubborn ass and look at me.”

His jaw clenched, but he undid the seatbelt and turned to face her. The shadows made it difficult to make out his expression clearly, but she could definitely see the hurt in his gaze.

She grabbed his hand and held it between both of hers. “This isn’t about you. I am not ashamed to be with you, Nick.”

He swallowed and nodded, but didn’t say anything. She took it as a sign she should probably continue, fill in some of the blanks for him.

“I just don’t want what we have to…” It was difficult to articulate what she was trying to say, what she was trying to tell him. “Dammit, this is so hard.”

He shifted his hand so he was holding hers back and gave a light squeeze. The gesture settled her, made her feel more centered.

“It’s okay.” This time he sounded more like himself. Some of the tension in her chest shifted, making it easier to breathe.

“This whole thing, whatever it is between us, is new and exciting, and I just don’t want to screw it up.”

“You’re not screwing anything up, Alex.”

She laughed, but it had a bit of a hysterical edge to it. So much for feeling more centered. “It’s just that, well, I haven’t actually been with anyone since Kevin.”

The silence stretched between them. She could tell he was doing the math in his head. Yup, it had really been almost ten years since she’d been with anyone. In the biblical sense. Heat pulsed in her cheeks and the tips of her ears. She was glad he probably couldn’t see her all that well.

He didn’t say anything, even after he’d figured out she was a born-again-against-her-will virgin. Just stared at her.

Her skin felt hot and tight, but not in the good way. Her confession had obviously changed his mind about all of this. Which, once she got past the sear of disappointment streaking through her, she would realize was a good thing.

Things with him, and her feelings for him, were already confusing enough. Sleeping with him was just going to complicate things further. And getting naked with him would only make it that much harder when he eventually went home.

She was just about to suggest he forget about the whole thing when he leaned forward. In the tight confines of the car, that put him right up in her space.

This close, she could see him clearly. The handsome lines of his face. His sensual mouth, turned down at the corners in the barest hint of a frown. His blue eyes, that looked cobalt in this light, searching her face.

“I want to kiss you.” His voice was a low rumble. “Can I kiss you, Alex?”

All the breath left her lungs, making speech impossible, so she nodded and leaned forward.

He brushed his lips against her, the barest hint of a kiss. She whimpered. It was good, but so not what she wanted, what she needed.

She felt his lips tip up in a smile against hers. And then he tilted his head and deepened the kiss. His lips were firm and demanding, his tongue brushing against the seam of her lips, requesting entry.

She moaned and opened her mouth. He slipped his tongue inside, lifted his hand to cup the back of her neck, pulled her closer. She thrust her tongue against his, desperate to taste him. His dark spicy flavor intoxicated her, making her feel light headed and giddy. And so freaking hot she was ready to combust.

Suddenly, she needed to touch him, to run her hands all over him, convince herself he was real, that this was real and happening. She climbed over the console and straddled his hips. It was a tight squeeze, since they were both so tall, and she couldn’t sit up fully or she’d bump her head on the ceiling, but she didn’t care. Besides, sitting up meant they wouldn’t be kissing, and that was so not happening.

He slid his hands around her waist and then down to her hips. Gripped her tight. His fingers dug into her skin. It felt so good. She shifted her hips forward, trying to get as close to him as possible.

He moaned into their kiss and slid his hands around and under her coat to grab her butt. She cursed the layers of clothing between them. Who knew she’d come to hate cotton and wool?

She rocked forward. The long, hard length of him pressed against her. She whimpered, because it felt so, so good. This time, there was no answering smirk from him.