He leaned over and pressed his forehead to mine. "What's so funny?"
I pulled back, meeting his gaze with a smile of my own. "I am so incredibly – "
"Irresistible?"
"Um, no…"
"Adorable? Breathtaking? Impossible to forget?"
He couldn't be serious. Laughing, I shook my head. "Actually, I was going to say 'gross'." I looked down. "Yeah, I guess I probably do need a shower."
He grinned. "Probably. But I've gotta be honest. You look fine to me, just the way you are."
The way he said it, my insides did a funny little flip. "Yeah?"
He nodded. "And you should probably run as fast as you can for the shower now, before I get tempted to prove it."
Chapter 24
I felt myself swallow. My breaths were coming too shallow and too fast. I licked my lips and glanced down. Whatever he meant, Ididwant him to prove it. My voice was breathy as I said, "A little proof wouldn't be so awful."
He leaned his face close to mine, our lips almost touching, but not quite. The moment seemed to go on forever, and then, at last, our lips met.
The kiss started slow and soft, like the kiss of a butterfly, and built steadily to a crushing crescendo of hunger and need. I felt one hand on my upper back, and another wrapped in the tangles of my damp hair.
Following his head, I reached up and ran my trembling fingers through his tousled hair, feeling the strands thread through my fingertips as our lips and tongues met, danced, and slid against each other, making my head swim and my insides smolder.
I leaned forward, pressing into him until he tumbled to his back on the sofa, with me on top of him. Our bodies pressed tightly against each other, chest to chest, pelvis to pelvis, lips to lips. My bare feet rubbed against the denim fabric of his jeans. I was probably getting his jeans dirty too, but I was beyond caring.
Pulling away, he moved his mouth to my earlobe and then that tender spot behind it, running a string of light kisses as he went. Soon, I heard his voice in my ear. "You're addicting. You know that?"
My stomach fluttered, but my mind rebelled. The guy had been linked with too many women to count. Starlets, pop stars, and even some swimsuit model. I was just the neighbor girl. Correction – I wasn't even the neighbor girl. I was someone pretending to be the neighbor girl.
I didn't even belong here.
But right now, none of that mattered. I was breaking all the rules tonight. I barely knew him, but couldn't bring myself to stop wherever this was going. Everything about him was impossible to resist – his face, his body, and a certain something I couldn’t exactly place.
He was good at this sort of thing. His words, the look in his eyes, the way he touched me – I'd never experienced anything like it. If he wanted to share pretty nothings and hint that I was somehow special, I'd be an idiot to complain.
I pushed any reservations from my brain and let myself get carried away by the feel of his incredible lips on my sensitive skin. If I got lost in the fantasy, was that so bad?
His hands moved to my waist, and then lower still. Slowly, they drifted down to my backside, brushing lightly over the thin fabric of my panties. My heart beat wildly in my chest, and I had an uncontrollable urge to press our bodies closer, to feel his heartbeat against mine, to feel his skin on my skin, separated by nothing, not even the thinnest of cotton.
Soon, his lips were on mine again, and I savored the taste and feel of him. When I deepened the kiss, exploring his mouth with my tongue, he shuddered and pulled me closer, gripping my backside as I ground into him, relishing the feel of his arousal pressing against my pelvis.
When his hands slipped underneath my panties, and I felt his rough hands on the smooth skin of my ass, I pressed harder against him, wanting to savor every masculine line of him, every muscle, every ridge.
I pushed back, and ran my hands along his bare chest, doing what I'd wanted to do almost since the very first moment I saw him. I let my hands explore his spectacular physique, marveling that he felt as good as he looked.
I ran my hands over his shoulders, traced the outlines of his pecs, and let my hands slide lower, down to his abs, watching his muscles rise and fall in time with his uneven breathing.
His breath hitched, and he said in a low voice, "Chloe?"
Pausing, I let myself get lost in the moment and captured by the intensity of his gaze.
He looked at me a long moment, his tousled hair falling in his dark eyes. "I want you to know something," he said.
I ran a hand up to his neck and caressed the back of it. "Hmmm?"
