Could This Be Love? (8 page)

“You make me sound like I’m anti-lettuce.” Had she seriously just pouted? Sure, she felt out of her comfort zone here and still shaky, but she was not a pouter.

He shook his head and slowly pulled her into his arms, tucking her head under his chin. “You’re an equal-opportunity lettuce eater. I get it. Now put me out of my misery and say yes to the date please, or it will feel like high school all over again.”

She giggled into his chest even though she wasn’t a giggler either. Gah! Pouting and giggling? Those had to be the first two warning signs in a “You might be a groupie if . . .” quiz.

“Avery, I was a shy, sensitive guy in high school. My high school self can’t take rejection. Please just say, ‘I’d love to, Sijan.’”

“I’d love to, Sijan. But I can’t.”

“Truce, remember? Here’s a crazy idea. . . .”

She moaned and choked back a laugh. It was a crazy idea that had gotten her in this mess.

“What if we stopped fighting this wild attraction and just let it happen?”

“Let it happen?” Avery tried to pull herself together and think. She looked up at Sijan. Their gazes slammed together, and her world tilted. How could this man make her nerve endings tingle with a single touch of his strong, tanned hand? Why did he draw her like a warm fire in the wilderness? She’d only just met this man, yet she looked in his eyes and wanted to set up camp within his strong arms. “I’m not sure that’s such a good idea.”

“I get it, because being around you is like standing next to a huge unlit bonfire as the first sparks touch the base. There’s a rush of flame and heat as the sparks grab hold and burst into full flames. It’s a living thing that grabs me somewhere in my chest and lights me on fire. But nothing is stomping it out, so why not let it burn? Let’s give in to it and let it rage until it burns itself out.”

It wasn’t just her
. Although Sijan was talking about more than just a warm, cozy fire. He was describing something much more dangerous, a raging inferno. A conflagration that could scar her for life. She stared into his eyes, and darn her if she didn’t want to shut off her brain and jump into the flames.

Chapter Seven

A
few hours later, Sijan didn’t want to think either. Of course, the fact that he couldn’t might have been part of it. It was like when they were together, he and Avery had chemistry that changed the polarity of the oxygen molecules around them. Maybe that was why it was harder to breathe. He’d never experienced anything like this. He wanted to run his hands over every inch of her skin. Touch, lick, and kiss every part of her body. Tie their limbs together in a knot that would take years to untangle.

Sijan stood in the middle of Avery’s hotel room, staring into her face. Beautiful faces were a dime a dozen in his business, but this one was affecting him like no other. She had such an innocent look about her, yet her actions were as calculated as those of any other Hollywood starlet clamoring for her big break. His head told him to slow down, but something lower than his brain was telling him none of that mattered right now. Probably not tomorrow either.

The hotel room key card bit into his hand, a reminder of how unique a situation he was in. He might have quickly jumped into bed with a gorgeous woman when he was younger, but he’d long thought he was past the time when his hormones overruled his head. And, still, this was different from those distant days since more than hormones were engaged here. Looking into Avery’s eyes shocked his system.
What took you so long?
he almost said, but got distracted by how right it felt when her hand had settled into his.

She flinched when he reached out for her hand. The Avery he’d seen so far jumped without a net, fully engaged and confident, but standing in front of him now, she looked unsure and nervous.

“Want to know one of my closely guarded secrets? I started acting in high school because I was shy.”

She laughed and her hand relaxed in his. “I thought you were kidding earlier.”

“No, it’s true. I also suffered from a painful condition called the invisible middle child syndrome. Don’t get me wrong, I love my brothers, but it wasn’t easy being one of the Cates brothers.”

“Seriously? You do remember who you are, right?”

“Yeah. That’s part of the secret. Tynan, the oldest, was outgoing, popular, and caused trouble seven days a week. He got more attention than he knew what to do with. Paxton and Kaz, the twins, were little Einsteins in school, always winning debates or science fair competitions. And Quinn, the baby, was the star athlete. He grabbed attention anytime he was on a field. Me? I was lost growing up and felt left out and out of place most of the time.”

“I know just how you felt.” Her lips formed a soft, lopsided smile on her face.

“My mom talked me into the drama club freshman year. Pushed me kicking and screaming is more accurate. But I found I could pour all my emotions out on stage and walk away feeling better. Stronger. On stage, I finally knew who I was and found a place to shine.”

Her gaze dropped away. “Why are you telling me this?”

“Just . . . you seemed nervous.” He usually guarded his privacy, but this woman had him so off-kilter he was spilling his guts. “I thought if I told you something about me most people don’t know, it might help.”

“I am a little nervous. It’s been a while for me.” Avery smoothed unsteady hands down the nonexistent wrinkles on her dress. “And I don’t want either one of us to regret this.”

“What’s to regret?” Sijan held the key in his hand giving her a chance to change her mind. “We both know what this is. All our cards are on the table so no one gets hurt.”

“Right. All our cards are on the table.” Avery’s gaze cut away, darting around the room.

Okay, so maybe the lady still had secrets, but that was fine with him. Tonight was about exploring potential and stripping it down to pure pleasure.

“You can always change your mind.” Sijan tossed the key card onto the nearest piece of furniture and stepped closer until he could feel the heat from her body. “At any point.”

Her eyes flashed back to his and her cheeks turned a soft pink. “It’s just . . . I’m not very good at this.”

Sijan kissed her. He cupped his hands along her delicate jaw and lost himself in the softness of her lips and the rose-petal taste of her. Heady, perfumed, luscious. “Not good at what?”

“Sex.” Avery’s unsteady breathing matched his.

This wasn’t sex. This was madness. This was a lesson in combustion. “No worries. We can slow this down. Or at least try to.” Although he didn’t stop his hand from reaching for the zipper of her dress, sliding it down as far as it would go. He smoothed his hand along the silky skin of her back.

Avery looked up at him like she didn’t have a clue what he was talking about. Her hand held up the front of her now gaping dress. “You can do that?”

“Whoa, wait. This isn’t your first time, is it?” Sijan pulled back a few inches. He might need to rethink this. He still needed to make love to this woman, but he might need to approach this differently or slow this way the hell down, maybe even back off entirely.

“N . . . no. But, I’ve only done this fast.” She cleared her throat, her voice matter-of fact, but the slight tremble of her chin and hands held his attention. “Like it was a race to the finish. I think I lost each time.”

Sijan looked into Avery’s eyes and saw more than she was saying. She stood like a wild animal, tense, ready to bolt at the slightest threat.
Christ, some men should be shot.

Moving forward again, he turned her around until he faced her back and looped her hair up off her neck. “Hold this for a second.” He placed kisses along the soft, perfumed nape of her neck as he closed the zipper on her dress.

Avery’s head jerked around in surprise. “What are you doing?”

“Slowing this down.” He kissed her and led her away from the bed and over to the sofa in the room. “Since you missed out on dating because the boys in your high school were obviously too stupid to live, I’m going to recreate some of my best high school date moves. Stop me when you’ve had enough.”

“Sijan, you don’t need—”

“Already? I haven’t even turned on the rotten movie we’ll pretend to watch so I can make my move.” He grabbed the remote off the coffee table and clicked on the television. Making sure the volume was low, he began surfing for a movie with one hand while settling Avery on the sofa next to him. “Hey, look, the pay-per-movie channel is running a Sijan Cates movie marathon.”

“I’m not that into movies. . . .”

“So says the president of my fan club.”

Her eyes widened when she realized what she’d let slip. The woman had told so many whoppers she couldn’t keep them straight. The question he should be asking, if his hormones weren’t steering the ship, was why lie? But that wasn’t what tonight was about. Tonight was about being free from all the pressure and just enjoying themselves. “Relax. Making out to one of my own movies holds no appeal. Here we go. An old Hitchcock movie so when you get scared you can hold on to me.”

“I don’t scare easy.”

“Huh. Then I’ll hold on to you.” He waited until she had settled against the back of the couch, then extended his arms, stretching them both out wide, making sure to end with one arm wrapped around her shoulders.

“Very smooth.”

“Years of practice. Once I’ve made my stretch move, I begin to round the bases.”

“Excuse me?”

“First base. You know, kissing. Only not just kissing, but kissing of the French persuasion.” He reached out his hand to caress hers, the simple contact arcing through him as if he’d touched two live wires together.

Her tongue darted out and licked her lower lip. “I’m pretty sure we already covered that base earlier today in the elevator.”

“We sure did. But we can’t just move on to second base. We need to go back and tag up at first.” He gathered her into his arms and kissed her. Slow, thorough kisses. French kisses, each exploring the warmth of each other’s lips and mouth.

And just like that, they caught fire. He couldn’t get enough of her, and she was touching and grabbing right back. Time became a non-dimension. Five minutes or five hours, he wasn’t sure and didn’t care. The only thing he knew was he wanted more, but he was more than fine to let Avery set the pace. She pulled her lips from his and kissed her way to his ear, where he felt her quick, panting breaths as she contorted her body, twisting her arms behind her to rip the zipper back down.

“Second. I’m ready for second base.”

“I can guarantee you’ll make second base safely.” He pulled her up to straddle her legs over his lap until she sat right in front of him. Slowly he eased her dress forward, down her shoulders, separating their bodies just enough for the dress to slip down her torso.

Sucking in a sharp breath, Avery pressed her hand to her chest, stopping the descent of the dress. His body tensed and he leaned back, ceding all space and sovereignty to her. Her eyes searched his face, and he hoped he had what she was looking for. “Whatever you want.”

Nodding, more to herself than to him, she pushed the dress down to her waist with both hands. His breath caught in his lungs at the sight of her breasts, barely covered in pale wisps of lingerie. Beautiful, but his eyes whipped back to her face, needing to see she wanted this as much as he did. “Are you sure?”

She cupped his face in her hands, leaning forward to direct her gaze hot on his. “Yes, I’m sure. I want you to touch me. Please.”

Capturing her lips again in a warm, slow kiss, he let his hands glide across her collarbones, over her shoulders, and down her well-toned arms. He paused to stroke the sensitive inner bend of her elbow until he couldn’t delay temptation anymore and cupped her breast. He used her indrawn breath as a guide, caressing her breasts with both hands as he skimmed his lips up her jaw to whisper honeyed words in her ear.

Unhooking her bra, he followed the wispy material with his lips as it slid down and off her chest. His lips and hands worked together, partners in an adagio of stroking, licking, sucking, and kissing. Her breasts, ribs, shoulders, and arms all received equal attention. Just when he thought to slow down the pace, she surprised him again by throwing gasoline on the flames.

“My turn.”

Sijan groaned and quickly pulled his shirt up and off. Her gaze heated as it roamed his chest. She touched tentative hands on his biceps, the feather touch seared like a brand. A living flame on his skin that shot through his body like a lightning bolt. She caressed her hands up to his shoulders and down his chest, brushing his nipples before gliding down his abs. His breath stacked up in his windpipe like a fifty-car pileup on a freeway when her fingertips hovered at the waistband of his jeans.

“Is it too soon for third base?”

“Hell no, it isn’t, but I think we’re both done playing games.” He helped her stand, then moved them over to the bed, where he sat, pulling her into the V of his legs. One tug and her dress slid past the generous curves of her hips to fall forgotten at their feet. This was not the body of a woman who cared about the trend toward model-thin figures.

“God, you’re beautiful.” The scent of her went to his head as he moved his mouth across the sexy softness of her abdomen. When her hips started to move between his hands, Sijan swung Avery down onto the bed, covering her with his warmth and need. He needed to bury himself in her, but when he looked into her eyes, he realized she needed something else.

“I’m ready,” Avery said, her body suddenly stiff under his. Her eyes, a swirl of uncertainty and vulnerability.

“Sweetheart, you aren’t even close.” He needed to make love to her, but not like this. Sijan rolled his weight off. He lay stretched out beside her, searching her face for a hint as to what she wanted or needed, but now all he saw was confusion. He caressed her cheek with his hand. “Hey, it’s okay. There are no rules here. And this sure as hell is no race.”

***

Avery looked into Sijan’s heated gaze and knew the time for that other plan—the one she needed to pry open the monstrous, crushing straitjacket of her screwed-up past—was now. Or never.