Chapter 11 #2
She stood there, shivering and staring up at me. That loose lock of hair stuck to her cheek. I reached up and brushed it away, tucking it behind her ear. Her eyelashes glittered from the raindrops caught on them. In a flash, the air around us electrified.
I shackled the urge to kiss her because she was shivering, but I didn’t intend to let this chance go.
“Come, let’s get you home.” I slid my palm down her back as if I could somehow absorb her shivers and curled my hand around hers.
“You were walking this way, so we’ll keep going. Tell me where to go.”
Her hand was icy cold in mine, but she didn’t yank it away. “It’s just a few blocks away,” she said.
I didn’t say aloud what I thought. She lived only minutes from the flat I shared with Tristan. We walked quietly through the rainy night. After another few blocks, she gave my hand a little tug and came to a stop.
“Here.” She angled her head toward a small entryway to the side of a main entrance into a business.
“I’ll walk you up,” I announced, figuring she’d try to shoo me away.
She surprised me with a nod. “Your jacket’s wet now. I’ll throw it in the dryer for a few minutes before you go.”
Obviously, that wasn’t a problem with me.
As I followed her through the entrance and up a flight of stairs to a hallway with echoing hardwood floors, I considered that what I wanted right now was to not leave here tonight without having all of her.
I, so well known as a happy-go-lucky flirt who usually wanted nothing more than a good time, got nervous.
Not about me, not about my performance, but about what it meant that I wanted Zoe the way I did.
I’d never have argued that virginity was a deal breaker, but it held a sense of portent to it.
I didn’t usually go for anything of importance when it came to women and sex.
In fact, I rarely slept—the sleeping kind of sleep—with any woman.
Yet, I had it in my head I’d be waking up with Zoe after tonight and couldn’t quite wait to see her sleepy with her hair down.
She wore tall boots that showcased her long legs.
As usual, she also wore a fitted skirt—simple black and damp from the rain.
For the first time, I considered the distance from her office to where I’d encountered her and realized she’d walked quite a way.
It was no wonder she was chilled from the rain.
Our footsteps echoed down the hallway. We passed several doors, and I gathered the upstairs of the business was flats.
We reached the end of the hall when Zoe stopped and let go of my hand as she fumbled in her purse.
As soon as she pulled her keys out, she dropped them.
Out of reflex, I leaned over to pick them up and handed them to her.
Just that little touch sent a jolt of electricity zipping through me.
Her eyes locked to mine. For a second, I didn’t know what she meant to do.
Then, she gave her head a little shake and turned to slide the key into the lock only to almost drop her keys again.
I curled my hand over hers. “Easy,” I murmured.
The key slid into the lock and turned. The door swung open with a whisper.
Zoe stepped away from me and walked across the darkened room to flick on a lamp in the corner.
I closed the door behind me and glanced around.
Her flat had high ceilings and hardwood floors, creating a spacious feeling though the flat was on the small side.
We entered into the living room, which had a bright blue rug in the middle of the floor with a loveseat and two chairs flanking it facing a television mounted on the wall.
The room was sparsely furnished beyond that.
To the other side was a wide arched entry leading into the kitchen behind a counter with stools pushed against it.
A short hallway was to the back of the living room.
I surmised her bedroom and bathroom were back there.
Zoe returned to where I stood, resting a hand on the wall while she tugged off her boots.
I didn’t bother to ask and toed my shoes off as she removed my jacket from her shoulders and gave it a shake.
The denim was soaked through at the shoulders.
It probably had been when I handed it to her, but I hadn’t noticed.
She glanced to me. One look and my breath lodged in my throat for a beat.
The tiny freckles dusted across her nose and cheeks stood out against her creamy complexion.
With her hair damp from the rain, it was a deep, rich red.
Her hazel eyes looked almost green in the muted light.
I was the guy who almost always found it easy to be smooth. At the moment, I was scrambling inside not to tear her clothes off, scoop her up and find the closest place to sink inside of her.
“I’ll put this in the dryer,” she said. “Okay?”
I managed a wordless nod and watched as she walked across the room and down the short hallway. She disappeared through a door, returning a moment or so later with the distinct sound of a dryer tumbling in the background.
She approached me, at which point I realized I was still standing by the door. Her eyes coasted over my face. I had no idea what she was thinking, but lust and longing were pouring through my veins and I was grasping about for what to do.
“Um, do you want something to drink?” she asked.
I shook my head, somehow latching onto enough of my usual cockiness to stop worrying. “I want you.”
Her breath hitched and her cheeks went pink. I fucking loved it when she blushed. Bloody hell. This woman had me on my knees and she didn’t even know it.
I decided then and there, I’d barrel ahead.
If I didn’t, I sensed she’d start thinking about it too much.
I remembered her receptionist’s teasing and guessed it meant she was letting her virginity get in the way of all kinds of fun.
No matter how things played out with us, at least I could save her from letting that be a barrier anymore.
A distant siren blared in my mind. Zoe wasn’t just any woman, and my response to her was nothing of the usual for me.
I didn’t care to listen to the warning just now.
I closed the distance between us in two strides and lifted my hand to untie her hair.
It fell in wet locks, the pins holding it up pinging on the floor.
I sifted my fingers through, letting it spill around her shoulders.
She was quiet, but her breath was shallow, and I could see the flutter of her pulse in her neck.
I stopped trying to rein myself in and simply did what I wanted.
I dipped my head and dropped kisses along her collarbone and up along the downy soft skin of her neck.
Her skin was cool, and she tasted like rain tinged with sweetness.
“Ethan?”
The question in her tone had me lifting my head. “Yes?”
“I don’t know…” She paused and bit her lip, her cheeks flushing deeper.
“Don’t know what?”
She let out a heavy sigh and straightened her shoulders. “I don’t know why you want to do this. I’m not the kind of woman…”
I gave my head a hard shake.
She eyed me. “Why does that make you angry? I’m not an idiot.
If you’re in the news, it’s usually with some woman hanging onto you.
Most of my life is about work. It’s most of the reason I’m still a virgin.
It’s not because I’m uptight or anything.
My career got in the way, and it’s a nuisance if you ask me.
My point is I’m not na?ve or stupid. I know I’m nothing like the women you usually date. ”
I supposed the good thing about getting annoyed was I forgot to be worried about what any of this meant. I slid my palm down her back to slide over the curve of her bottom and pull her against me. I was rock hard. She gasped.
“That should be enough evidence for you,” I murmured. For a beat, I waited to see if she’d pull away. When she didn’t, I brought my lips right back to where they’d been on her neck—kissing, licking and nipping my way up to her mouth.