Chapter Six #4
They came to a stop at the front door. “You have a key?”
“I have a code on my phone that unlocks everything and turns off any security alarms.” She pulled the phone out of her cross-body purse and tapped a few numbers. They heard the click when the door unlocked.
“Thanks for bringing me home, Matt.”
“I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way, Iris.”
Was she imagining things or had he taken a step closer to her? “Well, I’d better go inside. I have a lot to do to help Pam tomorrow. I am officially her assistant.”
“Are you?”
She noticed his voice had gotten deeper. “Yes, I am.”
When he reached out and put both hands on her waist, she knew what was coming. A tingling sensation covered every part of her body. She knew she needed to fight the feelings, but for some reason, she couldn’t. She needed what he wanted to give her. Here and now.
He gently tugged her closer to fit against him, and she felt his hard body press against her soft one. Her eyes widened when she felt his erection settle between her thighs. At that moment, she realized he wanted her.
“Matt.” She gasped out his name, knowing she should resist, but something kept her from doing so.
Yesterday, she had told Garlan they were just friends.
That was true then, and it was true now.
So why did she want him to kiss her? It could be because of the way he was looking at her with eyes dark with desire.
Or it could be because of the heat generated from his hands at her waist. Then it could be something else, too.
Mainly her need to be kissed by a man, but not just any man. Her need to be kissed by him.
But still… She needed to make sure he understood something. “I’m not ready to get into anything serious with anyone, Matt. We can only be friends.” And then she felt the need to add, “And only on my terms.”
Even as she told him that, she reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck, her eyes latching on to his lips.
Those perfectly shaped lips she had been dying to taste since meeting him.
Why did his mouth appear so tempting? His mustache and beard made it even more so, while conveying a charisma that contributed to his overall handsomeness.
“What if I told you I was interested in more?” he asked in a deep, throaty voice.
“I’m not ready for more,” was her whispered response.
“Okay,” he replied, nodding.
Okay? If he truly meant that, then why were his hands still at her waist? Why had his mouth moved closer to hers? Why were her arms still around his neck? And why was her own mouth inching nearer to his?
When their lips were barely a breath away, she shifted her gaze to his eyes and saw they had darkened even more with desire. Unable to resist temptation, she eased closer and traced her tongue across his lips. Not once, but twice. Then she deliberately ground her hips into his.
“We shouldn’t be doing this, Matt,” she whispered, ignoring the fact that he wasn’t doing anything. She was. Making it quite apparent that her actions did not match her words.
When he didn’t say anything but continued to look at her with a heated gaze, she couldn’t summon another single argument. “Matt?” she whispered.
“Let’s put aside talking for now, Iris.”
Then he captured her mouth with a hunger she felt all the way from the top of her head to her toes.
Those hot places in between seemed to flare up in a blaze at the feel of his hips rolling against hers while he took her tongue with an expertise that had her groaning.
Then his mouth swallowed up each and every needy groan she made.
Never before had she been kissed so thoroughly.
It was as if her entire body was in tune with his.
She had become lost in every taste of him as her tongue joined his in a clash, not of wills but of desire.
And when he tilted his head to position his mouth for deeper penetration, she knew then and there that Matt Caulder was a force to reckon with.
He was a man who didn’t just deliver, but did so on a golden platter.
Was that why she hadn’t tried to resist?
Why she had succumbed to him so easily? So wantonly?
When he finally released her mouth, she dropped her head onto his chest, drawing in a deep breath and the masculine scent of him.
What a kiss! Weren’t they too old to be sharing kisses that hot, mesmerizing and intense?
He gently held her while stroking her back, and that’s when reality returned, and she knew she had to get control of herself.
Matt was someone she enjoyed hanging out with and talking to. He was also someone she had enjoyed kissing, but the latter should not have happened. They should not have shared that kiss.
Slowly lifting her head from his chest, she met his gaze. The minute their gazes connected, she felt an intense stirring in the pit of her stomach. One of a sexual nature.
“We can only be friends, Matt. I don’t want anything more than that,” she reiterated, just in case that message had gotten lost in their kiss.
She then opened the door and went inside.