Chapter 14
CHAPTER
FOURTEEN
ELIJAH CAREFULLY SHUT his passenger door after making sure Georgia was tucked safely inside his car.When he rounded the hood, he took a few deep breaths to calm the hell down about her date with Dane. That guy was an absolute prick for bailing on Georgia, even if it did benefit him.
“Thanks for taking me home,” she told him after he buckled in and started the drive to her apartment complex. “I know you won our bet, but it would have sucked for Nash to drive me home. He’d unmercifully tease me about my date going wrong.”
He clutched the steering wheel. “Yes, it was a date gone wrong. Why are you willing to see him again?”
“Because he was a nice guy, and he left early to help a friend,” Georgia explained as if Dane ditching her was no big deal. “I already told you, it’s not the end of the world.”
Elijah pulled into her apartment complex’s parking lot, angry that some dipshit was worthy of another chance with her, which didn’t make any sense because he wasn’t going to date her. But the idea of another man getting her smile, hearing her laugh, and touching her body made his skin crawl.
“I can’t believe all you wanted from winning game night was to drive me home.” Georgia laughed as she unbuckled her seat belt. “Do you want to come up and hang for a bit?”
No, that’s not what he won, but he didn’t admit the real prize was spending time with her. Alone. Without the distraction of her date.
Fuck, he was such an asshole, but it didn’t stop him from getting out of his car and following her into her apartment.
Georgia kicked off her shoes, sat on the couch, and pointed to the space next to her. “Get over here, firefighter.”
Like an obedient dog, he slipped out of his shoes and joined her on the couch.
“I’m being a crap host,” she told him as she snuggled into her seat. “I should offer you a drink, but I’m comfortable.”
“If I get thirsty, I can get my own drink.” Elijah tried to relax but couldn’t.
“I figured out where I went wrong tonight,” she told him with her dark-green eyes shining. “I should have played Mario Kart and Pac-Man first. Those would have been two easy wins for me. Unless you were a racecar driver in a past life.”
Unable to help himself when he was around her, he grinned. “No secret past about Mario Kart, but Pac-Man I used to play all the time. My dad was a dentist, and he had one in his office. Whenever I went to work with him, I played.”
She sat up straight. “You used past tense. I’m sorry, did he pass away?”
“He died of cancer when I was twenty-five.” Elijah’s voice mellowed. “I lost my mom six months after. She was heartbroken and couldn’t get over his death.”
Georgia moved closer to him and gave him a hug. “I’m sorry you lost your parents so young. I bet they are both so proud of the man you’ve become.”
Elijah hoped so, though he wasn’t sure how honorable he was at the moment. He wanted to kiss Georgia like he needed his next breath.
Since she was so close, he took advantage and wrapped his arms around her, tugging her back to his stomach.
“I appreciate it. My parents were a bit older. They loved fiercely and took no shit from me. I miss them, but I was lucky: when it happened, I had also finished all my training to become a firefighter. They mandated therapy, which I took advantage of. I also had a mentor, Miles Blackwood, who stepped up for me in ways I didn’t realize I needed. ”
“I’m glad you had a support system.”
Not wanting to dwell on the past, he turned the conversation to her. “What about you?”
“Are you asking who my support system is or what I need support for?”
His hand cupped her jaw, his thumb grazing across her cheek. “Both.”
Georgia turned in his lap, so she was now facing him.
When she licked her lips, he was done for.
HOLY HELL, SHE wiggled for a minute while she sat in Elijah’s lap.
He either had a banana in his pants, or he was loving the feeling of her draped over him.
“My support system depends on the issue.” Her fingers played with the wavy hair on the back of his head.
All he did was hum for a second and close his eyes.
“If I need to vent about work or family, I call Nash. If I need to talk about a patient, I always call my friend Maggie. She’s a nurse in Virginia, and we met in undergrad.
” Georgia put her hands on his strong shoulders, and he opened his eyes.
The gaze they shared was intimate, and she couldn’t help herself as her hips started rolling against him.
Elijah gripped her waist, slowing down her movements, but not stopping them.
“If I need to talk about a date,” she whispered. “I call Sophie or Anna.”
His hands stopped her from grinding altogether.
“Why are you rapid-fire dating?” he husked out, never taking his eyes off her.
“You know the answer to that.”
“But don’t you want it to mean something? You’ve waited this long, why not wait until it’s with a person who deserves it?”
“Don’t I get to decide who I lose my virginity to?” Having this conversation with her friends was exhausting, so adding Elijah to the mix made it worse. “I swear it means more to you than it does to me.”
As if it proved her point, she tried to push herself against him, but his firm grip on her hips stopped her.
“I need to know why it doesn’t mean anything to you,” Elijah asked between hard, deep breaths.
The way he stared at her, like she was about to be his next meal, made her heart race. Was she finally about to break him?
“I want to know what it feels like,” she whispered, so taken by how his eyes were eating her up. “I want to know what an orgasm from sex feels like.”
His tongue peeked out and licked the corner of his mouth. “You understand, if I’m the person who takes your virginity, it doesn’t mean a marriage proposal is coming shortly after.”
Georgia snickered. “I don’t want to marry you. I just want you to sleep with me.”
“Peach.” His hands gripped her even tighter to the point she was sure he would leave a bruise. “We aren’t sleeping together. We’re fucking. Promise me it won’t be awkward, and that nothing changes.”
She squirmed in his lap in victory. “Nothing will change. You can go back to sexing up women in different area codes, and I can find other partners if I want too.”
His gaze hardened, but before she was able to analyze, he lifted her up and over his shoulder. Of course he would carry her fireman style, she thought as she giggled as he marched off to her bedroom.