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I swallow hard. “Now?”
“Right now,” he says, his eyes focused and dark on mine. “Right this minute.”
Images flash through my brain faster than I can capture them and none of them make any sense. Callahan is in them, but West is too. I can hear my own breathing coming faster and it’s mortifying. If he thinks—
“Raleigh.” West steps forward and I immediately step back. Two more steps puts my back against the wall. The wallpaper is cool and a little rough against my palms.
“West,” I say, aiming for smart-ass, but it sounds like a protest and a plea and I’m humiliated all over again and terrified he might have heard it, too.
That ghost grin of his gets bigger this time, but it’s still not a smile yet. “Call me West,” he orders.
“Yes, sir.”
West’s eyes flash, the interest and heat in them unmistakable now.
I’m not an idiot. I know what attraction feels like. I might be a little oblivious sometimes, but I can tell when somebody’s into me. I can even tell when I’ve caught the attention of another guy. Sometimes.
I went to college. It happens. No big deal. I guess it was never a big deal because I was never interested before, not when it’s another guy.
“Tell me something, Raleigh,” says West, faking casual but doing it better than me. The eyes give him away; it’s those little lines between his brows, I think. I make a mental note to test it out if we ever play poker together.
“Sure,” I say. Like I’m going to say no right now. I can barely speak as it is.
“Did you enjoy yourself last night?”
I didn’t see West move, but there’s less space between us now. He reaches up, resting a hand on the wall over my head.
“Ah. I, um.”
The absence of actual words accomplishes my goal for me: West smiles. It’s feral, sharp, and not a little alarming. It renders him gorgeous—before he was merely handsome. Like this, he’s dangerous.
“Breathe, Raleigh.”
I nod. That lethal smile deepens and West brings his other hand up to the wall, leaning in so close I can smell his aftershave. My mouth waters.
“I’ll ask you again,” he murmurs, ducking in close, his voice rumbling in my ear. “Did you enjoy yourself last night?”
“You know I did.” I didn’t mean to whisper, but he heard me just fine.
His breath shuttles out a little faster at my words; it’s gratifying to know I’m not the only one wound up at the thought.
West turns his head ever so slightly. The faint bristle of his stubble against my cheek catches me off guard. I press my hands against the wall harder, trying to stop them shaking.
“Want to do it again?” he murmurs. He’s near enough that I can feel the heat coming off of his body, and it causes my own to ratchet higher.
I close my eyes against it, afraid keeping them open means he’ll see everything I’m thinking.
West tips his head again, slowly chafing the skin of my cheek. I realize that if he leans his hips any closer he’ll feel how hard I am and the shaking begins in earnest.
“Yes.”
The rumble in his chest smacks of approval. I can’t catch my breath. I can’t move. I can’t think.
If he doesn’t kiss me, I’m going to die.
West eases back, taking his heat with him. I keep my eyes shut.
“Raleigh,” he says. “Raleigh.”
