He takes one more step closer, close enough now that I can smell his cologne. "I lied."
His eyes drop to my mouth, then back up to meet mine, and the heat in them steals what little breath I have left.
"Coming?" he asks, holding out his hand.
It's a question and a command all at once, a perfect encapsulation of the contradictions that make up Sebastian Walker. And as I stare at his outstretched hand, at the man who's somehow walked into my life and turned everything upside down in the span of a weekend, I know I'm in far deeper than I ever intended to be.
Chapter 27
Sebastian
Green eyes wide with surprise and something darker, something more delicious, she stares at my outstretched hand like it might bite her. My pulse hammers in my throat as I wait for her decision. This wasn't the plan—I told her tomorrow, set the expectation for tomorrow—but twenty-four hours felt like a fucking eternity after a weekend of discovery that's left me starving for more.
The seconds stretch between us, each one a test of my rapidly fraying control. In the glow of the street lamp, I drink her in—her hair loose around her shoulders, the flush creeping up her neck that tells me I affect her whether she wants me to or not. She's wearing simple jeans that hug her curves and a deep green tank top that brings out her eyes. And fuck, she's breathtaking.
When her fingers finally slide against mine, warm and slightly hesitant, I tug her closer, not giving her time to second-guess or pull away. My other hand finds the small of her back, pressing her against me until our noses nearly touch. Her breath catches, a small sound that goes straight to my cock.
"You look magnificent," I breathe against her lips, inhaling the scent of her—something citrusy and flowery all at once. "Couldn't wait to see you again."
The admission costs a piece of the armor I've worn for so long I barely remember what it's like to be without it. But with Mia looking up at me like this the cost seems irrelevant.
"So you decided to stalk me?" There's a challenge in her voice, but her body betrays her as she leans into my touch.
"I decided to find you," I correct, letting my thumb trace the curve of her lower lip. "There's a difference."
Before she can argue semantics, I step back and keep her hand firmly in mine as I lead her toward my car. Opening the passenger door, I watch as she slides into the leather seat with a grace that makes me want to see her sliding onto other things. Preferably me.
Around the hood, I take a deep breath of night air, trying to steady myself. This isn't just about finally burying myself inside her after days of foreplay that's left us both raw and wanting. It's about the way she looked at me in my office today, not just with desire, but with understanding. It's about the way she listened when I told her about the ranch, about the parts of me I keep locked away.
It's about how I couldn't stop thinking about her, not for a single fucking minute, since she walked out of my office this afternoon.
Sliding into the driver’s seat, I start the car and pull away from the curb. Traffic is light at this hour, the streets slick with earlier rain that reflects the neon signs and streetlights. I keep my eyes on the road, or try to, but they betray me every few seconds, sliding to where her fingers tap a restless rhythm on her thigh. To the way her profile cuts against the passing lights. To the slight parting of her lips as she watches the city blur past.
"How was dinner?" I ask, desperate to break the charged silence.
She glances over, a small smile playing at the corners of her mouth. "Fishing for information about my evening?"
"Just making conversation."
"Dinner was nice," she says after a moment. "Laney got properly embarrassed by the singing servers, the cake was decent, and I only had to hear three horror stories about patients with objects stuck in unfortunate places."
The normalcy of her answer settles something in my chest. "Sounds like a successful birthday celebration."
"It was." She turns more fully toward me, her knee bumping my hand as I downshift. "Until you showed up and kidnapped me."
"Is that what this is?" I ask, flicking my eyes to hers briefly before returning them to the road. "A kidnapping?"
Her laugh is low and breathy. "You tell me. You're the one who tracked me down and gave me that look."
"What look?" I can't help the smile tugging at my lips.
"That one that says you're thinking about all the filthy things you want to do to me." I can feel those pretty eyes on me. "The one that makes me forget why I should say no."
My grip tightens on the steering wheel, knuckles white with the effort of not pulling over right here, in the middle of the street, and showing her exactly what that look means. "Should you say no?"
She doesn't answer immediately, and when I glance over, I find her staring out the window, lower lip caught between her teeth.
"I don't know," she finally says as I pull into the underground parking of my building. "But I don't want to."
