Her fingers rested on the edge of the seat, then curled inward. There was a subtle lift of her throat.
“I don’t have to come in if it’s too much,” I offered, letting her know it was her choice.
She exhaled, long and slow, then finally opened her door. “It’s not.”
The garage air was cool against my heated skin. I had no preconceptions about what might happen next. I had plenty of fantasies, though.
I matched her pace as we walked around the corner, close enough that our arms brushed, not touching on purpose, but not avoiding it either.
The elevator doors slid open with a ding, revealing a mirrored box of brushed steel and more fluorescent lighting. She stepped in first. I followed and turned just enough that my body boxed her in without fully caging her.
When the doors closed, everything felt like the last time we were trapped in an elevator the night of the investor dinner. Except now, I could read her better. The flush in her cheeks was unmistakable, her eyes darker than before.
I leaned in, just enough that my mouth was near her ear, my voice quiet. “You still okay?”
She nodded, then huffed out a breath that sounded like a laugh. “There are cameras in here.”
That stopped me more effectively than a hand to my chest would have.
I smiled anyway and eased back the half-step she needed. “Good to know,” I murmured. I knew that us being seen together was a risk for everything she was trying to achieve with her team, so I obliged.
Her eyes flicked to mine in the mirror. Something warm and daring passed between us, unspoken but clear. She wasn’t saying she didn’t want me; she was saying to wait. And I could be patient, for her.
The elevator climbed. Each floor chimed, counting down the distance between us and privacy. Teddy was on Micah and Bobby’s floor, seventeen, and it felt like the biggest tease getting there with the air sparkling around us.
When the doors finally opened, the hallway beyond was quiet and carpeted, the air warmer than the garage.
She stepped out first, keys already in her hand, and I followed, the door sliding shut behind us with a finality that sent something sharp and wanting through me.
She stopped at her door, hesitating as I came up behind her, my chest to her back. I brushed her hair aside, slowly letting myfingers skim the warm skin of her neck. She sucked in an audible breath, her head tipping instinctively to the side like she was offering herself without saying a word.
“Connor,” she breathed, my name a warning and an invitation all at once.
I pressed my mouth to her neck anyway, just below her ear. It wasn’t a claim. Not yet. Just a kiss that lingered long enough to tell the truth of how hard it was to stop. My lips traced slowly downward, another kiss, only restrained by sheer force of will. I inhaled her—clean skin, faint soap, something unmistakablyher—and my control frayed at the edges.
My hands strayed to her hips, and I pulled her back into me, trapping her. I was hard, aching, my restraint a living thing between us.
Her head lolled to my shoulder, her jaw slack. She knew exactly what she was doing to me, and I knew she trusted me not to take more than she was giving.
I lifted my head, my mouth hovering near her ear. “Open the door, sunshine,” I murmured.
She got the door open then, quickly, like she knew if she didn’t, we’d never make it inside. The lock clicked, the door swung inward, and we stepped across the threshold, the hallway disappearing behind us.
And whatever patience I’d been clinging to snapped clean in two.
I spun her in one smooth motion, my hand sliding around her waist, and she gasped as I lifted her without thinking, instinct taking over, her legs wrapping around me automatically like her body already knew where it wanted to be.
My mouth was everywhere but where I knew it would undo me completely. Her hands fisted in my jacket, pulling me closer, like distance was no longer something she could tolerate.
My forehead dropped to hers for half a second, just long enough to steady myself, to make sure this was still us choosing each other and not me taking.
Then I kissed her.
Harder this time, because I had no restraint left to offer. She met me with the same intensity, mouth opening under mine, a sound slipping free that went straight through me. I swallowed it like it was mine to keep.
I broke away, only to drag my mouth down her jaw, my teeth grazing the sensitive skin there before my lips followed. Her head tipped back against the door, giving me access, trusting me with it.
My body throbbed with want, every nerve ending screaming for more. I pressed my hips forward just enough so that she could feel how much I wanted her.
