“What of it?”She tossed her head.“I’m a single adult.If I want to have a one-night stand, or an orgy, or dance naked on tables, that’s my decision.”
He was definitelynotgoing to think about Letty naked.Riley wasn’t a prude.He’d had one-night stands before.Why shouldn’t Letty have one if that’s what she wanted?He tried to squash the thought of just how many one-night stands she’d had before.Not his business and not something he was comfortable thinking about.
Because he didn’t want to think about her in another man’s bed.
He shook off that line of thinking and got back to the issue.“What are you trying to forget?”She turned her head and wouldn’t look at him.“Letty?Tell me.”
She put her face in her hands and said, “Go away.”Her shoulders shook.
Damn it, she was crying.He put his arms around her and hauled her against his chest.“Don’t cry.”
She raised her head and glared at him through the tears.“I wouldn’t if you hadn’t dragged me out of Grey’s.I’d be pleasantly buzzed and having sex, instead of sitting here crying with a man who isn’t my brother but treats me like he is.”
He kept getting distracted by her mouth.Lush and eminently kissable.He’d thought about that before, but he hadn’t been holding her in his arms at the time.Besides, whenever he’d imagined it, he’d immediately tried to think of something else.Anything else.“I am absolutely not your brother.”
“You sure as hell act like you are.”
A man could only resist for so long before he broke.He kissed her.Her lips parted in surprise.His tongue dipped inside to taste her.Sweet, sexy Letty.At first, she hesitated but then she responded, tongues and teeth clashing in a kiss that asked for more.
He groaned and deepened the kiss.His hand tangled in her hair, pulling her closer.He hadn’t kissed Letty in years.Not since she was eighteen and shocked the hell out of him.But back thenshe’dkissedhim.Tonight, he’d instigated the kiss.At the moment, he couldn’t remember why he’d taken so long to do it again.
Slowly, he became aware of her hands pushing against his chest.He released her and they stared at each other.
She wiped off her mouth with her sleeve.“I don’t need a pity kiss.Or a pity anything, for that matter.”
“That felt like pity to you?”Because it sure as hell hadn’t to him.
She merely shrugged.
He bent his head to kiss her again, but she moved away, shaking her head.“Not happening.”
“You said I acted like your brother, and I wanted to prove to you that I’m not.”
“Fine.You proved it.Now you can go.”
Clearly, this wasn’t the time or place.She was still upset.He wasn’t so blind he couldn’t see that.“Tell me why you’re so upset.”
She hesitated for some time before finally saying, “I hate this day.”
November twentieth.What happened—Oh, shit.He closed his eyes.He was an idiot.“Your parents.Damn, Letty, I’m sorry.I didn’t think about it.”The day Letty’s parents died in a car crash and left her an orphan, her senior year of high school.
“I wish I could forget it.But I can’t.Every damn year I think I’ll handle it better.But I never do.”
“So you decided a one-night stand was the answer?”
“I tried everything else.I had counseling, you know.Your parents insisted.It helped some.But not today.Everything comes back to me on this day.Every feeling of loss, of despair.”
“Letty, I’m so sorry.But a one-night stand?”
“It was working.Until you ruined it.”
“Don’t expect me to be sorry about that.”
“Why couldn’t you have just minded your own business?”
“You deserve better than a man who’s going to use you and forget you.”
“Maybe that’s exactly what I wanted.For God’s sake, Riley, I’m not a virgin.I’m a grown woman with needs.”
