I feel my face heat up and toss the phone aside. Max lifts his head at the sudden movement, gives me a reproachful look, then settles back down with a sigh.
“So,” I say, desperate to change the subject in my own head, “what’s the plan for tomorrow? That cell moving in from the west looks promising.”
Jonah swivels in his chair to face me. “I think it will develop into something significant by mid-afternoon. If we leave early, we can position ourselves near Oakley and wait for it to come to us.” He pauses, rubbing his jaw. “But there’s something else I’d like to try tomorrow, if you’re willing.”
“I’m listening.” I sit up a little straighter, intrigued by the hesitation in his tone.
“I want to get closer than we have been.” He meets my gaze directly. “The data we’re collecting is good, but it could be better. I need readings from inside the circulation zone.”
My pulse picks up. “You want to punch the core. Didn’t think you’d be the type to suggest something that risky.”
He shrugs, and the movement draws my attention to his shoulders. “Sometimes the only way to get the data you need is to go where others won’t.”
“Now you’re speaking my language.” A grin spreads before I can stop it. “I’ve been waiting for you to say something like that since we started this trip. Well, I have been waiting for you to say a lot of things lately, but this one was not as high on the list, you could say.”
“Don’t look so smug,” he counters.
“How would you like me to look then? Sexy? Smoldering? Begging for you on my knees?” I wink. “If you pick the last one, I will need help getting up, but I will make the assist worth it.”
Jonah goes completely still. God, I love doing this to him.
“Well, which position would you like?”
That earns me a slow look from across the motel room. The kind that starts at my face and drifts downward before coming back up again.
My pulse stutters. Well then. Player two has entered the game.
“I think,” he says carefully, leaning back in his chair, “you underestimate how much restraint I’m currently exercising.”
“Exercise restraint? Is that what you call it?” I lean forward, my gaze locked with his. “I think you just like torturing yourself, Professor. I am literally serving myself up on a platter to you, and you’re the one denying both of us.”
Jonah’s eyes widen, his composure cracking. I can see the struggle playing out across his face—want battling with rules he’s constructed for himself.
“That’s not what this is.”
“No?” I stand up slowly, ignoring the slight twinge in my injured shoulder as I walk toward him. Max lifts his head, watching me with canine curiosity before deciding we’re boring and settling back down. “Then explain what it is, because from where I’m standing, you’re being stubborn for no good reason.”
Jonah doesn’t move as I approach, but his breathing changes—that small, almost imperceptible shift that tells me he’s fighting to maintain control. I stop directly in front of him, close enough that I can feel the warmth radiating from his body.
“Lila,” he starts, his voice tight with restraint, “we agreed?—”
“We agreed that we’d wait because of my injury. I don’t want to wait. In fact, I am tired of waiting.”
I stare at him, this beautiful, stubborn man, and a wave of pure determination washes over me. I’ve waited long enough.
“You know what? I think you’ve made your point.” I step back, and a flash of disappointment crosses his features—quick but unmistakable. But I’m not backing down. Instead, I sink to my knees in front of him, the motel carpet rough beneath my bare legs.
“What are you doing?” His voice cracks as his hands grip the armrests of the chair.
“I’m making things easier for both of us,” I say, my fingers finding the button of his jeans. “If you won’t come to bed, I’ll bring the party to you.”
“Lila—” His protest dies as my fingers make quick work of his zipper. “You shouldn’t—your shoulder?—”
“My shoulder is perfectly capable of this.” I look up at him through my lashes. “Unless you’re going to tell me you don’t want me to touch you?”
He swallows hard, Adam’s apple bobbing. “That’s not what I’m saying.”
“I didn’t think so.” I free him from his jeans, and he’s already hard—so hard it makes my mouth water. “You’ve been denying yourself all day. That can’t be comfortable.”
