Page 83 of Teach Me Your Ways

The compliment hit me harder than it should have. “I’m trying.”

“You’re succeeding.” His voice was soft, intimate in the darkness.

I looked up at him, studying the sharp angles of his face in the porch light. The way his green eyes had gone dark and intense, fixed on me like they had that night at his house.

“Grady,” I started, not even sure what I wanted to say.

He stepped closer, close enough that I could smell his cologne mixed with the lingering scent of his skin. Close enough that I had to tilt my head back to meet his eyes. My pulse hammered against my throat.

“I should go,” he said, but he didn’t move. If anything, he leaned closer, his hand coming up to cup my cheek. His thumb traced along my jawline, sending shivers down my spine.

“You should,” I agreed breathlessly, but my body was already betraying me, swaying toward him like a magnetic force pulling me in.

“This is a bad idea,” he murmured, his breath warm against my lips.

“Terrible idea,” I whispered back, but my hands were already fisting in the front of his shirt, pulling him closer.

That was all the invitation he needed. His mouth crashed against mine, hot and demanding and everything I’d been craving since that night at his house. I melted into him, my back hitting the front door as he pressed his body against mine. God, he felt so good—solid and warm and perfectly male.

His tongue swept across my lower lip, sending a jolt of electricity straight to my core. I moaned softly, my fingers tangling in his hair. He deepened the kiss, his hands sliding down to grip my hips. Every nerve in my body was on fire, every thought consumed by the feel of him against me.

“Cece,” he growled against my mouth, his voice rough with need. “You know we can’t.”

“I don’t know anything anymore,” I whispered, cutting him off with another searing kiss. I didn’t want to hear about why this was a bad idea, about all the reasons we shouldn’t be doing this. All I wanted was him.

“God, Cece,” he muttered, breaking the kiss to trail hot, open-mouthed kisses down my neck. “You’re going to be the death of me.”

“Good,” I breathed, arching into him as his teeth grazed the sensitive spot just below my ear.

The porch light turned off, then on.

Mom may as well have turned the hose on us. We stepped apart, both breathing hard and trying to get ourselves under control.

“Night,” he said softly, and started to walk to the car.

“Night,” I said.

He paused at the Jeep door and looked up at me. He offered a soft smile that had my body clenching with desire.

I couldn’t control myself around him, and what’s more, I didn’t want to.