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Studying her in the bright lights of the lobby, Alec saw that Lilly had her game face on—he already knew her that well. Her mouth curved in a neutral half-smile that she might have been able to pull off better if her lips weren’t puffy and red from his kisses.
Fuck, those kisses. He wasn’t sure he could even think of kissing again without thinking of Lilly, the warmth of her light, supple body against him, the searing power of their lips fused together. When she was near a hunger rose inside of him and he found himself so damn greedy he couldn’t keep his hands off her.
“If you’d just give me my cell phone, I’ll get back to my bungalow to check on Audra,” she said. Her gaze was trained just an inch above his left shoulder.
The “stranger” remark had offended her. He got that. He just hadn’t known how else to signal Jess to stop blabbing in that loud voice in the middle of the hotel lobby.
“Let’s go to my room,” he said quietly, then put up his hands when she seemed certain to protest. “Not…not for that. But I should explain—”
“You don’t owe me any explanation,” she said, and like a hedgehog, he could see all her prickly parts were on alert, ready to pierce the closest predator.
He could let this go, he thought. Avoid any further entanglement with the woman.
But Lilly fascinated him with her plucky vulnerability and her delicate independence—absurd contrasts that didn’t really make sense but appealed to him in some elemental, visceral way. And now that he’d bared her skin he was ravenous to taste more of it, hungry once again to smell her perfume when he’d heated her body with his touch. Of course he wanted her in his bed so he could see her come apart in his arms before thrusting into that wet, soft heat between her legs.
Sure, he wanted what he wanted, but was it right?
She’d rejected the idea of a one-night stand, remember? How fair was it to seduce her into that very thing now?
Except if he told her what happened five years before, he most definitely wouldn’t be in any mood to seduce. And there was that persistent, nagging itch digging between his shoulders making it obvious he couldn’t let her walk away from him after that unkind “stranger” remark.
He couldn’t let her walk away knowing that he’d hurt her feelings.
Shit, he thought, stifling a sigh. He’d suspected he would come to like her and it had already happened. He liked her very, very much.
A barrel-chested guy in nothing more than a towel wrapped around his waist stumbled by, almost plowing over Lilly. “Hey,” Alec said sharply. “Watch it.”
“Watch what?” Belligerent, the man reeled toward Alec. The quick movement caused him to stagger, now knocking into Lilly.
Alec caught her to him and before he could lay into the asshole, one of The Hathaway’s staff was at the elbow of the barely-covered guy. “Mr. Seltzer, your wife is looking for you. The spa is in the other direction.”
The man blinked owlishly.
“This way,” the staffer said gently, sending an apologetic glance to Alec and Lilly.
His hands cupping her shoulders, he looked down at her. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine.” She stepped away from him, her face flushed. “Please, Alec. Give me my phone and then I’ll say good night.”
He couldn’t look away from that rush of color on her cheeks. “You said you had something to discuss with me,” he recalled.
“Oh. Right.” A frown line developed between her eyes and then an exuberant group of teens came dashing through the lobby. Lilly and Alec had to sidestep to avoid the energetic sweeps of their arms as they replayed their recent tennis match. “Not here,” she said.
“My room,” he suggested again, and this time she followed without further protest.
Inside his suite, she immediately glanced around the spacious living area, and drifted toward the balcony with its view of the pool. As he shut the door, he couldn’t keep his gaze off her lithe figure in the little dress. His hands flexed, fighting the urge to go straight to her and tear off the silky fabric that was between her and what he wanted.
Lilly, in his bed.
But he ignored the need burning in his belly and forced himself to stroll to the minibar. He was here to slake his conscience, not his lust. “Can I get you something to drink?”
