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I hadn’t expected those thoughts to come to the surface. I hadn’t planned on this getting emotional, not one bit. But I found it impossible to keep things hidden, to keep the veneer up when I was with Everly, because she saw through it anyway. There was no one left to be but myself.
I had made a promise to help her finish the bucket list, and that’s what I was going to do. No more emotions. No more heart-to-hearts. So I did what I thought was the smartest thing to do—I avoided her question.
“I’ll be around for as long as it takes to finish your list. There’s no need to rush into anything.”
“The list, huh?” Suddenly, the frown that had stared back at me only a moment ago had faded. “Do you have the list?”
I nodded. Unwrapping myself from her body, I reached for my wallet in my back pocket, where I kept my own copy. I pulled out the small piece of paper and handed it over.
Without a second thought, she walked away into the kitchen. Her scent still lingered around me, despite the strong fumes of paint that seeped from the walls and open paint cans.
When she returned, she slapped the list into my hand. It wasn’t only the eleven items I had memorized. There was a twelfth item.
Have sex with the guy you wouldn’t give the time of day.
My eyes almost bugged out of my head. If she was putting this on the list, then she was in. All in. Sneaky devil.
“I don’t think Grandma intended for you to get slutty.”
She knew I was joking; I could tell by the curve at the side of her lips.
“I have no idea what Gram wanted me to get from this list.” Her arms flew out to her sides and came down hard on her thighs. “But I know she wanted me to experience…something.”
I envied that there were so many things in this world she hadn’t yet experienced. There were so many firsts ahead for her. Helping her was a chance to relive some of my own, even have a second chance at experiencing them. I barely remembered the last four years of my life, not because I had partied too hard, but because I was unhappy. I had floated through my life on autopilot, understimulated and unsatisfied.
The night I’d met Everly had opened my eyes.
When she stepped closer, she knocked into the roller and it fell to the floor. My throat contracted. My lips went dry. She had an effect on my every nerve ending. They all reacted when she was near. The closer she got, the more intense the burn inside my chest.
“And right now…” she whispered in my ear, “…I want that something to be you.”
My entire body ignited when she pressed a kiss to my neck. Citrus enveloping me, pulling me under her spell, a spell she did
n’t know she had over me. Which made me even more spellbound. But instead of taking the kiss further, she backed away, walking toward the foyer.
When she got to the stairs, she looked over her shoulder. Without a word, I knew what she wanted. What she needed. It was all staring back at me in the blue depths of her eyes, hypnotizing me with her need.
I wanted this woman. More than any other woman I’d ever encountered. I didn’t know if it was her determination to follow through with law school. Or her disinterest in me when we’d first met. Or the fact that she had the ability to see me, see past the porn guy and peer right into my soul. But it didn’t matter why.
She’d put sex on the list.
And I was helpless to deny her wishes.
Chapter 20
Everly
“Are you going to deny a horny girl her wish?”
I was sitting on my bed now. Max stood in the doorway. I was afraid he wouldn’t follow me, but I had done as Grace had suggested and told him exactly what I wanted.
I crooked my finger, inviting him to join me. He made a growling sound and stalked toward me.
He placed one knee on the bed and reached out, wrapping one arm around my waist. With ease, he pulled me toward him and plundered my mouth. I tasted the spicy cinnamon from the mint he’d eaten earlier in the car.
“Max…” I panted, my hands fisting his shirt. “I want you.”
He pulled at my button-down shirt, baring my cotton-covered breasts. The buttons snapped and I heard them ping against the furniture and floor.
