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“Hey,” he came to her with a puzzled look on his face, “I’m not expecting anything to happen. You know that, right?”
She nodded, feeling dumb.
“Are you sure? I’ve already told you, when and if we get physical will be on your terms.”
“I know. Sorry. I just … I do want to. I mean, it’s there between us, right?” She suddenly needed him to confirm that he felt it, too.
He gave her a rueful smile. “I could haul you against me so that you can feel it there between us. But I’m afraid that would be heading straight into creepy territory – getting my jollies by holding you against my …” —he glanced down at his crotch— “eagerness.”
She had to laugh. “If you’d just done it, it probably would have worked. But now that you’ve said that …” She laughed again. “I don’t mind if we wait a while before I get to discover youreagerness.”
He laughed with her. “Yeah. It wouldn’t feel right, right now. I should get going.”
“Do you want to stay?” The question popped out before she could stop herself.
He raised his eyebrows. “I thought we just agreed that we’re not …”
“We did. And I think we were right. But I have a spare room. I like hanging out with you, Grady. We could have a drink – which you can’t do if you’re going to drive home. We could stay up late and watch a movie and talk. I want to keep getting to know each other – as people. The sex part will come, and I have a feeling that part will be easy and natural – and great. Tonight, I’d love to just hang out with you some more.”
“I’d like that, too.” He chuckled. “And can you just slap me if I get carried away and try to make out with you while we’re watching a movie?”
She laughed. “Maybe.”
Once they were settled on the sofa, each with a glass of wine, Grady wrapped his arm around her shoulders. She leaned against him, and he laughed.
“What’s funny?”
“This was a test – and you failed.”
She sat up and gave him a puzzled look.
“I asked you to slap me if I get carried away and try anything.”
She laughed with him. “I didn’t realize you meant anything at all. So, what? You’re not supposed to even touch me? Are we supposed to sit at opposite ends of the sofa?” She tried to wriggle away from him, but he tightened his arm around her shoulders.
“It’s too late, now.”
A wave of desire rushed through her. Did that mean that he …
He dropped a kiss on the top of her head and then got up and went to sit in the armchair.
“Seriously?”
He chuckled. “Yup. If I get too close to you, I cannot be trusted. And now, it seems like you can’t either. I have to maintain a safe distance.” His beautiful blue eyes were twinkling as he spoke.
She blew out a sigh and picked up her glass of wine. “Oh, well. At least I can look at you from here.”
He blew out a sigh of his own, but his eyes still teased. “And I get to look at you.”
The way his gaze traveled over her sent shivers racing down her spine. She wanted him to do so much more than look. She knew that he would, too, if she asked him to. But part of her loved that he wasn’t trying to rush her into bed, and she didn’t want to be the one to spoil it. Not that she believed that sleeping with Grady would spoil anything. She had a feeling that with him it wouldn’t just be physical fun, that it would deepen their connection. But then again, she’d thought that about guys before and been way off.
As much as she wanted him, she knew he was right, that it would be better to wait. But she really didn’t like the idea of spending the evening so far away from him. In just the few hours that they’d spent together, she’d come to love the feel of his arm around her shoulders. She loved the smell of him; she didn’t know if it was soap or what it was, but he smelled like the beach.
She patted the sofa beside her. “Will you come back if I promise to be good?”
He spluttered as he swallowed his wine and tried to choke back a laugh. “Sweetheart, I have the feeling that you are going to be very, very good.” He winked. “I hope you’ll think the same about me.”
“Oh, you! You know what I mean.”
