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I turned to him, giving up on the key. “Lee, I think we should set some...” I swallowed hard, willing the words to unclog from my throat. “Boundaries.”
His eyes bore into mine, a furrow deepening in his brow. “Boundaries.”
“Yes.”
“Okay,” he said slowly, giving me space to continue, but not contributing.
“It’s just that when we kissed, that made things...” I struggled for what it really was.Amazing. Wonderful. Something I’d hoped for for years.“Things kind of shifted, you know?”
His full lips were pressed into a firm line, his arm still planted above my head, caging me against the brick wall of my building.
“I’d be lying if I didn’t admit you were right with what you said about Charles. I think maybe him seeing that I wasn’t just waiting around for him got his attention.”
I worried my lip.Did I even really still care about that?
I cleared my throat and found the courage to continue. “So if we’re really going to do this for five more dates, I think we need to set some ground rules. Boundaries.”
A smirk hooked the corner of Lee’s mouth. “Like kissing.”
A hot flush crept up my neck. “Definitely kissing.”
“We’re going to do that.” The confidence in Lee’s deep voice caused a pooling ache to throb between my legs.
I could barely breathe, let alone talk. “Then it should only be because it’s a part of the act. So neither of us gets confused.”
His voice was practically a growl. “I’m not confused, Annette.”
My breath escaped as a huff. “You know what I mean.”
His chuckle was low and deep. “So what you’re saying is I can kiss you, but it just has to be in front of other people?”
The way he said those words made it sound like a dark and delicious fantasy. One that I had no idea would be so fucking hot.
I swallowed hard and hoped he couldn’t hear my heart rattling around in my chest. “Yes, exactly.”
He leaned in closer. “I can handle that.”
Lee’s large hand trailed down the bare skin on my arm, sending shivers racing through me. “What about this?”
I sucked in a breath, trying to gather my scrambling thoughts. “Um, touching, you mean?”
I could feel his warm breath on my skin. “Yes, touching. Being close to you. It’s what two people who were dating would do.”
I wanted to argue, to resist and tell him that public displays of affection weren’t really my style, but the heat pooling between my legs, the way I went slick at the very idea of him touching me, made a liar out of me, and the argument died on my tongue.
Closing my eyes, I sought my last shreds of courage. “I also think that maybe we shouldn’t spend too much time together outside of the dates.”
Lee frowned. “That doesn’t make any sense. We’ve always hung out together during our free time.”
I straightened my back. “And you changed things when you decided to very publicly pretend like there was something between us after we spent years denying it to every single person who knows us. You changed the rules. I think a little time apart is the only way to make sure things don’t get confused.”
“No.” Lee spat the word.
“Good.” I breathed a sigh of relief. “What, what?” Lee’s body was simmering with tension in a way I had never seen him before. He was disagreeing with me, and clearly not happy about my idea.
But if there were boundaries, some rules in place to keep Lee at arm’s length, then my heart may have a sliver of a chance of surviving the next five dates.
A car drove past as Lee shifted his hips, and his shadow enveloped me as I pressed my palms against the cool, scratchy brick of my building. He reached up to cup my jaw as he moved his mouth forward.
