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He laughed. “That sounds so strange coming from you, but I know what you mean. And that’s not what I want this to be.”
Her heart felt as though it melted in her chest when he added. “Yes, I want you. Yes. I’ve wanted you for months and there have been times when I thought I’d give anything to get you into bed. But now that we have the chance, it’s about more than that.”
He dropped a kiss on her forehead. “I hate to say it, but I’d rather wait than screw it up by sneaking around.”
She nodded sadly. “Me too.”
~ ~ ~
When they got back to the DuPont Estate, Xander brought his SUV to a halt around the back of the house by the kitchen door.
Tori reached across and touched his arm. “Do you want to come in and hang out for a while? I think Bentley and Alyssa must have gone to Molly’s with everyone – his car’s not here.”
“I want to, but I’m not going to.” He gave her a rueful smile. “If I come in, I don’t trust myself not to stay until morning.”
She gave him a sassy little smile. “That’s kind of what I was hoping. We’re both trying to be good – but if it just happens, it happens.”
He cupped his hand around the back of her head and drew her closer so that he could kiss her. He kept it brief; it’d be too easy to get carried away.
“We’ll figure something out and do it right.”
“Okay.” She blew out a sigh. “I know you’re right, but if this is goodnight, I’m going to go now. It’d be even worse if we were caught going at it in your car.”
He had to laugh. “And I thought you were such a lady.”
She giggled. “I am a lady. I just … you know.”
“I know.” He adjusted his pants, convinced that his dick must bear the imprint of his zipper by now. “I promise you we’ll work something out soon.”
“Okay.”
He drew her closer again. “Thanks for finally deciding to give me a chance.”
“Thanks for waiting so long.”
“I’d wait forever for you.”
Her eyes widened, and he realized that he should probably tone it down. He shrugged. “Go on. Get your ass in the house before I change my mind and follow you. I’ll call you in the morning.”
“Okay. Goodnight, Xander.”
He gave her one last kiss. “Goodnight, sprite.”
When he got back home, he tapped in the code and waited for the gates to swing open. He was glad that Jacob had installed the keypad so that no one worked night shifts on the gate anymore. As far as Xander was concerned, there was no need for the gatehouse or the guys who worked there during the day either – but he was glad that Jacob hadn’t gotten rid of them.
For one thing, he liked them – Slade was his best friend, and John was a good guy, too. For another, the fact that Jacob had kept them on all these years when there was no real need for them anymore, had given Xander hope for his brother. In the years since their folks had died, the Jacob of old had withdrawn, and all that seemed to be left of him was a businessman whose only concern was growing the company. There had been few chinks in the armor that he’d worn over the last decade, but not firing the gate guys was one of the most significant.
Jacob had changed again over the last year or so – since he’d met Becca. He was back to being the kind of person he’d been when they were kids, and Xander was grateful for that – he’d missed his brother.
He frowned when he spotted a figure walking up the driveway ahead of him. He switched his lights to high beams to get a better look – there was no reason for anyone to be wandering the estate after dark. He relaxed when the man turned around, and he recognized that it was Slade. As he drew closer, he could see that Slade had Hannah’s dog, Scooter, on a leash. That made sense; Hannah and Grady had taken little Ava to LA, and Slade and Willow were watching the dog for them.
He switched his lights back down when Slade held his hand up to shield his eyes. When he pulled alongside him, he let the window down.
“Sorry about that, I didn’t recognize you at first.”
Slade laughed. “Not a problem. I’m not sure that I recognize myself.”
“How do you mean?”
