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His arms tightened around me as his mouth inched closer to mine.Kiss me.
Oh, hell no. Wherever that thought had come from could go straight back there. I slid my arms around his neck, reveling in the feel of his muscles tightening beneath my touch.Let go. You’re playing with fire.
I focused on his lips until I could no longer see them because they were so close. He bent one knee, positioning me so I was riding his thigh. “If you get caught like this, they’ll make you leave for taking advantage of a poor, helpless volunteer,” he warned huskily.
I pressed into his leg. “You’ll automatically be blamed. I’m innocent.”
“Thatis a word that will never be used to describe you.” Slowly, he moved his leg back and forth, creating a friction that had my sex clenching in response. “Now say it.”
“Say what?” I asked, breathless as I clung to him.
“You know what I want to hear,” he whispered against my lips. His breath was warm, the faint hint of smoke floating into my nostrils.
“I want your cigarette,” I said seductively, running a finger down his shirt, circling his nipple.
“You can have it as soon as you admit what you were thinking just a few seconds ago.”
“If you already know, why do I need to say it?” I huffed indignantly.
“Because I want to hear the words, sugar.” I was tempted to give him what he wanted. “Say it,” Drew coaxed. He was turning up the flames at the points where we touched. I was burning up, ready to throw out all my rules and fuck him right here on the roof.
“Kiss me,” I demanded, giving in to what I wanted. Owning it. The second that smirk landed on his mouth, I knew I’d been had.
“I thought my tigress would put up a lot more fight,” Drew said in mock disappointment. “I have to go back inside because I’m freezing. But you can have this.” He placed the cigarette between my fingers and trotted down the fire escape.
I lifted the cigarette, only to discover it was nearly burned to the filter. The bastard. Although I laughed.
“Well played,sugar. Well played,” I mumbled.
At least he’d be walking around with a hard-on to tolerate.
And that wasn’t a bad result, if I did say so myself.
Chapter Seventeen
Drew
I whistledas I walked from Paths of Purpose to where my mother was recovering from her treatment. This visit had been most productive. I’d learned two important nuggets of information about Sonya Hughes. First and foremost, though I already knew, she wanted me. That look on her face when she demanded I kiss her—it had taken all my strength not to devour her right then and there. If it weren’t for trying to keep her on the hook, I’d have done just that. But she wanted a challenge, so that was what I’d give her. I was looking forward to the chase.
Secondly, she had a connection to Park City. I was certain she’d given Paths of Purpose an alias, but lo and behold, after some deep digging, I’d found that Sonya was indeed her real name. I’d yet to unearth any employmentever. She’d gone to Yale, from which she’d graduated summa cum laude in architecture. After that, there was nothing. Who the fuck would go to an Ivy League school, put that much effort into graduating with honors, and then never do anything with it?
Her father was a successful building contractor in Utah. They had plenty of money. Not the kind my family did, but then, most people didn’t. I understood she probably didn’t want to go running to them with her problems and respected her independence, but I was missing something. The only way I’d get to it was if she let me in. I was pretty sure that wasn’t going to happen. I’d have to steal my way inside. That was definitely something I was good at. But why did I want to? That was the question . . .
When I arrivedat Mama’s room, she was sleeping soundly, not a soul in sight. I sat with her. My father couldn’t be far way, and he’d raise holy hell when he found me here, but he was just going to have to get over it. I’d meant what I said. He wasn’t keeping me away from her.
I watched her chest go up and down with her breathing. She looked peaceful, though her color was still off. My mother had never once complained about the cancer. She didn’t even seem scared. The woman was tougher than Easton, Dad, and me combined. She couldn’t leave us. I refused to let her go.
“I’m sorry, Mama,” I said, my hand covering one of hers. “I never meant to hurt you, especially with the—” I couldn’t bring myself to say the word cancer out loud. “My problem was never with you. I’ve let you down a lot over the years, but I never doubted you loved me.
“I wish I could change things, but I can’t forgive Dad. I just can’t even though I know that would make you happy.” I looked down, taking in a deep breath. “But I guess that’s probably what you expect of me anyway.”
Sleepily, her eyes blinked open. A weak smile lit her face. “Drew.”
“Hey, Mama. I’m here. I have been the whole time.”
“I know, baby.” She turned her hand over and squeezed mine.
“Are you thirsty? Let me get you some water.” I didn’t wait for her answer, practically jumping out of the chair to pour ice water into the plastic glass on the bedside table. I held the straw to her lips, and she sucked a little down, nodding when she’d had enough.
