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“Damn right it is,” she said, but she didn’t pull her hands away and he counted that as a win. He sucked up his courage. It was time to put it all out there. If he didn’t, this may well be the last time Bex allowed him to touch her.
“I care about you as well as Izzy,” he said. “Far more than I want to admit. I swear, I have your and Izzy’s best interests at heart.”
She drew in a shaky breath, her eyes searching his. Some of the hostility had faded from her expression, but he could read her skepticism. “Do you really?”
“I do.” He willed her to see how genuinely he meant it. Tried to silently convey the depth of emotion he felt for her and her daughter. “You must know how I feel about you.” Standing, he slipped his arms around her waist and, when she didn’t resist, drew her closer. “I’m crazy for you, Bex.”
Wow.
Bex forgot how to breathe. When Michael Briggston cared for someone, he cared deeply. Sincerity etched every line of his face, and the ferocity of his emotion blew her away. This morning, when she’d been full of anticipation for their date, she’d never have dreamed the day would take such a turn. Michael had brought Wesley to town—however unintentional it may have been. He’d messed up, there was no disputing that, but as a single parent, she could relate. She’d screwed up so many times that some days she wondered how she had such a brilliant, beautiful daughter.
And Michael on his knees… well, suffice it to say, she wouldn’t mind having him there for other reasons. He stared at her intently, waiting for her response. His hair was tousled, like he’d run his hands through it over and over again, his bright blue eyes bored into hers, and his mouth was set in a firm line, like he feared he’d ruined everything. To be honest, she’d thought he had, but if she were to believe all the promises he’d made, then perhaps there was something they could salvage.
“What are you thinking?” he asked, when she didn’t say anything.
She closed her eyes, wishing she didn’t have to think at all. She needed a distraction because she couldn’t handle this right now. It was too much to take in. Tears welled in the backs of her eyes, and she blinked rapidly. How had they ended up here when just this morning she’d been ready to feel like a woman for once? Like she was desired for being herself.
She didn’t want to do this. Couldn’t she take a time out and let someone else handle the hard stuff this time?
“I can’t do this.”
His shoulders slumped, and she could tell he’d misunderstood. She grabbed him by the front of his t-shirt and backed him against the door. His lips crashed onto hers, his hands curving under her ass and lifting her onto her toes. She angled her face to give him better access and met his tongue with hers. The kiss ratcheted from hot to desperate in two seconds flat but contained an edge of anger that hadn’t burned out. The air filled with the sound of panted breaths as they each battled to get closer and closer, erasing the distance between them. But then Michael tore his mouth from hers and raised his head, taking himself out of reach.
“Wait, wait. Slow down.”
She pressed into him, very definitely not wanting to slow down.
“We shouldn’t rush this.” His voice was rough with longing, and the hardness Bex could feel behind his gym shorts showed his body wasn’t any more interested in slowing down than hers was.
“Michael.” She took his chin between her thumb and forefinger and forced him to look at her. His pupils expanded until the blue of his irises was only a thin band around them. Oh yeah, he wanted this as much as she did, and not just because it had been a long time since either of them had been with someone. “I need to not think, just for a while. Please.”
“I don’t know…”
“You’ve been driving me crazy every day for the past month. Before you called to cancel, I was planning to seduce you tonight.”
He pulled away, staring at the ceiling. “You were?”
“Yeah.” She stepped away from him, because she wasn’t the type to make someone do anything they didn’t want to, however much she might want to be in the moment and forget all of their very real problems. He growled in the back of his throat and tugged her against his body. Sighing, she rested her cheek on his chest. Beneath his gym shirt, his heart was going nuts. Probably not as much as his mind was though. She melted into him and gave him time to think, imagining him weighing the pros and cons and trying to use rational decision-making when his body ached to throw caution to the wind. Because based on the steel rod prodding her lower belly, he must reallyache. While he thought, she ran through all of the things she’d fantasized about doing to him so she didn’t have to dwell on the reasons this was a phenomenally terrible idea.
Softly, he said, “I don’t want to do anything you’ll regret.”
She nuzzled the junction of his neck and shoulder, and nipped at the bare skin. He smelled of sweat, like he’d come straight from exercising. He must not have showered after she’d seen him hurry out of the gym. If they continued to see each other, one day she wanted to seduce him while he was pumping iron. There was something about a sweaty man that exuded pheromones. Or perhaps it was just Michael. Everything about him seemed to appeal to her, even when she was angry with him.
“I won’t regret being with you,” she said, knowing it to be the truth. She’d never regret grasping at a moment of normalcy.
He angled his head to look down at her, his eyes more black than blue. “Where do we go to from here?”
She grinned at him. “How about to my bedroom?”
He nodded, and she locked the door, took his hand and led him through the living room and down the short hall, ignoring the fact she hadn’t gotten around to tidying. Her bed was neatly made, the metallic gold duvet tucked in at the corners, and the outfit she’d intended to wear was set out on it. Gathering the clothing, she draped it over the dresser and turned back to Michael, nerves crowding her stomach.
“Do you want me to shower?” he asked. “I was at the gym before I got the call from Wesley.”
She shook her head. “A little sweat never hurt anyone. Unless…” She considered him, anxiety suddenly hitting her. She wanted to be with him—no doubt about it—but perhaps they could ease into it, because from the tight set of Michael’s jaw, he was nervous, too. “Why don’t we have one together?”
Chapter Eighteen
“Hell, yes.”Michael couldn’t wait to find out what Bex looked like beneath her yoga pants and tank top, and if he hadn’t already been hard, the vision of her with water streaming over her perky breasts would have done it. Tugging his shirt over his head, he kicked off his shoes and stood only in shorts and socks while her hungry gaze skated over his chest, down his abdominals, and focused on the bulge at his crotch.
