“So this is a vacation home I redid for a couple a few years ago. They weren’t athletes or anything, but they both loved sports and their style was remarkably similar to yours.”
My computer got as far as opening the folder before it froze. Frustration rolled through me and I made a humming noise in the back of my throat.
“Damn it,” I muttered. “I’m so sorry about this. I’ll look into getting a new one tomorrow.”
Tanner gave me an understanding smile and leaned over to shut the stupid piece of crap while he spoke. “It’s okay. You can email me the pictures. Can we put the house aside for the moment anyway?”
I nodded, releasing a heavy sigh as I slid it back into the bag. “We don’t have much of a choice. It doesn’t look like the gods of technology want us to keep talking about it.”
I considered kicking the computer around a little bit but showed some restraint. Then I turned back to look at him, and there was a strangely intent expression on his face.
“I know I messed up, Larisa. I also know that we should be keeping this thing between us all about business, but it’s just not that for me. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about our kiss at the lake house and I’d very much like to kiss you again. Can I?”
Wow. That was direct. I appreciated it, though. Considering all the hits and misses we’d already had, I didn’t know how I would’ve reacted if he’d just gone ahead and tried again without asking me first.
Alarm bells went off in my head, but I ignored the warning they were sending me, and I nodded. I already knew I was breaking my promise to myself and I also knew that I was supposed to be keeping things professional, but I didn’t care. He smiled and brought his hand up to cup my cheek before his lips grazed mine, and I decided I wasn’t above having casual sex with someone I was this attracted to.
I wasn’t under any illusion about what this was. The only thing I could count on with him was the physical stuff, nothing more. As long as I remembered that, I wouldn’t get hurt and there was no reason why this couldn’t happen.
Tanner’s kiss consumed me just as soon as it started. Just like I remembered, he was a god at it. His lips were soft, warm, and sure, his tongue skilled at exploring every nook and cranny of my mouth. I moaned and gave myself permission to let it go further when the kiss heated up again.
I ended up back on his lap, cursing the layers of clothing between us just like I had that night at the lake. Tanner was as hard as stone again too, dragging another moan out of me as my hips rocked of their own accord.
It was like I couldn’t help myself with him. As soon as he touched me, I lost all logic and reason. My body took over and there was nothing I wanted more than to keep touching him and to be touched by him.
Just like he had before, though, he lifted his head slightly away from mine when things got a little too heated. Letting out a low groan, he squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head. “We can’t do this. We’ve both been drinking again and I don’t want you to regret it in the morning.”
I stilled, looking deep into his eyes when he opened them again. “That’s really why you put a stop to it that night?”
He stared back at me, pupils wide and hair tousled from having my fingers in it. “What did you think it was about?”
“I didn’t know for sure, but I kind of thought maybe you didn’t want to, after all.”
Dropping his head back against the couch, he arched a brow at me and thrust his hips up. “Does that feel like I don’t want to? Did it feel like I didn’t want to that night?”
“No, but…” I let the sentence hang for a moment before I picked it back up. “We can’t go back in time and have this conversation then, so let’s just have it now. Yes, we’ve been drinking, but I’m not even tipsy. Are you?”
“Nope.”
“Do you want to keep going?” I asked after pausing for a beat to gather the tiny bit of courage I had lurking deep inside me. “It’s okay if you don’t.”
“Are you kidding?” He took my hand, but he didn’t guide it to his crotch like I thought he might. Instead, he placed my palm over his racing heart and held it there. “Feel that? I’m pretty sure it’s about to beat its way out of my chest, that’s how much I want this.”
I blinked at him, not quite believing that someone like him could want me that badly, but all the evidence was there. Between the darkening of his eyes, the thrumming of his heart, and the steel his dick had turned into, there could be no doubt about it.
A slow smile formed on my lips, and I saw the flash of victory in his eyes when he noticed it.
“In that case, I don’t see any reason why we can’t keep going. I’m not going to regret it in the morning, Tanner. I’ve wanted it as long as you have, and as long as there are no misunderstandings between us, I think we should go for it.”
To prove just how sure I was, I got up and tugged at the zipper of my dress once I was standing in front of him. It wasn’t a very tight fit, so once the zipper was down, I extracted my arms from the capped sleeves and let the fabric fall in a pool around my feet.
My underwear wasn’t much to look at, but he seemed to be enjoying getting an eyeful anyway. His gaze traveled slowly away from my face, drinking in every inch of me as it raked over me from head to toe.
He held out his hands and spread his legs to get comfortable on the sofa. When I put my fingers in his, he smiled and tugged me back to him. “Come over here, you. Let me make sure there are absolutely no misunderstandings between us. Then we can go for it.”