He shoved to his feet. "I should go."
"Gray?" Barbie's dream house loomed behind her.
He made for the door. Bat out of hell took on a whole new meaning.
"Gray?"
His boots stopped, but he didn't turn. The mantel clock ticked in the silence while he waited. Finally he pivoted on his boot heel to face her. "What, Lori?"
She sat on her feet, brows knit together. "How can you do that?"
"Do what?"
"Just shut it down and walk away?" she asked, holding up a trembling hand as she rose slowly to her feet. "I'm dying here, Gray, really hurting. I can barely stand, much less walk."
He did not need to hear this. If he gave in and offered her comfort now, he wouldn't walk away until morning. And he'd be damned if he would hurt her that way again. "Lori, honey—"
"How do you do it?" Her voice trembled as much as her hands. "I sure could use one of your easy smiles right now."
"So could I," he mumbled, trying unsuccessfully to look anywhere but at Lori's molten-hot eyes. Where was the wide-open sky when a guy needed it?
Lungs working overtime, Lori stared at Gray, wishing she understood him. One thing was blatantly clear. The man was itching to leave. And that hurt, increasing an ache already deep, hungry and selfish within her.
It also made her damn mad. How dare he blast back into her life, then walk away leaving her shaking and needy? She'd already blown the friendship. She might as well have something from him, something to make the pain stop, even if only for a while.
An unrelentingly logical part of her argued she should stop and think. Passion and anger weren't the best emotions to fuel decisions.
For once she didn't want to be logical. She wanted Gray. On the floor. Now.
Hands on her hips, she advanced a step, determined to get what she wanted for a change. "Well, Major? I asked you a question. How do you do it? Teach me. I want to know how to entice you into having no-commitment sex with me."
Gray stumbled back as if he'd been gut shot. "Seems like you're doing all right on your own, hon." He rubbed the back of his neck, his eyes traveling a slow ride over her body. "Yeah, you're doing just fine."
That lingering look flowered a bloom of feminine power within her, and she sashayed forward. "I was fine … until you showed up again."
"We can't go back now."
A fresh burst of anger fired her feet across the rug. Lori stopped inches away from Gray. "You think I don't know that? I hate it. Hate it that I still want you. Hate it that you've exploded back into my life, my senses, my mind all over again." She watched him wince, knowing full well her words simultaneously stabbed and caressed, a dichotomy of pain and pleasure that had been signature to their relationship almost from the start. "Gray, I may hate it, but that doesn't make me stop wanting you."
"Geez, Lori." His voice strangled off as he raised his hands in surrender. "Don't go there. Not now."
"Don't go there? I could have used those sage words of advice five minutes ago. One stupid little kiss and I'm a mess all over again." The heat of him reached to her, wrapped around her with a pervasive power she couldn't avoid. She held both palms up in the scarce space between them. "Hands still shaking, Gray."
He clasped her hands in his. "Stop it, Lori."
"No, you stop it." Her voice rose as she struggled to jerk free.
He held tight. "Stop what? You're not making any sense. I was trying to leave."
"You were running away. That's different."
"What would staying have accomplished? The two of us making a mistake."
"At least it would be an honest mistake. We've always had that, right … honesty?" She closed the last step between them. With each gasping breath, her br**sts brushed him, touched him, tempted him as well as herself. "Can you honestly say you don't want me?"
A dark smile kicked up the corner of his mouth. "Oh, honey, I want you."
"Don't you laugh at me." Lori tried to tug free again, her arms straining.