“Yeah?”
“I don’t know exactly what happened last night, but holding you in my arms felt…”
She glanced at him, but quickly looked away and focused on her bagel. He seemed like he wanted to finish that sentence, but he clearly wasn’t going to. “I know.”
“You always do.” He cupped her cheeks in his hands. “I don’t know what this means, or what I should do about it, but everything good in my life revolves around you. And it scares the shit out of me.”
“It doesn’t have to be scary. It can be a good thing, if you let it.”
He kissed her forehead, and her eyes drifted shut. “I wish you were right.”
She didn’t know if his words made her sad, or special. Perhaps it was due to the utter devastation in his eyes. Or maybe because he said it to her with regret, instead of joy. It was like a good-bye you didn’t want to say, but had to.
Drawing back, he stared down at her as if he wanted to memorize her face, and then he left her alone. Utterly, completely alone. She’d never felt more certain they belonged together. She just needed to figure out a way to show him the feelings he had weren’t wrong or scary. They were perfect.
Together, they could be perfect.
…
Brett tapped his fingers on his bare stomach, Anna’s face filling his every thought. The way she looked up at him today had been so familiar, and yet so different. She still looked at him as if he were the best thing she’d ever seen since chocolate ice cream, but there was something else, too. Something new.
Determination, maybe?
Calculation?
You’re screwed, Ross. You never should have told her the truth.
All this time, he’d been able to resist temptation, but she hadn’t exactly been throwing herself at him. If she tried to get him in bed because he’d been stupid enough to admit he liked having her in his arms…
There would be no chance in hell he’d resist.
He rolled over in bed, his head on the pillow she’d slept on last night. Shit, he could still smell her. And his bed felt way too damned empty without her in it.
What the hell had he been thinking, asking her to sleep with him? He never should have done that. He should have taken the blonde from the bar to a private place and fucked her until he didn’t want Anna anymore. Perhaps if he had, he wouldn’t be lying here, feeling like his arms were empty, dying to touch her.
To feel her. Kiss her. Own her.
Oh, who the hell was he kidding, anyway?
He’d never be that guy.
He’d been wanting to do all of the above since the night she had fallen outside his bedroom window and gotten that scar on her hand. He had swept her into his arms and held her for a few minutes, unable to believe someone could care about him the way she did. A soft knock interrupted his musings. He sat up and frowned.
Who the hell was knocking on his door at midnight?
You know exactly who it is, dumbass.
Rolling off the bed, he padded barefoot to the door and opened it a crack. Sure enough, Anna stood in the hallway. She held two wine coolers and a plate full of cookies in her hands. The damned satin robe that had haunted him the other night, and every other night since, clung to her curves, teasing him. His whole body stiffened. “Anna.”
She gave him a hesitant smile and lifted the wine coolers. “I thought…I thought we could celebrate your birthday without the blood this time.”
She seemed afraid he would send her away. And, damn it, he should send her away. He should slam the door in her face and go back to his bed alone. He should shove her away with enough ruthlessness that she never came back to him. Heart pounding against his ribs, he leaned against the doorjamb, caught between what he wanted to do and what he knew he should do. “It’s not my birthday.”
“I know.” She shrugged. “But you won’t be around on your birthday, and somehow I don’t think I’ll be seeing you in the city then, either.”
No, she wouldn’t be.
Though that should have reminded him why he needed to refuse her entry, it had the opposite effect. He stepped back from the door—knowing full well it was the stupidest thing he’d ever done. But even knowing that didn’t stop him from motioning her inside. She gave him a bright smile, a beautiful smile that did weird things to his heart, and came in with her goodies. He peeked into the hallway to see if anyone was out there, but no one stood there glowering at him, and no alarm sounded.
Shutting the door securely, he leaned on the wood.
He pushed his glasses back up on his nose. Damn it, she was seeing him in glasses for the first time in years. He never put them on unless he was sure he’d be alone, and here he was. Not alone. Something of what he felt must have shown on his face, because she sent him a smile. “I’ve always liked you in glasses.”