He could tell he’d surprised her.
“You shouldn’t trust a stranger with where you live, shouldn’t invite him into your home, shouldn’t open the door to him.”
“I know that,” she said with exasperation.
“But I’m not a stranger. I’m a club Dom. You know I’ve been well vetted. And part of my job is to look after you.”
She shook her head. “It’s not. I look after myself. You seem to be under the mistaken impression that I—”
“Ria, I just kissed you. I held you in my arms. You snuggled in like you belonged there—”
“I don’t snuggle,” she grumbled.
He grinned at her. “Fine, you didn’t snuggle, you cuddled.”
“That’s just as bad.”
“A rose by any other name . . .”
She sighed. “Your point? Because I’m hoping this long-winded explanation has one.”
He tilted his head to one side. “Is that attitude because you’re afraid of me? Worried about letting me get close?”
“The attitude is because you’re annoying me.”
Yeah, he was. He could see that. Her gaze was wary. Definitely worried. He guessed she didn’t let many men get as close as he had tonight. Something big had happened to her to make her so guarded.
And he wasn’t looking for problems. Maybe if she just wanted to play for a night or two, he might indulge. But nothing beyond that. And he shouldn’t even be doing that until he’d ruled her out as the thief. Not that she was at the top of his list. Her background check hadn’t raised any red flags.
So why didn’t he want to say goodbye? Why was he hoping she’d invite him inside for a drink?
He needed to back off. Put some distance between them.
“My point is that I didn’t mistake the way you just reacted to me. You enjoyed that kiss as much as I did.” He reached out and tucked some of her hair behind her ear. She flinched slightly. He a feeling she wasn’t used to being touched.
And he hoped like hell no one had ever hurt her physically. He made a low, rumbling noise of displeasure at the thought.
Her eyes widened. “You’re acting really odd for a guy who doesn’t know me.”
“I think we can agree that we’re no longer strangers.”
“Just because you’ve had your tongue down my throat doesn’t mean you know me. It just means I had a lapse of sanity.”
He sighed. “Ria—”
“I’m tired. I want to go to bed. Let’s just agree that what happened before was due to a rush of hormones from left over adrenaline and leave it at that, okay?”
A rush of hormones? His lips twitched. Fine, she could think that, but he knew better. And he also knew it was probably best to put some distance between them.
“Fine.”
“Good.” She nodded, staring up at him.
“You going to unlock your door now?”
“Uh-huh.” She turned around and pulled her keys out of her bag right away. That surprised him. His experience was that women had a pile of crap in their bags and their keys were usually right at the bottom.
She unlocked the door and walked in. “Bye.” She swung the door closed without even looking back at him. He reached out and grabbed hold of it before it could slam shut.