It was the last thing on earth she wanted. “What I don’t want is to be blindsided again.”
Say you won’t. Promise you won’t.
But Shane didn’t say anything; only fell silent, his lips pressing into a thin line.
“This morning—” she started.
“Can we forget this morning?” Shane gave her a beseeching look.
She’d love to, but… “Not until you tell me what you were about to say.”
He licked his lips. “It was a mistake.”
Crickitt was tempted to search her chest for a knife. No matter what happened in the future with them, she’d never think of making love to Shane as “a mistake.”
Shane met her eyes, his growing wide as he took in her pained expression. “Not that, Crickitt.” He shook his head. “I mean this morning. What happened in my office. It was a mistake.”
Relief swamped her. She closed her eyes and blew out the breath she’d been holding.
“I freaked out.” He lifted his eyes. “It was stupid. I’m sorry.”
Her heart went from hammering to melting. Had Mr. Forbes really just admitted he was stupid? And sorry?
“Forgive me?”
She searched his amber eyes. Oh, she wanted to say yes. Just say yes and ignore the last seventy-two hours.
So do it.
But if he kicked her out of his house over a clock, how could she be sure he wouldn’t do it again, and over something equally unimportant?
You’re afraid.
She was. Terrified.
He slid to his knees in front of her, his eyes never leaving hers. “I can’t…Crickitt, please?”
She brought a palm to his face and he leaned into it. The shuttered distance in his eyes replaced by so much regret, it made her heart ache. By the time she’d moved her fingers to his hair, she already knew what she’d say.
“Okay,” she whispered.
His eyes sank closed and he pulled her into his arms. She went, hating and loving how perfect they fit together.
“Come home with me,” he murmured into her hair.
She closed her eyes against his shoulder, feeling the steady thump-thump of his heart against her chest. There were several good reasons to say no. But she couldn’t.
So she didn’t.
* * *
“Thread count?” Shane’s eyebrows hit his hairline. “That’s what you’re going with?”
She’d admit, asking about his Egyptian cotton sheets wasn’t the best conversation starter. Especially after the electrifying roll around on top of them.
“I can’t help it,” she said. “I like your bed.”
He cupped her hip with his palm, a certain seriousness in his small smile. “I like you being in my bed.”
This is the way it’d been all evening. He was gentler, his touch more sincere. As if every caress held something…more.
Dangerous thinking.
He met her eyes, watching her intently. “Stay.”
Keep it light. Casual, she warned herself. She tossed out the first excuse she could think of. “My parents.”
“What are you, sixteen? Like they haven’t figured out what we’ve been doing for the last three hours?”
There was a thought. She made a face.
Just when she thought the weighty moment had vanished, Shane moved a curl away from her eye and there it was again. The intense look on his face highlighting the spark behind his eyes. That spark excited her…and made her nervous.
She forced a casual smile. “Yes, but we can all pretend you and I spent the evening playing board games if I go home now.”
He sighed, and she hoped he wouldn’t press the issue further. “Board games, huh?” His hand slid from her hip to her stomach and up to her breast. He leaned in. “Who’s winning?” he whispered against her lips.
You. Definitely you. “I am,” she breathed.
He kissed her briefly, brushed his thumb over her sensitized flesh. “But I have one more turn.”
He kissed her again, his teasing lips mimicking the movements of his fingers.
“One more,” she whispered, her resolve crumbling. Before he could kiss the sense right out of her, she caught his face with her hand. “Then home.”
She thought he might argue for a second, and Lord help her if he did because she was about to agree to stay, consequences be damned. But he only grinned, pushing past her hand, a feeble attempt to keep his lips from hers, and said, “Deal.” Then he closed his mouth over hers.
An hour later, Shane stood on Crickitt’s front porch, lingering over her lips for an unhurried kiss good night. “Not too late to change your mind and come back home with me.”