She wasn’t sure if it was really all that different at all.
“Look,” he said. “You know me and Shannon were together for a really long time.”
“Uh-huh.”
“You know how important she was to me. Is. She’ll always be someone I care about.” He put his hand on her leg, pulling her focus and keeping it on him when she wanted to look past him. “But we’re friends. Just friends now. I think we have been for a while.”
He hadn’t acted like it, those first few weeks they’d been here.
“What changed?”
“I don’t know. Me. Her. Everything. We had a good long talk about it, while she was there. About how people can come into each other’s lives at these points when they’re exactly what you need. But then as you grow, maybe things don’t fit so well anymore.” He shrugged. “Sometimes you hang on too long.”
It struck Jo all at once. When Kim had been talking to her about making the most of a summer fling, Jo had doubted her. Nothing about Adam had said short-term. He’d basically already told her that he would throw himself into it and give her everything. And when it was over, when it came time to part ways…
He’d hold on too long.
It was what he did. He loved with the safety off, while Jo scarcely knew how to love at all. Yet she was going to have to be the one to keep whatever this thing between them turned out to be in check. Really, if she wanted to save them both a lot of heartache, if she wanted to keep him from wasting months trying to make this work, she should cut it off now.
But she looked at him, gazing back at her with those guileless eyes. She took in the dirty blond of his hair and the warmth of his cheeks, the cut of his jaw and his shoulders. His chest. There were still so many things she wanted to do with him.
“Yeah,” she said, vaguely helpless to it. “I see how that could happen.”
She did see it, and she knew the smart course of action. But the smart course sucked. There wasn’t any point giving it any real consideration. And anyway, she was smart enough that maybe she could walk the stupid path and not get burned.
Resolve and hope lit in her chest. She could keep both eyes open. She could curb his expectations. When their time was up, she’d let him down gently. And in the meantime, for just a little while, she could have this.
Smiling, oblivious to her decision, he leaned in closer. He took her hand in his. “Long story short, we talked things out. We decided we were better off as friends. And as soon as I could, I caught a flight back here, so I could see you.” With that, he squeezed her palm. He nudged her nose with his own in a gesture that was far too sweet, then caught her lips in a kiss.
It was almost as good as their first kiss—maybe better because she had some clue about what was going on between them now. She parted her mouth and let his tongue inside. Idle sparks of arousal darted from her breasts to between her legs, and if the drape of the sheet was anything to go by, she wasn’t the only one who was ready for another go.
It would be so easy, too. If she just put her hand on his chest, or hell, right on his cock. Kissed him a little deeper or climbed up on his lap, they could be off and running for a second round in no time. After, they could end up the same way they had at the end of their first, holding each other through the afterglow.
She could fall asleep, right here in his bed.
Temptation clawed at her. She’d never really done that before, not on purpose, and he was so warm and held her so nicely.
But they had to pace themselves. It was her job to keep this thing in check.
Groaning out her reluctance, she tore herself away from him. “I should go.”
“You should stay.” He pursued her as she tried to retreat, kissing her and pressing her into the headboard.
“I should go,” she repeated. She shoved at his chest.
He heard her this time. The disappointment on his face killed her, but as he retreated, giving her room to breathe, she took it.
And then fucked everything up, leaning back in to kiss him.
No. No, no, no, no, no. Releasing another noise of frustration, she put a finger over his lips and pushed him away with it. “Okay. Just so we’re clear, I want nothing more than to have you fuck me into this mattress right now.”
She preferred being on top, having control. But seriously, at some point, that was happening.
He visibly twitched beneath the cover of the sheet. Against her finger he got out, “Then why—”
“But it’s getting late. And I really shouldn’t stay here.”
His forehead crinkled. “Why not?”
She scrambled, trying to think of something. Sadly, all she was left with was the truth. Well, a version of it. She dropped her hand from his mouth and slipped past him to start gathering her clothes. “Listen, I know we jumped into bed together pretty fast.” She stopped him before he could question that. “And it was awesome. No regrets. But”—she drew in a deep breath—“I don’t want to rush things.”
I don’t want you to do anything you might regret.
And besides… “I know we’re not going to keep this a secret or anything.” Apparently, everyone knew, just from their flirting. “But Carol will know if I stay out all night, and I don’t want to deal with Jared making comments in the morning. I don’t want to be…” It was part of why she’d always selected her conquests from anonymous clubs. “I don’t want to be the girl who sleeps with the guy.” She wasn’t saying this right. “I need people to respect me.”
His eyes were sad, but he didn’t put up any further protest. Except… “Are you saying you’ll never want to sleep over here?”
Shit. That sounded terrible.
But when he brought up the other aspect of staying the night—the part about how she would be sleeping with him, it made a vulnerable little piece inside of her tremor. It made another piece of her glow.
Fighting both reactions, she took a deep breath. She found her underwear and shorts and drew them on before climbing onto the bed to press an insistent kiss against his lips. “Not never. Just not all the time. And not tonight.”
“Okay.” He didn’t sound entirely happy about it, but he didn’t sound like he wanted to argue anymore, either. He let her go, and she slipped away to claim her bra from the floor.
She was pulling her shirt over her head when he piped up. “I never did get a chance to really look at your tattoo.”
He hadn’t been lying about really, really liking her piercings and ink, huh? “Maybe next time.”
Then he was rising off the bed in all his naked glory, stalking over to her.
“What—” she started.
“Definitely next time.” With that, he grasped her face between his hands and hauled her into a kiss so deep and dirty it stole her breath.
When he let her go, she felt a little dazed. But he didn’t press. He went to his dresser and pulled a fresh pair of underwear from a drawer and stepped into them. For a second, all she could do was stare.
“Next time,” she agreed faintly.
“Okay, then.” When she stood there, staring at him dumbly, he rolled his eyes. “I’m using willpower here to not act like a caveman and drag you back to bed. But if you’re going to go, you should probably do it now.”
Right. She got her socks and boots on and found her binder under his shirt. More or less put together again, she straightened up and cast one last glance at him. Gorgeous, barefoot, shirtless him.
He wasn’t the only one using a hell of a lot of willpower now.
Without another word, she turned to the door. In a few quick strides, she was through it and down the hall and spilling out into the warm night air. She pressed her spine to the door as she pulled it closed behind her.