My life is safe now. The threats from before have become less menacing, and I'm faced with a choice: either move on completely or keep holding to the hope that JC loves me enough to come and find me.
Excerpt
I grabbed my cell and checked the time. It was
six-twenty-nine. I threw it in my purse and turned back to the mirror to give
myself a pep talk. “We will not have sex. We will not have sex. We will not
have sex.”
Jesus, I was so horny already, and I hadn’t even seen him
yet. I’d thought about taking care of myself before JC got there but wasn’t
sure if that would make things better or worse. By the time I’d decided it
would make it better, Ben was there, and now JC was ringing my buzzer.
“You look incredible,” he said when I opened the door.
I blushed as I gave him a onceover. He was dressed in
khakis with a fitted shirt and a lightweight jacket. Lots of buttons, I
thought. Which was a good thing, considering how damn good he looked. Had he
always been that buff? “You do, too.” My thighs felt hot. Good thing I’d
changed out of my pants.
I really should have pulled out my vibrator earlier.
“You brought flowers?” I’d been so taken by him I hadn’t
noticed the small bouquet in his hands. Three red roses dressed with some
smaller white bell-shaped flowers I couldn’t identify were wrapped in a red
ribbon. I hadn’t expected it. “I didn’t know you were the kind of guy who
brought girls roses.”
He shrugged with one shoulder. “I’m trying to impress you.
I have a feeling this date is a test of some kind, and I want to make sure I
pass.”
“Not a test,” I said dismissively. Though, wasn’t that
what this was? A test to see if we got along as well outside the bedroom as we
did inside? “But thank you. You do impress.”
I shifted my weight to one hip and flitted my glance
between JC, still standing on the other side of the threshold, and the flowers
in my hand. “I should put these in water.” But I wasn’t sure I was ready to
invite him in. Because in meant we’d be closer to my bed. And my couch. And my
kitchen counter. All of which were locations that could be tempting.
Really, I just shouldn’t be anywhere alone with him.
Either JC felt the same way I did or he could read my
mind. “You can do that later. The plastic containers on the stems should last
until we get back. And we should get going.”
“Perfect.” I set them on the console table behind me,
relieved and nervous all at once. I took a deep breath, grabbed my purse, and
turned back to him. “Let’s go!”
In the hallway, he offered me his hand. I took it, then,
there it was—the shock of his touch as his fingers weaved with mine. I let out
an involuntary sigh, and with it bricks of tension fell from my body. Release.
It shuddered through me as electricity sparked up my limb from where we were
connected and spread throughout my body, and I wondered if this was what it
felt like to melt. What it felt like to be frozen for so long and then,
finally, to have the sun brush against cold ice, transforming it into something
more fluid, something entirely different.
I glanced down to where we were joined, so overcome by how
right it felt to be touching him in this simple way. When I looked back at him,
I found his eyes pinned on me. His expression said he’d felt it too.
“You messed up, you know,” he said, as we started toward
the elevator. “You were supposed to wear something that I didn’t want to rip
off of you.”
My cheeks heated—actually, I wasn’t sure they’d ever
cooled from the first blush he’d caused. “You said it would be impossible for
me to wear anything that wouldn’t elicit that response. The only other choice
was to go naked.”
“That would have been an excellent choice.”
“But not very practical.”
“I’ve never been a fan of practical.” He pushed the call
button and the elevator doors opened immediately, the car likely still there
from when he’d arrived.
We stepped inside, our hands still molded together. The
doors closed, and I so badly wanted to turn and kiss him.
Instead I delivered the short speech I’d practiced since
I’d woken up that afternoon. “I think I should tell you, I don’t have sex on
first dates.”
“Wow. That’s...surprising. Considering we had sex before
we’d ever even been on a date.” He squeezed my hand. “But, after you left me
with blue balls this morning, I already figured out you’d turned into a prude.”
I laughed. “I’m not a prude. I’m cautious. And that’s
nothing new. That’s always been me.”
“Yes, it has.” The short phrase was full of subtext, and I
knew he was remembering how uptight I’d been when we’d first met. Icy. Frigid
bitch.
“I’m better than I was,” I assured him.
He nodded. “I know. Otherwise you wouldn’t have given me
even this much of you. And if you want to wait, then I can too.”
What I wanted was to push him against the wall and devour
him.
But that was an in-the-moment want, and long-term, I
wanted a relationship that was real and lasting. “Thank you. It means a lot.”
He leaned in close and, though we were alone, whispered in
my ear. “I’m not going to say that I’m not dying to have you under me, Gwen.
Because I am. But I’m dying to just be with you more.”
Despite the descent of the elevator, his words sent me
floating. “You’re really good at that impressing thing.”
He gave me my favorite grin. “Who knew?”
About the Author:
Laurelin Paige is the NY Times, Wall Street Journal,
and USA Today Bestselling Author of the Fixed Trilogy. She's a sucker for a
good romance and gets giddy anytime there's kissing, much to the embarrassment
of her three daughters. Her husband doesn't seem to complain, however. When she
isn't reading or writing sexy stories, she's probably singing, watching Game of
Thrones and the Walking Dead, or dreaming of Michael Fassbender. She's also a
proud member of Mensa International though she doesn't do anything with the
organization except use it as material for her bio.
Free Me/Find Me Signed Set
$25 Amazon Gift card
