She swallowed hard. “I had a revelation.” Her cheeks flushed at the admission, piquing his curiosity.
She placed her bag on the chair Kade had been sitting in earlier and stepped closer.
“What kind of revelation?” he asked, knowing it could be good or bad.
She clasped her hands tightly in front of her, obviously gathering her courage. “Would you agree that we’ve been… on hold?” she asked. “Since that night when we were together?”
His breath left him in a sharp rush. He hadn’t expected her to go there. All he’d been able to think about was them together, his cock deep inside her, and repeating that night. Hell yes, they’d been on hold. And his body wasn’t happy with being deprived of what it wanted, especially when she was in the room next door.
“I agree. Although I made it clear that’s not what I want,” he reminded her.
She sucked her bottom lip between her teeth, and his cock jerked in his pants.
“Well, I realized I don’t want us to be apart anymore either.” She stepped closer, her fruity scent an arousing addition to his inhale.
He waited for her to continue, because as far as he was concerned, this conversation could go anywhere.
“I backed off because I needed to know I could stand on my own. But I realize now I can do both. Be independent and be with you.” She glanced up at him through thick lashes. “And you proved you understand what I need. I mean, today, you let me handle the storage unit without insisting you needed to come along. You respect me.”
“I do.”
She lifted a finger and let it trail down his chest, but he didn’t respond to the bait. Instead he waited, because his gut told him there was more to this turnaround, and he needed to hear it all.
“So I know we can … have sex and I won’t lose myself in any way.”
And there it was.
And though her eyes shone bright in her face as she admitted the reason she’d come to see him, her words didn’t bring him the relief he’d have thought.
And he knew why.
“Sex,” he said, repeating her word choice. “You’re here because you want to fuck again?”
He was deliberately cold and crude, and she blinked at his harsh tone, her hand dropping from where she’d been touching his shirt. “Lucas, I didn’t mean—”
“Yes, you did. Or you would have said it differently. So let’s be clear. You aren’t here because you want a relationship.” Which he did.
With Maxie it was all or nothing, at least for him. Clearly she had other ideas.
“I thought you understood. I’m barely out of my marriage, and I’m dependent on you for where I live. So no, I’m not ready for a relationship. But I don’t see why that means I have to deny us what we both want.”
On the surface, he understood her point. He, too, wanted her to be the self-respecting woman he knew she could be. And would be soon. But she was demeaning what he felt for her… what they could be together. And yet again, he understood.
Still, he ought to be offended that she was turning to him for sex… but he wasn’t. The fact was, Maxie was feeding herself a line of BS. They already were in a relationship. If you defined one by confiding in each other, sharing meals, sharing living space—and once they crossed this next line, they would be sharing a bed. He’d see to it. To him, that was a relationship.
If she wanted to delude herself into thinking they were just having sex, he would let her go on thinking that—hence his use of cold words—until she was ready for more.
There was just one more box he needed to check off in the non-relationship/relationship department, at least in his own mind.
“This sexual relationship has to be exclusive. That’s nonnegotiable.”
She nodded. “Of course.”
He held back a grin. She didn’t know what to make of his responses, and that was good. She was off-balance. Unable to think too clearly. She’d come here wanting to take that next step, but their conversation hadn’t left her in seductress mode.
Fine with him. He had no problem taking over.
Chapter Seven