her another.”
“Or her insurance can.” He takes it, busts out the remaining jagged pieces and crams the pale blue silk shantung square into the open pane. It fits snugly. “Works.”
He turns back to me and stills, his eyes sweeping over me in the dim light. I’m suddenly acutely aware of the fact that I’m in his shirt, my bare legs exposed and my braless breasts outlined.
“You look about seventeen.”
“I’m not.”
His gaze lifts to mine as my meaning sinks in.
“That chair has to be uncomfortable.”
“It is,” he admits.
I lift my hand toward him, my invitation clear.
He hesitates. “We do this, it’s only temporary, understand? I’m not looking for anything more.”
“I understand. I’m not either,” I lie. Whether he reads the lie in my eyes or not, he prowls toward me and backs me to the small peninsula that sticks out from the kitchenette. The countertop presses into my back.
His gaze is intent and filled with male hunger. My belly tightens as he braces his hands on the counter on either side of me, bracketing me in. My eyes drop to his chest, and I draw in a ragged breath.
“Look at me, Lola.”
I lift my gaze to his emerald orbs, and I’m lost in them.
“You sure about this?”
My pulse skitters, and I’m mesmerized by his penetrating stare. There are barely a few inches between our bodies, and that space crackles with the physical energy arcing between us.
He hasn’t even touched me, and already my body is humming with need.
He cocks his head, and studies me. “If you’re having second thoughts, better speak up now. Because if you want the truth, once we move to that bed, I’m going to be all over you.”
Holy crap, his words turn me on. A jolt shoots through my body, and I suck in a breath. “I want that.”
Slowly, his head lowers, and I hold perfectly still as he brushes his lips over mine. Our mouths are the only place we’re touching, and its erotic as hell. I can feel my entire body vibrating with awareness of how close we are. Finally, I break the standoff and wrap my arms around his neck.
His hands close around my waist and he lifts me onto the counter, prying my knees apart and stepping between them. His thick arms wrap around me to yank me flush against him, and I gasp, loving the way he’s manhandling me.
“Look at me.”
I shyly stare up, meeting his warm gaze.
“I need to know you understand who I am—what I am. I’m a Nomad, Lola.”
“I get that.”
“You’re gorgeous, you know that, don’t you? I’m sure you’ve got your choice of patches, if that’s what you’re after.”
“I’m not.”
He suddenly grins. “Every warning bell in my head is going off right now, telling me you’re probably more trouble than I need, girl. Probably gonna steal my heart, too, if I let you. But I really want you; warning bells be damned.”
I meet him halfway as his mouth descends on mine. Instantly, need jolts through me, like nothing I’ve ever felt before. My arms steal around him, and I’m just as determined to ignore those same warning bells I hear myself.
His kiss is like no other; his firm, knowing touch, his tall body and broad shoulders, they all work on me like no man I’ve ever known. Everything is different with him. Everything feels right, like this is fate and destined. Things I’ve never believed in.
It’s as if he’s everything I’ve been waiting for all these lonely years.
As he pulls back and stares down at me, his big chest rising and falling faster than before, I know he feels it too. That something is special here, but he doesn’t want to believe in it.
He brushes my hair back from my forehead, staring into my gaze. “I see it in your eyes. Don’t go getting attached, girl. I never stay in one place for long.”
“I won’t.”
“I just want to be up front with you.”
“No expectations. I’ve got it.”
“Doesn’t mean I won’t come back around. Doesn’t mean we won’t see each other again. We will. I guarantee it.”
“No. We made a deal. No guarantees, no promises, no expectations. Just now, just this moment.”
He grins at my reply. “Damn. It’s like you were made for me.”
His hands go to my ass, and he picks me up, carrying me to the bed where he takes us both down to the mattress.
My long legs wrap around him, and I sink my fingers in his hair, kissing him again and again. His beard is