huffs out a frustrated breath and rubs his palms over his face. “Holy shit! What are you doing to me?”
“I’m not doing anything. You wanted to talk, so we’re talking.”
“It’s your fault that we even need to talk,” he all but growls.
A startled laugh escapes my mouth. “How do you figure that?”
“Oh please. You think I haven’t caught on to what you’re doing? The touching and the way you watch me, and like it isn’t bad enough you make breakfast with only your towel on, now you just constantly shove your abs in my face the whole day long.” The last few words are punctuated by him poking his finger in my stomach before he points it to my face accusingly. “You’re seducing me.”
“And you’re underestimating me,” I say. “I might have been doing all the things you just pointed out, but Kai?” He lifts his eyes to mine at the sound of his name on my lips. “I’m not seducing you.”
He frowns. “You aren’t?”
I shake my head. “I’m not.”
There’s a chance I’m mistaken. To err is human and all that jazz, but I’m as close to a hundred percent certain as possible that it’s disappointment I see in Kai’s gaze.
“There’s a caveat,” I add.
Kai squints his eyes at me. “Which is?”
“Yet,” I say.
He makes a face. “Oh good. Just what I need. Riddles.”
“I’m not seducing you,” I repeat. “Yet.”
Kai swallows hard and licks his lips. It’s difficult to remind myself why I shouldn’t straddle him and kiss the fuck out of him right here and now. For all intents and purposes, I should feel more off-balance than I do right now, but I just don’t. Instead, I’m calm and determined. I’ve never understood what people mean when they talk about gut feeling, but I do now because everything inside me screams that this is right. This is what I want. I know it with unparalleled certainty. The hows and whys might be unclear, but I don’t care about that right now. All my focus is narrowed on the fact that I want Kai. All the little details take a back seat.
“You can’t say that. You’re not seducing me. Period,” Kai argues.
“I was thinking I might give it a shot, though,” I say conversationally. “The thing is, this here is not a spur-of-the-moment thing. I’ve thought about you and me for two weeks now, and I’ve made sure my judgment isn’t clouded.”
Kai snorts and shakes his head. I wish I knew what he’s thinking.
“What do you want?” he asks.
“You,” I say. “It’s that simple.”
“Nothing about this is simple.”
“Maybe not,” I allow. “But it doesn’t have to be overly complicated either. I want to know what this clawing need inside me is, and as far as I can tell, the only way to test it out is to kiss you again.”
“We can’t.”
“Do you want me?”
He closes his eyes and continues shaking his head. “You can’t ask me that.”
“Why not? I usually find that starting with the easier questions makes answering the big questions easier.”
Kai pushes himself to his feet and starts pacing back and forth in front of the couch. He drags his fingers through his hair and clutches at the strands, leaving his hair standing up.
He lets out a slightly hysterical laughter. “Why not? Well, let’s see. First of all, you’re straight!” He points his finger in my face and looks at me expectantly like he’s waiting for me to go, “Oh yeah. That little detail. Well, I guess in that case I’m not attracted to you. Wanna watch a movie?”
I stand up, too, and take a step closer.
“Based on the revelations of the last few weeks, I’d say I’m questioning. Although I’d prefer to call it getting to know another side of myself.”
“You’ve only ever had girlfriends,” he says like he’s presenting evidence in the courtroom.
“Not exactly true. I’ve only ever dated Cecilia, so that ‘girlfriends’ you’re talking about should be singular. I’ve had dates, yes, but…” I stop for a second. This is not about me recapping my measly, disappointing dating life. “Want to know something funny? I’ve been doing a lot of thinking.”
“That is funny,” Kai interrupts before he clamps his mouth shut like he hadn’t intended to give in to the urge of teasing.
I grin before I continue. “I never told you the details of how Cee and I started dating, did I?”
“No.” He looks away from me, sounding a bit like he doesn’t want to continue this conversation.
“Yeah,” I say. “I was worried and embarrassed