Hold Me Close - Talia Hibbert Page 0,280

of her vision. Too fast. She’d stood up too fast.

Oops.

Zach watched Rae close her eyes and catch herself against the wall, her splayed fingers brown and vulnerable against the harsh, white paint. He swallowed a curse. He’d researched POTS a while ago and confirmed everything she’d said: it was a circulatory condition that caused dizziness and fainting, one that could be mild enough for a person to ignore. It could also be life-changing. Clearly, Rae dealt with her condition just fine, but his heart skipped a beat every time hers fucked around.

He moved toward her, but she gritted out, “Don’t. I’ve got it.”

So he stepped back, calmed down, and finally noticed that she was fucking naked. His mind blanked. Was she—? Was this—?

That night in the park, she’d made the first move and said she was seducing him, slightly embarrassed but bold as brass all the same. He’d thought that was his one and only chance, the missed opportunity of a lifetime. Maybe he’d been wrong. Maybe the growing charge between them had electrified her too, and she’d decided to try again. The idea took him by the throat, his senses short-circuiting. Just like that, he was made up of precisely two elements: the words, She’s right in front of you, cycling hot and frantic through his mind, and the bittersweet pain of his instantly aching cock.

He was about to blow at the thought.

Then her voice carved through his dizzy fantasy. “For God’s sake, Zach, close your eyes.”

Understanding buried him like a pile of bricks. Ah. So, this whole thing was an accident after all, and here he was, apparently staring. In reality, he could barely see her, but he closed his eyes anyway. Didn’t help; her image was burned into his brain. She was all outlines and shadows, courtesy of the thin, tightly drawn curtains: her arm slapped over her soft, sweet breasts, the edge of one dark nipple peeking out. The rippling curve of her belly and the prim, white V of her underwear, which made his mouth run dry. Fuck.

He tried to say, “Sorry.” His voice was so rough it probably sounded like an alien language.

“What are you doing here?” she demanded, like she suspected he’d installed spy cameras and purposefully barged in as soon as she was undressed.

“I came to fetch you for dinner. It’s been five hours and you weren’t answering my texts.”

“Five hours?” She sounded shocked, then resigned. “Oh. Yes. I meant to set an alarm, but I…”

Something in her voice, the sudden flatness, made him frown. “You what? What happened?”

“Nothing,” she said. “I fell asleep.”

Maybe he should let it go, but the fact was… “You’re kind of a bad liar. Did you know that?”

She spluttered for a moment, and he grinned, imagining her outraged expression. Then she shocked the smile right off his face. “And your dick is hard. Did you know that?”

Uh, yeah. He couldn’t fucking miss it. But he’d been praying to God that she would. Christ, could this get anymore Perverted-Peeping-Tom? Prying his back teeth apart, he muttered, “Sorry. It’s not—I’m not—”

“I know,” she sighed. He heard her move around the room, felt something—a tension, a crackle in the air—that suggested she’d just walked past him. “I promise, you don’t have to say it again. You’re not attracted to me, and so on and so forth, and I really don’t know why I mentioned—”

His eyes popped open. “Wait.”

She was on the other side of the room, now, dragging a T-shirt off the back of a chair. Presumably still naked, but Zach kept his gaze on her face. Because he thought he’d just heard something unbelievable in her voice, and he wanted to read something wonderful into her words, but to be sure—really sure—he needed to see her eyes.

Right now, they were dancing away from his like butterflies.

“Rae,” he said slowly, taking a step toward her. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but I had this wild idea that you didn’t care if I was attracted to you or not.”

Her jaw shifted. “You’re right. I don’t.” But she still didn’t look at him.

“Of course not. Because, when you asked me to come home with you last month, it was purely practical. Right?” He watched her closely, because he knew her, and because his instincts urged him to push. Just this once. Please.

She finally met his eyes, chin raised, gaze defiant. “I meant what I said that night.”

Perhaps her iron tone should’ve put him in his place, but he was feeling reckless. If