had shoes to go with it, and left my hair down—because Oz had told me he liked it. I did, however, mousse it into a curly fluff. “Go big,” my mom had always said. Grandma, too. Yet I’d let myself conform to what was expected of me. Why hide my hair?
Luckily, I avoided Grandma. Explaining my date might have gotten me a lecture. She’d not been too happy when she caught me resuscitating Oz. Then I asked her about Shax.
The conversation had ended mighty quickly after that.
A knock on the door had me catching my breath. Holding it for a second, even.
It was him.
My heart hammered. I was thirty bloody years old, and yet I had the worst case of the butterflies.
It took me forever to open the door, and I wondered if I’d waited too long and if Oz had left.
The door opened to show him leaning on the wall across the hall. He was dressed in those shorts he hated. The collared shirt he’d mentioned. His hair somewhat brushed but with great flow on the sides.
It brought out the naughty. “You look like a very handsome yuppy about to bust out of his clothes.”
He tugged at the neckline of his shirt. “I am pretty sure it’s choking me.”
“Pussy.” Softly said. His lips quirked.
“You look beautiful.” He practically purred the words, and heat suffused me.
“Thanks.” I glanced down at the floor, at his feet, my feet.
He chuckled. “Since when are you shy?”
Since when indeed. My chin snapped up. “This feels weird.”
“Did I get the wrong size?”
I shook my head. “Not the dress. It’s perfect.” As if he knew exactly what would suit me.
“Then what’s wrong?”
“It’s just… I’m nervous?” It came out almost like a question.
“So am I.”
“No way. You’re like Mr. Cool and Composed.”
He grinned. “Inside, my heart is pounding. I half-thought you wouldn’t be here. Or that you wouldn’t answer.”
“I’m not a coward.”
“I know you’re not. But you and me—”
I interrupted with a shake of my head. “There’s no you and me.”
“You keep telling yourself that.” His phone went off. An angry Flight of the Bumblebee symphony bursting from his pocket.
“Aren’t you going to answer?” I asked as he ignored it.
“It’s my sister wanting to know where I am and commanding me to move my ass.”
“The one getting married?” My eyes widened. “Are you late?”
He had the laziest smile on his lips as if we had all the time in the world. “We’re fine. I made sure I came to get you with plenty of time to spare.”
“Afraid I’d need convincing?” I teased.
“More because I knew this would happen.” He reached for me and drew me close. “I’ve wanted to repeat our kiss all day.”
“That wasn’t a kiss,” I protested—weakly, I should add.
“Are you sure? Maybe we should try it again.” The words hotly brushed my lips, and yet I was the one to close the distance and press my mouth to his.
An instant jolt of…just about everything. I clung to his mouth, my hands flat on his chest, his arms around me, holding me close. The pure maleness of him surrounded me, and I savored it. Ran my hands over the sculpted hardness of his muscles. Felt him shudder at my touch. Heard the soft hums and groans. I affected him. There was no doubting the heady knowledge of realizing that I could make this man want me.
He went to his knees with a moan. “Fuck me, we don’t have time for this.”
“Pity.” I glanced down at him, my panties really wet, my body throbbing. Everything in me wanted to reach for him.
His phone went off again. An even angrier bumblebee.
“We really should go,” I murmured.
“I know,” he sighed. “But I really don’t want to.”
I stepped away from him. “Are you sure you still want me to come?”
“Yes. No,” Oz growled and raked his fingers through his hair. “I can smell you.”
“Thanks.” A wry reply.
He made a sound. “No, it’s not bad. It’s good. Too damned good, and I don’t want to share.”
Jealousy. It shouldn’t have been sexy. I melted a little bit more and just made it worse. Oz’s nostrils flared, and he grabbed for me, only I danced out of reach.
“You don’t have time for this.” I waggled my fingers, sluicing a cool shield of magic around me.
He blinked. “Your scent, it’s gone. How?”
“I’m a witch, remember?”
“You can just turn it off?”
“Not exactly off. Just contained so no one else can see or smell.”
He stared at me. “You’re still aroused?”
I nodded.
He leaned his head back,