ever.” He leaned in again and kissed her just as softly, his lips smoothing over hers with gentle insistence, the tip of his tongue teasing the crease of her mouth. He wanted cooperation. He wanted in.
Julie pulled back, let his breath glide over her tingling lips. “So, what is this? Are you staying or going? I honestly don’t know.” Her lids stayed almost totally closed as she waited for his answer. She couldn’t bear to look at his gorgeous deep brown eyes and didn’t want him to see the effect he had on her.
“Julie.” He whispered her name and this time she did look at him. His gaze bore into hers, searching, seeking, needing something from her, but she had no idea what. The more time she spent with this man, the more she realized she had no idea who he was. He shook his head the tiniest bit. “Don’t look at me like that. Like you’re ready to run. I was about to run myself three minutes ago and changed my mind.”
“Why?” The word barely came out, but she deserved an answer. “What’s wrong with me?”
He drew back sharply, his brows creased together. “What?” In the next instant he pulled her close and she felt the strong beat of his heart against her cheek. “You’ve got it all wrong. There is absolutely nothing wrong with you.” She shifted and he lowered his head. His lips grazed her ear, sent a riot of tingles down her back and arms. “I was running because of me.”
She looked into his eyes. She needed more than that. Did he think she’d fall for the It’s not you, it’s me line?
“Give a guy a break, okay.” He must have seen the skepticism in her eyes. “You’re Julie Fraser. I have to wrap my head around the fact that Julie Fraser gave me a booty call.”
Her jaw dropped open and a wave of heat spread across her whole face. She couldn’t argue, because he was right. She’d called him late at night and had basically invited him over because she was lonely. She’d wanted companionship. Someone to talk to and laugh with. And maybe, tonight, someone to sleep with. She’d gone through three near-death experiences in the last two months, and everything combined made her realize how quickly it could all end. Maybe it was the way they’d been entwined on the stairs. The way she’d felt his physical reaction to her. Or maybe she’d just gone too long without a man and simply needed the connection.
A handsome grin curved his lips. “I think I’ve wrapped my brain around the idea,” he murmured. He brushed his lips gently across hers and sent all the hair on her arms and nape at attention. He flattened his palm at the base of her spine and halfway over her ass and a surprising zing of lust shot through her. “Yeah.” He nodded. “Definitely wrapped.”
He set his mouth to hers and this time Julie participated. Oh, Lord, how she participated. She not only participated, she might have taken over. But it was hard to tell because they both fumbled with buttons and zippers as Troy walked her backward to her bedroom. He knew exactly where to go since he’d been through her house already. By the time they got there, her top and jeans lay somewhere down the hallway along with his shirt.
His hands smoothed over her skin as if he couldn’t touch enough of her, as if he’d waited his whole life to touch her. She wasn’t especially shy either. She loved the play of muscles on his chest, the dusting of dark hair that arrowed down to the waistband of his jeans and straight to the straining erection beneath.
Now, standing next to her giant bed, he pulled back and took a long look at her. Moonlight shining in from the window illuminated his hungry gaze. Wearing just her bra and thong, she never felt more appreciated in her whole life. As if all the hours she spent in the gym were for this moment and none other. Not a film or a photo shoot. But just for Troy.
He grazed his thumb across the scar on her arm from the bullet. He had a similar one on his shoulder. In that one way they were very connected, and it helped her get more comfortable in the nerve-wracking moment. Their matching scars marked their first meeting, gave them a unique starting place. They both had an appreciation for life