go of my neck and stepped away. But she didn’t untwine her fingers from mine and she pulled me toward the bed.
“Take off your shoes. I’m gonna change.”
“Hadley, baby—”
“Brady. Take off your shoes and get comfortable, honey. I’m gonna get out of these dirty clothes.”
And suddenly I felt like prey. I was unclear how I felt not being the one to give orders. I also wasn’t sure after our rocky start if this was the best way to proceed. My cock didn’t have the same reservations. It was fully on board with Hadley being the boss, and to make its wishes clear, it jerked in my pants.
Fuck.
When Hadley came out of her bathroom, her dark hair was freed of the confines of the band that had secured it up into a messy pile, so now it hung loose, framing her pretty face. But my attention was on her robe. I had a sinking feeling she was wearing next to nothing or nothing at all under the shiny material. My cock seriously loved that idea but my brain was putting up a good fight, reminding me I needed to have a care.
“Hadley—”
“Brady.”
Our eyes locked and a stare down ensued.
She broke it when she said, “You’re not in bed.”
“And you’re scared. Something we need to get you past before we go any further. Me getting comfortable and getting into your bed is not a good idea.”
“I’m not scared anymore.”
Jesus fuck. She’s trying to kill me.
“Remember when I told you, if this is what I think it is, then we have forever?” Hadley nodded and I went on. “Then there’s no rush.”
“Four years,” she oddly replied.
“What?”
“Brady,” she pleaded.
Not liking the tone in her voice and the way she’d begun to fidget, I gently ordered, “Come here, babe.”
She slowly made her way to me, her face set to unsure, and I liked that even less. Once she stopped in front of me, I raised my hands. One went to her neck and the other cupped her cheek and bent her head back so I had her eyes.
“Explain to me what’s going on.”
“I don’t know. You’re the one turning me down so you’re the one who’s gonna have to explain.”
What the fuck? She thought I was rejecting her?
“I’m not turning you down. I’m slowing things down. I thought it was a good idea coming up here so we’d have a piece of furniture to use. Now I’m seeing my error. Me, you, a bed. Way too fucking tempting. You coming out in nothing but a robe—torture. We got time.”
“But…” She trailed off.
“Say what’s on your mind.”
Hadley stared up at me, hunger clear as day in her eyes. She tilted her head and nuzzled my hand. Asking for something but not knowing how to ask.
This was not the Hadley I knew.
“Baby, you want something from me?”
She nodded.
“What do you want?”
“You in my bed.”
My cock jolted, reminding me I was hard as fuck and with a near-naked Hadley pressed against me.
“Just me in your bed?” I pushed, and stroked the soft skin under her chin.
“You in my bed naked.”
Swear to Christ, my cock wept at her invitation.
“How about this, baby?” It took an extreme amount of effort to keep my hands where they were, not taking what she was offering. But I’d already fucked up once and I was determined not to do it again. “Tomorrow night I’ll take you out and we’ll talk some more.”
“What else do we need to talk about?”
“A lot, Hadley. I jacked you around and said some stupid shit. I need to make up for that. But more, I need to make sure you’re where you need to be before we take this further.”
The desire slid from her eyes and irritation moved in.
“Don’t be an ass and patronize me. And don’t go back to using my age as an excuse.”
I beat back the grin that she’d definitely find patronizing and said, “This has nothing to do with your age. You were honest with me and told me you were scared. I put that fear in you. And you’re afraid because I was a dick to you. We’ve been dancing around each other for a long time. That ends now. You think you know me, but, baby, you don’t know me. And what you find when I let you in you might not like. So we’re slowing this down. Taking our time and building it right.”
“You’re not staying the night,” she surmised.
That was an absolute fuck no. I wasn’t sleeping in a bed