Fight Like You've Never Lost (Summer Lake #14) - S.J. McCoy Page 0,20

idea of spending the whole weekend with him had been an appealing one. But she couldn’t do it. Shouldn’t do it. Jesus. If he’d gotten to her this much in the course of an afternoon, she couldn’t think what she’d be like after a whole weekend. Nope. She had to go. Having sex was supposed to have cleared the tension between them so that they could work together for the rest of the semester. She had a feeling that all they’d done was create more tension. If she had to, she’d let him work with Dan and she’d find a way to get through the class by herself—or drop it. She could take it next semester.

She jumped at the sound of a tap on the bathroom door. “Are you okay in there?”

“I’ll be out in a minute.”

She sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly as she checked herself over in the mirror one last time. She looked good. She wasn’t vain; it was all about putting up the façade to protect herself. Her lips were kiss-swollen, there was a little red patch on her neck where he’d sucked when he nipped. She closed her eyes. And she was planning to walk out the door and never do this again?

She jumped when the door creaked. It sounded like he was leaning against it.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

She had to smile when she heard him chuckle. “Wondering if I should ask you that very question. Or if we’d both be embarrassed if I knew the answer.”

She laughed and opened the door. He really had been leaning on it. He stepped inside when it swung inward. He caught himself quickly and raised his eyebrows as he smiled. “Everything okay in here? I was getting worried.”

She laughed again. “Everything’s fine. I was just …”

He looked her over. She had to close her eyes when he put his hands on her hips and dropped one of those sweet little kisses on her lips. “You were getting ready to leave.”

It wasn’t a question. It was a statement and one he didn’t look happy to make.

She nodded. She wanted to come up with an excuse about how she had to, but she knew that the less she said, the better.

He met her gaze. “I know why.”

She swallowed—hard. She wanted to tell him that he didn’t, that she’d just remembered some assignment that couldn’t wait, or that there was an emergency she had to get to. But she didn’t. There was no point. She didn’t know how he understood her so well, but he did. So, instead of making any excuses, she gave him a sad smile. “It’s for the best.”

He slid his arms around her waist and pulled her against him. “I want to argue with you and tell you that you don’t know that.”

She could feel his heart beating in his chest; it seemed to match the hammering of her own. Maybe she should let him persuade her to stay.

“But I can’t.”

Her heart sank.

He tucked his fingers under her chin and made her look up into his eyes. “All I can do is tell you that I want you to stay. That I want this weekend with you.”

She searched his face.

He shrugged and gave her a half smile. “If it’s any consolation, I couldn’t offer you more than that even if you wanted it. Don’t worry. I know you don’t. So, can you honestly tell me that walking away now would be better than walking away on Monday?”

He held her gaze while he waited for her answer. She knew what she should do. She should say yes that it was best for her to go now and never look back. She’d thought an afternoon with him would be a breeze. But he’d gotten to her in the space of a few hours. What would happen over the course of a few days? Apparently, she was going to find out because even though she knew what she should say, she couldn’t make herself do it. Instead, she smiled.

“Is that a yes? Will you stay?”

“Yes.”

He lowered his lips to hers and his kiss had her wanting him again even while it confirmed that she was crazy not to walk away while she still could.

When he lifted his head, she tapped the middle of his chest with two fingers. “This is it, though. Just this weekend. On Monday we go back to our own lives. We’ll work together with Dan because we both need it,