all true. And if she didn’t stand up for herself now, when would she? Because it would be far too freaking easy to fall into bed with him, fuck him until she couldn’t remember her own name, and grab at the pleasure while she could. But he wasn’t just some sexy cop that she wanted to get down and dirty with. He was Paul, damn it. An incredible man who could make her wet with little more than a look, but who also actually meant something to her—a man that she cared about, deeply—and if he’d just give himself the chance, she truly believed that he could care about her too. She just… She couldn’t go down that road with him like this, when his first instinct was to turn away from her and keep her in the dark.
She followed him out of her bedroom and through the quiet rooms of the condo, every thump of her heart feeling like a punch inside her chest, her hands literally itching with the desire to reach out and grab hold of those big, broad shoulders, draping herself over his back as she begged him to stay.
He stopped as he reached the front door, one rugged, masculine hand already on the handle as he glanced over at her, his expression tight with what looked like a chaotic blend of emotions. “I meant what I said in the truck. When I came up to your balcony the other week, I… I realized I was just fighting the inevitable.”
“The inevitable?”
“Yeah.” His blue eyes were piercing and bright beneath his dark eyelashes. “You and me. Us. And there is an us, Rin. Don’t even try to tell me you don’t feel it too.”
“No,” she said softly. “I won’t try to tell you that.”
He wet his bottom lip with a nervous flick of his tongue, his corded throat working with a hard swallow as he roughly went on. “So, I know I have shit to sort out. Just…give me some time. Please. And…don’t see him again.”
“Who?” she asked with confusion. “James?”
He nodded with a sharp jerk of his chin.
“Trust me, I wasn’t planning on it.” Her lips twitched with a wry smile. “Does it make me an awful person to admit that I hope he’s puking his guts out down on the beach right now?”
“Naw,” he muttered with a gritty laugh, the tiniest spark of relief flickering through his beautiful eyes as he finally opened the door and walked out onto her welcome mat. But then he pulled in another deep breath as he turned to fully face her again, his hands shoved deep in his front pockets and his voice dropping to a guttural murmur as he said, “Just…don’t see anyone else, either.”
She opened her mouth, no idea really as to what she was going to say—yes, no, are you out of your freaking mind?—but before she could get a single word out, he husked, “I won’t either. I just…need some time. Please.”
Time? Time for what? To get her to cave and forgive him? To decide if he was ready for what dating a single mom would mean to his lifestyle? To figure his shit out?
Whatever the reason, she knew there was only one response she could give him.
Quietly, but in a tone that was far firmer than she’d expected, Karin gripped the door handle and said, “Focus on you right now, Paul—not me. Not us. But…I’m always here, if you need a friend.”
Then she took a deep breath and did the hardest thing she’d ever had to do in her entire life…
And closed the door in his face.
Chapter Seven
Monday morning
It had been two days since Karin had shut her front door in his face, and Paul still couldn’t believe that she’d done it. That she’d turned him down—after he’d made her come so hard she’d had to cover her mouth to stifle her husky cries of passion—as well as the door part.
He knew she wanted him. There was no way in hell a woman could orgasm like she had and be faking it. He’d felt her tight, sweet pussy clutching rhythmically at his tongue as he licked inside her, her juicy cum spilling down his throat as he swallowed her up like a meal, and it had been the most real…most perfect moment of his entire life.
Unfortunately, she wasn’t going to allow her body to make her decisions for her, as evidenced by that closed door. No, she was too smart and tough and incredible