Pushing His Luck - Rhyannon Byrd Page 0,38

eyes if any other man had ever said those words to her, but hearing them fall from Paul Cartwright’s rugged, beautiful lips… Call her crazy, but she definitely believed them. Believed him. Because if their continual text conversations had taught her anything the past few weeks, it was how fiercely he wanted to be open and honest with her.

“Good,” she said softly, and his lips twitched at the way she’d just given his earlier response right back to him.

Pulling in a deep breath for courage, since she was about to ask him the all-important question, she said, “So now that we’ve established that we’re both still single, where do we go from here?”

“I know what I want, but I…” He paused, turning to face her as he pulled her to a stop in the sand, his big hands settling on her waist as he stared down into her wide eyes. “I’ve been trying not to come across as a pushy bastard, which hasn’t been easy, seeing as how I want to push you right into a serious relationship with me. You just need to tell me what you’re ready for, Rin.”

She pulled in another deep breath and licked her lips—loving the way his gaze went even hotter as he followed the movement of her tongue—so many words and thoughts jumbling together in her head, she knew she needed a moment to sort them out so that she could say them the right way. But before she could murmur a single one of them, he said, “You can ask me about it, you know. The therapy.”

Curving her hands over his broad shoulders, she gave him a caring smile. “I didn’t want to pry, but I hope it’s going well.”

“You were right. Mike was right. Hell, I think everyone knew it but me—the fact that I have some shit I need to work through. And I’m glad you didn’t just let me play it off as no big deal and act like it wasn’t there. I heard you. I listened. And so I found someone to talk things out with.” His chest started to shake with a low rumble of laugher. “Actually, I haven’t stopped talking. About my job and what happened to my friend Dixon, and with Jenna.” He tugged her a little closer, his smoldering, heavy-lidded gaze locking tight with hers as he husked, “But I talk about you most of all.”

She blinked up at him. “Me?”

“Fuck yeah.” He placed one warm hand against her lower back, pulling her so close that her breasts were smashed against the solid wall of his chest, his other hand lifting to the side of her throat, his thumb stroking the sensitive skin beneath her chin. “I want to be with you, Rin. And I want to be good for you.”

She sniffed, blinking like crazy to hold back a sudden rush of tears.

Voice low and rough with emotion, he asked, “Think there’s any chance you might want to be with me too?”

She didn’t even have to think about her answer, the words coming out in a tumbling, breathless rush. “Oh yeah. More than anything.”

They were both smiling as he lowered his mouth to hers. At first, it was just a warm brushing of his soft lips over her quivering ones, but the kiss quickly took on a life of its own, her hands in his windblown hair and his on her ass, their tongues tangling together with a devastating passion that had them both struggling for breath when he finally lifted his head—just enough that he could look her in the eye—and roughly said, “Jesus Christ, Rin. I want you so fucking bad it’s killing me.”

“I want you too.”

“Yeah?”

“Oh yeah.”

He closed his eyes as he sucked in a sharp breath, the flush on the tops of his cheekbones and the trembling in his hands telling her he was every bit as desperate as she was, and she could literally feel him fighting for control as his tall, mouthwatering body shuddered against her.

“Come up to my condo with me?” she whispered, the feel of his hard cock pressing against her belly nearly making her beg.

“Jase is with your parents for the night, right?” he asked, his heavy, glittering gaze moving up from her tingling lips to her eyes.

“Yes,” she breathed, her nails digging into his strong shoulders as she fought the urge to climb her way up his big, gorgeous body like a monkey. “They’re bringing him back tomorrow afternoon.”

“Then let me take you home