hand over her dress, drawing my eyes to her exquisite body. “You just rescued me.”
My eyes snapped back to hers. “What do you mean?”
She wrapped her arms around her chest, doing her best to shut me out. Even when she looked out the window into the darkness, she was still beautiful. There wasn’t any other option, so I leaned over the center console and brushed her hair behind her ear, using my hand to gently turn her face to mine.
“Look at me, Kennedy.” I didn’t mean for the words to come out like they did, but that didn’t stop them from sounding like a harsh demand. One I was glad she obeyed, though, when her eyes met mine. “Tell me what happened.”
She hedged but gave in just enough. “I was uncomfortable. You got me out of there. Thank you.” Kennedy turned her lips into my hand and kissed my palm effectively dismissing my question.
All the uncertainty was gone when she opened her eyes again. “Come inside with me.”
I’m not a genius, but I’m also not a complete idiot. I went with her, willing to take anything she was going to give me. The entire time I followed her up to her room, I knew I was one lucky fool.
Chapter Seven
Kennedy
To say that I was nervous would be a massive understatement. Had I cleaned my room before leaving for the party? Yes. Did that mean that I was one hundred percent comfortable with Linc seeing everything inside it? Hell no. But was I worried about him seeing me naked? Yes . . . Yes, I really was, more than I wanted to admit.
None of that stopped me from leading him through the silent house and up the stairs to my room. Nerves, fears, and worries that would have made it impossible to even try moving forward with anyone else only fueled me on when it came to Linc. Sweaty palms, butterflies, everything I was currently experiencing could all be attributed to the fact that I was finally going to get Linc.
It should have been him.
Shaking my head at the intrusive thoughts, I walked into the bedroom with my head held high and a smile on my face. Sure, it was a nervous smile, but it was a smile, nonetheless.
“Finally,” he breathed against the nape of my neck.
I didn’t even realize he was that close. Still as soon as the door clicked shut behind him, there was no mistaking the desire that flared in Linc’s eyes.
He didn’t make a move, though. Instead, he crossed his arms over his chest and tilted his head to the side.
“You wore that just to torture me, didn’t you?”
The way his voice caressed my skin sent sparks of anticipation down my spine.
“Yep.” The honest answer slipped off my tongue easily enough. “I wanted you to see me. No one else.”
Linc snorted but didn’t move any closer than he already was. “It sure as fuck worked. I almost beat Ray’s head in for staring at you all night. I could literally see him touching you in my mind, and there’s no way I’d let that happen.”
“You’re not touching me.” The words came out before I could stop them.
Those words didn’t come out alone, with them came the insecurities that I’d worked so hard to hide. The problem was that they weren’t some tiny thing peeping out from behind the mirror, or even out from under the bed. It was standing right in front of me, like a wall blocking out the way I knew Linc was looking at me. All I’d wanted, for longer than I could remember, was him. At this very moment he was literally standing in my room, with a tent practically bulging his pants. Yet, I didn’t feel like I was enough; all of my courage, my confidence had vanished.
“Hey.”
Opening eyes that I hadn’t realized I’d shut, I found him standing directly in front of me. Once he saw my eyes, he put both of his hands around my face and touched his forehead to mine, just for a second while he took a deep breath.
“The only thing I can think about is you. I just can’t figure out how to do this quietly,” his admission ended with a laugh. “I was afraid that if I ever started touching you, I wouldn’t be able to stop.”
“I don’t want you to stop.”
There was something holding Linc in place, an invisible barrier of his own. Keeping him from taking that last step, but as soon as