There Goes My Heart (The Sullivans #20) - Bella Andre Page 0,27

touch of mutiny.

Who would have thought he’d find obstinacy so damned sexy…

Two hours passed before she stirred. Still draped across him, she began to stretch, then stiffened against him as she realized she wasn’t alone in the bed.

“Rory?”

Even just the sound of her voice aroused him, especially when she was saying his name in a slightly husky, sleep-filled voice. “The one and only.”

Her eyes went big as she abruptly scooted away from him. She felt around on the side table for her glasses, which he’d been careful to move off the mattress as soon as she fell asleep. Once she had them on, she said, “I liked everything we did tonight—loved it all, actually—up until the point where you had to go and screw everything up by calling me sweetheart.” She looked mutinous. “You shouldn’t have said it.”

The entire time she’d been speaking, he’d been working like hell to keep from reaching for her and pulling her back against him. Were it not for the fact that she’d inadvertently hit the nail on the head by accusing him of screwing everything up, he might have given in to his urges and done just that.

Instead, he kept his hands to himself. “Sweetheart just slipped out.”

“Look, I get it.” Fully awake now, she got up, walked over to the minibar, and grabbed two sodas. Still gloriously naked, she popped the tops off the bottles, handed him one, then downed hers. Clearly, she’d worked up a wicked thirst over the past few hours, with help from him. “The sex was hot. And humans are stupidly hardwired to think it means more than that. But you and me—we know it doesn’t. Right?”

He knew the correct answer. The answer they’d agreed on before they’d launched into their “one night only” plan. But Rory hadn’t just been wild in his youth, he’d been rebellious. Still was. So instead of giving her the answer she was waiting for, he decided to tell her the truth. “When I called you sweetheart, it felt like more.”

She leveled a you’ve got to be kidding me look at him. “Like I said, it’s perfectly natural to get caught up in the heat of the moment. But that doesn’t mean either of us should read more into it.”

Neither of them was used to backing down. What’s more, Rory didn’t care for the way she was outright dismissing him. “I’ve gotten caught up in the heat of the moment before. What happened tonight felt like a hell of a lot more than that. Are you honestly going to stand there and tell me you didn’t feel it too?”

Though she scowled and her cheeks were flushing with irritation, he was glad she didn’t keep trying to deny that she had felt something beyond just physical pleasure with him. Instead, she said, “You promised we weren’t going to be weird afterward.”

“I’m not being weird,” he countered. “I’m being honest. And the honest truth is that despite all rational reasons to the contrary, I can’t sit here and say I want things to end for you and me after tonight.” Case in point: Her skin had flushed in this same way when she’d been writhing in ecstasy beneath him. She hadn’t been irritated then, had she?

“You want us to date?” Clearly aghast, she grabbed the sheet and pulled it around her like a cape. “Or are you talking about being friends with benefits?”

He probably should keep things easy and simple by signing up for a friends-with-benefits plan. But when had his relationship with Zara ever been easy? Even now, he found he couldn’t lie to her and tell her that was all he wanted.

“These past couple of days, I’ve realized that I like you and like being with you. It also turns out that sex with you is epic. And when you were asleep in my arms, it felt good. Good enough that I’m not convinced friends with benefits will be enough.” He ran his hands through his hair. This was where things got sticky, when he knew just how little he had to offer her. “But there are reasons I haven’t dated anyone for the past year. Reasons that make me a bad bet for anything long-term.”

“Ditto to all of the above. The only difference right now is that while you met two of the reasons for my damage tonight, I know nothing about your reasons. Before I can make any decisions about your…proposition, I guess we can call it…it would help for me to