Wait.
Something pulls me back, even through the rush of lust and oblivion. I can see her in my mind, the sad resignation on her beautiful face when she told me nothing would ever happen between us; that Vegas was a lapse. That she can’t do this—not again.
What secret is she hiding? Who made her so scared to take that risk again?
With a groan of regret, I tear myself away from her tempting embrace. Every muscle in my body screams in protest, but I force myself to pull back.
She’ll hate me for stopping—but she’ll hate me even more if I don’t. There’s something holding her back, making her run every time I come after her, and as much as I like the chase, I know that for her, this is no game.
It’s real. It matters.
And that means it matters to me too.
I set her down and inhale a ragged breath, cursing to myself as the world comes rushing back again. Tegan’s eyes are still heavy-lidded and dazed as I smooth a lock of dark hair back from her flushed cheek and slowly step away.
She blinks. “What…?” Her voice is shaking as she comes back to reality. She looks around, flustered and disoriented, before staring back at me. Slowly her face changes, the rush of desire dissolving, and something forlorn and disappointed takes its place.
“I did it again, didn’t I?”
The sadness in her voice cuts right through me.
“You mean kiss a grown man hard enough to make him go weak at the knees?” I try to lighten the mood. “Yes, ma’am. Seems to be a skill of yours.”
She lets out a sigh. “I’m sorry, I’m not trying to lead you on, I swear.” Tegan gives me a miserable look, hugging her arms around her waist. “I don’t know what came over me. I don’t want to kiss you.”
“You’re lucky I’m so secure in my manhood,” I reply, still teasing even though I’m worried about the shadows in her gaze. “A lesser man would be getting insecure by now.”
She rolls her eyes. “I couldn’t put a dent in that ego if I tried.”
“That’s me. Rock hard, baby.” I wink, and finally she lets out a laugh. I feel a strange sense of relief. She isn’t running away yet, which makes this a step up from the last time I kissed her.
I don’t know what the hell is going on with this girl, but I want—no, I need—to figure her out. And it may go against all my instincts, but something tells me the best thing for me to do right now is back off and give her the space she says she wants so badly.After all, this is a small town. And with her car up on blocks, I know she won’t be going far.
“I’ll let you get back,” I say casually. “You take care now. I’ll let you know about your car.” I turn back to the truck to leave, but her voice stops me.
“Wait.”
I turn back. She’s staring at me, looking confused. “Why are you being so nice about this?” she asks. “I’m giving you all these mixed messages, acting like a crazy person, and you barely even blink.”
“What do you want me to say, sweetheart?” I ask her slowly, my gaze never leaving hers. My resolve to take things slow slips, just a little. “You want me to admit I want you?” I demand. “We both know that’s true. I’ve wanted you ever since the first moment I laid eyes on you in that bar. You walked into the room, and everything got real simple. Your lips. Your body. Those beautiful, restless eyes of yours.”
Tegan takes a shaking breath. “I told you…”
“And I listened.” I counter. “I stopped us, didn’t I? I could have had you spread in the flatbed of this truck by now, but you’re not ready for me yet.”
Her eyes flash. “You’re pretty sure of yourself, you know that?”
“You don’t know the half of it yet. You want to know a secret?” I add, moving closer. Tegan grips her handlebars tighter as I lean in, grazing her ear with my lips as I whisper, “You’re going to be mine, princess. I’m going to learn that body by heart. Those sweet lips are going to be screaming my name, soon enough. But not until you’re ready. Next time, I promise, you’re going to be the one kissing me, begging me. Next time, I’m going to show you just what it is those other guys have been lacking.”
I step back, leaving her open-mouthed and off-balance. I climb back up into the truck and drive away, watching her confused look get smaller in the rearview mirror, until I turn the bend, and she’s gone.
But still, that face lingers with me. The scent of her hair, soft under my touch. The warmth of her lips, hungry and gasping…
This is only the beginning.
I stay lost in thought all the way out to the house. It’s still hard to think of it as mine, even as I pull into the yard and start unloading supplies. I’m still thinking about Tegan and her dark, watchful stare until my cellphone starts to ring, breaking through the daze.
I grab it from the front seat and move to answer before the caller ID flashes out at me.
Driskell.
My blood runs cold. What the hell is he doing calling me now? I made it clear, we’re done. Our little arrangement was over the moment I won my freedom in that poker game and cleared the last of my debt.
I have nothing to say to him.
I wait until it goes to voicemail, and then toss it down. I drag the timber into the house, and set about filling another few sacks with dirt and rubble, dragging the heavy loads out to the skip in front, but I can’t shake the chill of unease snaking down the back of my spine. I want to ignore it, pretend like the past doesn’t exist, but I can’t. Driskell sure as hell won’t.