She shook her head, though, and he felt utter disappointment. He hadn’t really thought she’d let him come by, but he’d been hopeful all the same. This patience stuff truly was a load of crap.
“I’m pretty worn out. I think I just want to make a cup of hot tea and read until I go to sleep,” she said.
“What are you reading?” he asked as he walked with her back to her car.
Her cheeks flushed, and he was incredibly curious now. He couldn’t remember ever reading something that would embarrass him. Okay, maybe the copies of Hustler he’d read, solely for the articles, of course. If his mom had ever walked in while he’d been immersed in one of those magazines, he’d have been truly mortified.
“Oh, you wouldn’t recognize it,” she said, looking away. Now he had to know!
“Come on, you tell me what you’re reading, and I’ll tell you what’s on my Kindle,” he said in his persuasive doctor’s voice. It always got his patients to open up to him.
Her blush wasn’t going away. “It’s just mindless entertainment,” she grumbled.
Kian placed Lily in her seat, and she didn’t stir at all, but her tiny fingers gripped his shirt and tugged a little bit more on his heart. He brushed Roxie’s hands away and buckled his daughter in. He’d watched Roxie, and now he had it down. He only fumbled a little bit.
“It’s called, um, In the Heir by Ruth Cardello,” she murmured.
He carefully pried Lily’s fingers from his shirt, and she grumbled before shifting her hand to her mouth and sucking her thumb. He had a hard time turning away from his daughter, but he was incredibly curious about Roxie’s reaction to a book.
“What has you blushing?” he asked. He shut Lily’s door and trapped Roxie against the side of the car, not allowing her to escape. He wasn’t touching her yet, but now that it was just the two of them with no one else around and Lily asleep in her seat, Kian was getting a lot of ideas that had nothing to do with kids—well, maybe making kids, but that was for later.
“I’m not blushing,” she insisted, but the color rose in her cheeks, completely contradicting her words.
“Oh, you’re definitely blushing,” he said. He stepped closer, his body fully coming to life. That flush in her cheeks made him think of how many other ways he could bring color to her body. She blushed all over when she was turned on, and that had him ready to explode in seconds.
“What is this book about?” he asked. She refused to look him in the eyes.
“I have a thing for romance books, okay,” she told him in a huff.
“What’s so embarrassing about a romance book?” He really was confused. He wasn’t letting her leave until she explained.
“It’s not embarrassing. It’s just a romance book, and there might be a little bit of steam to it.” She finished her sentence very quietly. At those words, Kian’s imagination came to life.
“What do you mean by steam?” he asked. Now, only inches stood between them, and his lower region was throbbing painfully.
“Well, I don’t read romance for the sex, but she . . . um . . . well, this author definitely writes some sexy scenes,” she said. The heat coming off her cheeks could burn him now.
“What’s this book called again?” he asked.
“In the Heir,” she said.
“Hmm.” There was no way he was admitting his curiosity.
“So, you like reading about sex?” Damn, he was turned on right now. He didn’t know women read about sex. It wasn’t like he’d ever seen a girl’s porn magazine in the stores. Not that he’d looked for one, though. He couldn’t imagine a bunch of naked men in a magazine would sell.
“No!” she insisted before calming her voice. “I like reading about romance,” she told him.
“With sex?” he pushed.
“The sex just happens to be in there,” she insisted.
“I can teach you all about sex,” he said, leaning in closer, his body now brushing hers.
“You did teach me all about sex,” she reminded him.
“And we had fun, didn’t we?” he pushed.
He found his fingers tracing the curve of her cheek and jaw and was encouraged when she didn’t push him away. Her eyes dilated, and he ran his fingers down her neck, finding the place her pulse was beating out of control.
“Yeah, but that was a different time. We were so young,” she said.
“Just because we get older doesn’t mean we have to grow up,” he advised.
“That’s exactly what it means. We can’t act like kids forever,” she told him.
“Why not? What’s so wrong with being youthful? Take Millie, for example. She wears her hair in any color she feels like, and she still dances like she doesn’t care. She will live her life until the day she dies and have no regrets as she releases her last breath.”
“Your positive outlook on life was one of the things that drew me to you,” she said, her guard down, her body relaxing against his as he continued pressing into her.
“It’s been a long time since I felt positive,” he admitted. “You make me feel like anything’s possible.”
It was true. When he was with Roxie, the world was at his fingertips. He loved it. She brought something out in him no one else could, and he didn’t want to let go of the feeling, not ever.
“Maybe you just buried it,” she said, but she was no longer looking in his eyes. Her gaze was on his lips, and he didn’t even want to control the hunger drifting through him.
Bending down, he gently kissed the corner of her lips. She sighed as her mouth opened. He wanted to take her fiercely, but he didn’t allow himself to. He had to remind her of their languid days of lying on a picnic blanket, worshipping each other’s bodies.
He kissed the other corner of her mouth, and she wiggled against him. He pulled her bottom lip into his mouth and gently bit down before sucking on it. Her hips rocked against his. His hand drifted to the back of her head, and he held on tightly as he angled her just where he wanted her and closed his lips over hers, giving her a lazy kiss as his tongue traced her mouth before drifting inside and retreating again.
Her moan rumbled against his mouth, and he had to fight not to lose control, but this was about seduction, not satisfaction. He continued slowly kissing her as one hand drifted down her side, a shudder racking through her frame. He ran his hand down the back of her leg, then gripped her beneath the knee and pulled her thigh up so he could cradle himself against her heat.
She squirmed in his arms as she wrapped her hands behind his shoulders and gripped him tightly, trying to intensify the kiss. He released her lips, and she whimpered until he kissed along her jawline and sucked the skin at the base of her throat. She was melting in his arms, and he was losing the battle of keeping control of himself.
“Invite me over,” he begged. He was more than happy to beg now. He’d started this as seduction, and now he just wanted to sink inside her and stay there all night long.
She sighed as her fingers tugged his hair. He kept licking her throat as he waited for her decision. But then she reached around the front of him and applied pressure to his chest. She wanted him to let her go.
Though he knew he could seduce her into submission, he wanted her trust even more than he wanted her body. He allowed her to push him back. Her cheeks were bright-red, and her eyes dilated as she looked at him.