Refusing to dwell on that, Skye went back to their conversation earlier and how he seemed to mildly fixate on the friends-with-benefits thing. And the more she thought about it, the more she fixated on it.
It was a practical solution.
Elliott said he’d never use her like that, but…what if she was the one using him? They’d both be getting something out of it, and maybe during that time, Skye would realize she’d built him up in her head all these years and that he wasn’t so great. She’d see that he was too clingy or too needy or…or…too into Hallmark movies and rom-coms for her liking!
Oh, who am I kidding? I love a good Hallmark movie too!
Okay, maybe he had some gross habits or something else that would turn her off.
She could only hope.
Now she just had to come up with a way to let him know she had given their conversation some thought, and she was more than willing to help him pass the next several months until he was free to go out and fall in love again.
Because she knew he eventually would.
No matter how much he tried to deny it.
It was after ten and Elliott tossed the remote aside because there was nothing holding his interest on TV. Hell, nothing held his interest all day since he dropped Skylar back off at her office. He’d gotten nothing done at work, his dinner was completely tasteless, and everything on television just wasn’t for him.
So where did that leave him?
Standing, he walked to the kitchen and grabbed himself a bottle of water and realized it was too early to go to sleep and that meant he was going to have to force himself to find something to read. Normally he was all for reading before going to bed, but he had a feeling tonight it would all just be a blur of words that didn’t sink in.
Maybe I’ve got some melatonin around here someplace to help me fall asleep.
With nothing else to do, he walked down the hall to his bedroom and then went straight to the master bath to look in the medicine cabinet for something to help him sleep. He scanned shelves and then looked in the linen closet and eventually found himself back in the kitchen, searching through the cabinets there.
“Well, shit.” The next step was getting in the car and driving up to the twenty-four-hour pharmacy, and he was already searching for his keys when there was a knock on his door. He froze in place because no one ever came by at this time of night and certainly not without calling first. Grabbing his phone, he checked his doorbell camera and couldn’t believe what he saw.
Skylar.
A slow smile crossed his lips.
She knocked again–louder this time–and Elliott quickly went to open it. “Skye,” he said breathlessly. “What are you doing here?”
Looking up at him as she wrung her hands, her expression was incredibly serious.
“Skylar?”
“Here’s the thing,” she began. “I thought about everything you said earlier and I know you said you would never ask it of me–you’d never use me–but I don’t care. If given the chance, I’d say yes to it all. Friends with benefits, casual sex, I don’t care. I’ve thought about you–about us–for so many damn years that I’m sick of it.”
He was pretty sure he was having a heart attack because he couldn’t believe she was actually here and saying what she was saying. “Skye, I…”
She stepped into his house before turning to face him again. “Do you want me?”
“You know I do.” And his hands began to twitch with the need to touch her and make sure she was real–that he wasn’t dreaming this. “But…”
Reaching out, Skye placed a finger over his lips. “No buts. I don’t care if it’s just tonight. I just know that I’m going to continue to kick myself if I don’t do anything about this. About us.”
Elliott gently wrapped his hand around her wrist before kissing her palm. She was being honest with him, so he owed it to her to do the same. “Before we do this–before we do anything–you need to know that I haven’t changed my mind. I know it’s a shitty thing for me to be saying right now, but…
“Elliott…I…”
“There’s a part of me that feels like I should tell you to go. To leave and just forget about this. You deserve so much more than someone who has sworn off relationships.”
“But…?”
“But…” he said huskily, “I really don’t want you to go.”
She blushed. “I don’t want to go either.”
He stepped in closer and shut the door behind him. “So…what happens now?”
A shy smile crossed her face. “I was hoping we could save the Q & A for after.”
“After?”
She nodded, biting her bottom lip. “Yeah. After.” Then, because she was definitely the bolder of the two of them, she moved in close and kissed him.
It was all the encouragement he needed.
His hands reached up to anchor in her hair, but first he pulled out the clip holding it back. Then, her gloriously long hair cascaded down over his skin and it felt as good as he imagined it would. Skye pressed closer and wrapped her arms around him and it seemed crazy that they were doing this.
While still standing in his entryway.
As much as he hated to stop kissing her, he hated the thought of standing here even more. “Can we…I mean…would you mind if we…?”
“Took this inside?” she breathlessly finished for him. “Um…yes, please.”
Taking Skye’s hand in his, he walked to the living room and then stopped because…was this inside or did she mean…
“Keep walking,” she whispered huskily, and so he did.
In his bedroom, he let go of her hand and turned to look at her. His first thought was, “Yes! Finally!” while another was asking, “Why is Skylar in my bedroom?”
He told that second one to shut up as he stepped in close and wrapped his arms around her waist. Then he simply let his gaze devour her. How had he gone for so long without realizing how stunning she was? The girl he’d known all these years had turned into a beautiful woman. There was a small smattering of freckles across the bridge of her nose and a few on her cheeks. She had a beauty mark next to her right eye that he knew she was a little self-conscious about, but he always thought it was cute. And her body? Yeah, Skye was always on the trim side without a lot of curves, but holding her close now, he knew the curves she did have were perfect.
Stop thinking like that! You’re not supposed to be getting all romantic and attached!
As much as his mind told him he shouldn’t, his heart seemed to have other ideas.
“You’ve gotten quiet,” Skye said, interrupting his thoughts. “Are you having second thoughts?”
Shaking his head, he leaned in and placed a soft kiss on the tip of her nose. “Never. I was just thinking that this is…new. Different. I’m afraid to do something wrong and ruin it.”
She let out a soft sigh and moved out of his arms and Elliott feared he did exactly that.
“I was hoping we could wait to talk about all of this, but I guess it’s smarter to do it first,” she said before sitting on the corner of his bed. “This is about…maybe satisfying some curiosity and helping you while you’re on this whole yearlong ban on dating. This isn’t about anything serious.”