Pushing away from the door, she replied, “Yes. We’ve got multiple events this weekend so we had to go over all the specifics, and then we worked on some plans for your grandparents’ party. They’re coming in Monday afternoon to talk about it.”
He nodded and walked over to the fireplace and studied the pictures she had on the mantle. “I heard they booked the arboretum. They used to take me and Josie there when we were kids. My grandfather can tell you every kind of plant and flower there. I always thought that was amazing.”
“It is,” she agreed and then waited to see if he was going to call her out on sneaking out the other morning.
Looking at her over his shoulder, he smiled. “Meanwhile, I couldn’t name even one flower or plant and that’s why I got poison ivy seven times.”
That made her laugh softly. “I remember you having it a few times. I had no idea it was that many.”
He nodded. “Yup. And every time after it cleared up, he would take me back out and point it out to me and explain how to recognize it and then…” He held up his hands. “I can do coding for multiple computer programs at the same time and remember all kinds of crazy tech stuff, but I could never remember to look at the kind of grass I was walking through.”
“That’s because it wasn’t important to you. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
“Tell that to thirteen-year-old me who cried from all the itching.”
She laughed softly at that and wrapped her arms around her middle. “What are you doing here, Elliott?” she asked, her voice barely a whisper.
Walking over to her, his expression was unreadable. “Why’d you leave without waking me up?”
Dammit.
Unable to look at him, she shrugged. “I shouldn’t have even stayed the night. That’s not part of what we agreed to do.”
Now he moved in even closer but didn’t touch her. “Actually, we didn’t get to agreeing on much of anything. We said we’d talk, but then we didn’t.”
Skye felt her cheeks heat with remembrance. “It was late and I couldn’t seem to keep my eyes open.”
“No one’s blaming you,” he said softly. “I was just disappointed to wake up and find you gone.”
The sigh was out before she could stop it and she looked back up at him. “This is the kind of thing you’re supposed to be avoiding, Elliott.”
He took her by the hand and led her over to the sofa so they could sit. “Okay, I think you and I are not quite on the same page with some of this, so why don’t you lay it out for me–what you think it is we’re supposed to be doing.”
Ugh…
When she sat back on the sofa with a little more force than intended, her robe gaped open at the top and at the bottom–essentially exposing a whole lot more of herself than she intended. With a small gasp, Skye did her best to cover herself, but when she looked up at Elliott and saw his heated gaze, she was lost.
There was no way of knowing who moved first, but the next thing she knew, they were kissing and Elliott was gently tugging at the tie around her waist. His mouth slanted over hers over and over as his hands seemed to be touching her everywhere. It was madness and such a turn-on to know he was just as needy for her as she was for him.
Because she was totally needy.
All week long she had thought about what would happen when they saw each other again and while the practical part of her brain tried to reason that nothing would have to change, the woman who still harbored a fairly large crush had hoped for this particular scenario that was being played out right now.
She wanted to remind him how he was the one who wanted to talk, but…
Later.
There would be plenty of time later.
Breathless, Elliott stared up at Skye’s bedroom ceiling. Beside him, she was also trying to catch her breath and just thinking about why they were both breathing hard made him smile.
Round one had been out on her sofa.
Round two had been in her kitchen.
Round three brought them to the bedroom, and he was fairly certain that he couldn’t get up and walk, even if someone put a gun to his head.
But what a way to go…
Yeah, she completely rocked his world–again–and he had a feeling they weren’t going to have their talk tonight either.
Not that it mattered. He wasn’t interested in having a list of rules–didn’t feel like they needed them. They weren’t strangers; they were friends, and as such, they should be able to sort of go with the flow until one of them didn’t. Rules would complicate things, and Elliott knew that Skye tended to thrive on things being organized and well-planned, but that wasn’t going to fly where sex was concerned.
Turning his head, he looked at her and smiled. Her eyes were closed, her skin was flushed, and he couldn’t resist rolling toward her and lazily touching her.
At the first touch of his hand on her shoulder, she jumped slightly. “You scared me,” she whispered.
“Sorry.” And yeah, he couldn’t help but laugh softly. “You were maybe expecting someone else?”
“No, but I just wasn’t expecting you to…you know…touch me.”
Frowning, he stared at her. “Why not?”
Now it was her turn to turn and stare. “What do you mean, why not?”
“Why wouldn’t I touch you again?”
Rolling onto her side, she faced him and shrugged. “I just thought we were…you know…done.”
Ah…now they were getting someplace.
Rather than answer, he took his time letting his hand caress her from shoulder to shoulder and down to her breasts. He kept his touch light as he circled her nipple and he loved the sound of the slight catch in her breath.
When she didn’t stop him, he skimmed lower–over her stomach, up and over her hip, and down her thigh. She was soft everywhere and he couldn’t make himself stop. It wasn’t until his hand rested on her bottom and squeezed that she let out a little moan of pleasure.
“Elliott…”
He might not be able to walk, but he could certainly roll them both over and kiss her while he continued touching and pleasuring her. And once he had Skye beneath him, he rested his forehead against hers. “I’m not leaving tonight,” he told her, his hand now moving on to other spots on her body that he knew drove her wild. “I’m staying and I’m not sneaking out in the morning.”
Her head thrashed from side to side as she began to pant from his touch, and he had to admit it was an extremely satisfying sight.
“Are you okay with that?’ he asked gruffly.
“Yes,” she said frantically, arching beneath him, seeking more of him.
“Good.” And with that, he kissed her and it was wet and wild and he swore they shouldn’t be like this again so soon.
And yet…they were.
Who was he to argue?
Early the next morning, Skylar’s alarm went off and Elliott had to wonder what time it was. It had been some time after one when they finally crashed.
She was in his arms and groaned sleepily as she rolled over to turn off the alarm.
“What time is it?”
“Six.”
That was when he normally got up, but it felt much earlier.