“Wow. Nice to know Josie was concerned,” she muttered.
“She definitely was but I sort of left no room for argument and she said something about how you saved my ass last time so now it was my turn…or something like that.”
Now that made her feel better.
Her phone dinged with an incoming text and when Skye pulled it out of her purse, she saw it was from Leanna.
* * *
Leanna: I hope you’re really not sick and you and Elliott were just making a hasty escape to make up! :)
* * *
Leanna: But if you really are sick, I hope you feel better and call me if you need anything!
* * *
Skye: Not sick at all. Everything’s good and I promise to call you tomorrow!
* * *
Smiling, she slid her phone back into her purse.
“Everything okay?”
“Yeah, that was just Lea making sure I’m okay and asking me to call her if I need anything.” There was no way she was admitting that Leanna knew what they were doing–not only tonight, but in general. “She’s a worrier and sort of like the mom of our little group, so I knew she was going to check up on me. If I hadn’t responded, she probably would have shown up at the house at some point tonight to make sure I wasn’t feverish or hadn’t fallen down and hit my head.” She laughed softly. “She’s good like that.”
He nodded. “What about my sister? What does she do in a situation like this? You know, if you were really sick?”
“That’s easy–she’d tell me to stay the hell away from her because she didn’t want to get sick and then she’d call in an order from any one of my favorite restaurants and have food delivered. She’s nurturing in her own way.”
“I’m finding out all kinds of things about Josie tonight and it’s starting to freak me out.”
That was…odd. “Like what?”
But he was already shaking his head and before she could push him on it, she noticed they were pulling into her driveway. He parked and shut off the car but made no move to get out.
“Elliott…”
He had a white-knuckled grip on the steering wheel and was staring down at it. “We are going to talk tonight, Skylar. I don’t want there to be any misunderstandings like what we had on Monday.”
Well drat. She was really looking forward to them picking right up where they left off on the party deck, but it looked like that wasn’t going to happen.
Talk about a mood killer.
Then he released the wheel and turned his head to look at her. It was dark in the car and the only light came from her front porch so he was completely in shadows. “We’re going to talk but…not right now.” Reaching out, he caressed her cheek. “Right now, I want to get you inside and carry you right up to your bedroom. It’s probably not the smartest thing to do considering we still have so much to discuss, but…I don’t even know how I haven’t pounced on you right here in the driveway. I’m holding on by a thread here.”
Her breath came out as part laugh, part relief. “Thank God! I thought I was the only one feeling like that.”
“Let’s go inside then,” he said, and before the words were fully out of his mouth, they were climbing from the car and running for the front door. It was the first time all week that she felt light and happy and full of anticipation.
And it was only the beginning.
Skye swore she’d never felt as clumsy as she did trying to open her own front door, but when she finally managed to stumble through, it was all worth it. Elliott kicked the door shut and pressed her up against it as he kissed her again–slow and deep and oh-so-wet. If all he did was kiss her tonight, it would almost be worth it.
Almost.
He had her caged in against the door like he had back at Flanagan’s and now she could climb up him exactly as she wanted to. Looping her arms around his shoulders, she gave a little hop and Elliott immediately reached down and cupped her bottom and lifted her. After that, they were obscenely close and all Skye could imagine was how awesome it would be if they were naked like this.
Maybe…
They were on the move before she could even attempt to tell him what she wanted, but it was all good because a minute later they were in her bedroom, on her bed, and Elliott’s hands were sliding under her top to take it off.
They could try the whole door thing another time.
It was fast and frantic and over way too soon, but Elliott was more than okay with it because the sight of Skylar naked never failed to make him wild.
And tonight was no exception.
It was risky to leave their friends the way they had, and normally he was too cautious to do anything like that, but kissing her out on the deck was like hitting the launch button. There was no way he was going to get through several hours with their friends when all he wanted was to get her alone and into bed.
She was breathless beneath him and there was a primitive side to him that really enjoyed knowing he was the one that did that to her. Her skin was flushed and he saw several spots where he had been a little too enthusiastic and bit or sucked too hard, but other than that, she was perfect.
Carefully, he rolled off of her but made sure he pulled her in close while they both cooled down.
He’d meant what he said earlier–tonight they were going to talk–and he knew it needed to be sooner rather than later.
One hand gently skimmed up and down her arm as he placed a kiss on the top of her head. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Elliott knew that when the person you were sleeping with was just someone casual you didn’t cuddle like this, but he pushed that thought aside.
“So,” he began quietly.
“So,” she repeated. Her own hand was softly scratching his chest and it felt good to the point of being distracting, but he knew he had to ignore it for at least a little while.
“Okay, I think we both need to acknowledge that this new part of our relationship is not over yet.”
Skye nodded but didn’t comment.
“And I know this is casual and neither of us are looking for anything deeper or anything like that, but I’m sure you’ll agree that we need to keep this exclusive.”
Another nod.
“Of course, if you were to meet someone who you…you know…wanted a more committed relationship with, I wouldn’t stop you,” he went on, hating the words even as they came out of his mouth. “But at that point we’d agree that this was over. Right?”
When she nodded a third time, Elliott reached down and tipped her head up so he could see her face. “Feel free to jump in with some words of your own, Skye,” he teased lightly.
Beside him, she shifted slightly before tangling her legs with his and snuggling closer.
He seriously loved when she did that.
“Everything you’re saying is what I want too,” she said, but…she didn’t sound all that happy about it.
“Are you sure? Because…”
Lifting her head, Skye met his gaze. “Elliott, we both said we wanted casual–no strings, no commitments, no…future. I don’t think we need to overanalyze it. We’re sleeping together and we’re exclusive. End of story.” Then she collapsed back down beside him and resumed her previous position pressed up against him.