There it was again. Her name. From his lips. She swallowed. “How do you know what I’m used to?”
“Because when I took this job, I was given a file on you. It had background info. Had a breakdown of your friends. Your past lovers.”
Okay, that was unsettling. “My whole life, typed up in some neat pages for you?”
A curt nod. “You like safe men. You like gentlemen. The rich guys with the fancy houses who use all of the different forks.”
Her eyebrows shot down. “Why are you talking to me about forks right now?”
Cole blinked and a startled laugh escaped him. He smothered it too quickly. “And why do you keep surprising me? I can’t quite figure you out.”
“You can’t figure me out because there is more to me than whatever was in your neat file. Just so you know, I don’t want to talk to you about my past lovers at this exact moment. Bad timing, you know?”
“Yeah,” an edge had entered his voice, “let’s not talk about them.”
“I want you to kiss me. I want to see if your kiss will be as good as I imagine or…” She shrugged. Stepped back. “If it will only be average.”
His wide smile flashed once more. “Average?”
She had no doubt his kiss would never, ever be average. She also had no doubt that she knew how to push his buttons. When you lived with a guy in close quarters, you picked up on a few things.
She’d picked up on the fact that Cole could not resist a challenge.
“It won’t be average,” he promised her.
Her breath caught. “So we’re going to kiss?”
“That all we’re doing? Kissing?”
Her heart thumped hard in her chest. “Why, Cole, do you want to do more?”
The blaze in his eyes told her that, hells-to-the-yes, he did. “You said you wanted only a kiss.”
She’d actually thought the kiss would be a great place to start. And he still didn’t have his mouth on hers.
His hand rose and curled under her chin. His fingertips were slightly callused, but she liked the roughness of his touch. Truth be told, she pretty much liked everything about him. Her head tipped back. “Don’t be average,” Evie whispered, deliberately pushing him a bit more.
“With you? Never.”
Oh, that was nice. Warmth spread inside of her and—
His lips pressed to hers. A soft, tentative touch. The getting-to-know-you touch of a first-time kiss. Slow and careful, and Evie found herself leaning into him. Her lips parted a little more. His mouth moved so carefully on hers. He wasn’t using his tongue, not yet. Just pressing those sensual lips of his to hers. Making her body hum with awareness and eagerness and heightening the desire she felt for him even more.
Then his tongue dipped past her lips. Slipped into her mouth. Tasted her. Her knees did a jiggle as her hands locked tightly around his arms. He took his time with the kiss, as if he were savoring her. In turn, Evie absolutely savored him. She stroked his tongue with her own. She teased. She caressed. She felt her bare toes curling into the lush carpeting.
Her breasts ached and her tight nipples pressed to the front of the T-shirt she wore. Her whole body seemed to warm, and she kissed him a little harder. With more need. With more desire.
Because, no, she didn’t only want a kiss. From Cole, she would like everything, thank you very much.
If she didn’t seize what she wanted, right now, she’d just be left with regret.
It wasn’t adrenaline. It wasn’t some emotional roller coaster ride. It was need. Lust. A desire unlike anything she’d ever felt before. When his mouth left hers and his head rose, she had to bite back her instinctive denial. Don’t stop.
Her lashes lifted. She stared into his eyes. Saw the same white-hot need that she felt reflected in his stare.
“Anything else you want?” His voice had gone deeper. Even sexier than normal.
Sweet mother of— “Yes.” Her voice had grown even huskier.
Cole waited.
Oh, right. He’d asked the question. She should answer fully. “I want you.”
His face hardened.
Be more specific. “I want to make love to you. I want to go back to that big bed, and I don’t want to be alone in it. I want to be with you, and I want—Cole!” Her words ended in the wild cry of his name because he’d scooped her into his arms. Her eyes widened as she stared at him.
“No regrets? No going back?”
She shook her head. “I’d only regret not being with you.”
A muscle jerked in his jaw. “Remember you said that.”
She was going to remember every single thing that happened between them. It would be burned into her memory.
He carried her to the bed. They were in a high-priced hotel, in a presidential suite that had the best security in LA. The place also had the best view. Below them, the city was a shimmering mass of a million lights. She wasn’t looking at the lights. Didn’t care about the view. Her stare was focused entirely on him.
He lowered her onto the bed. She licked her lips, swore she still tasted him, and kept her eyes locked on Cole so that she could enjoy the killer view. Never looking away from her, he reached down to grab the hem of his shirt. He yanked it over his head. Dropped the white T-shirt to the floor.
Abs. Abs for days. Weeks.
Washboard perfection.
He kicked away his shoes. Ditched his socks. His hands went to the waistband of his jeans. He unsnapped them and quirked a brow at her. “You planning to stay in your clothes? Because they might get in the way.”
They would absolutely get in the way. “I was enjoying the view.”
His smile came again.
The jeans came down. He wasn’t wearing any underwear, and his cock—heavy, thick, and fully erect—sprang toward her.
“Still like the view?” he growled.
You have no idea. She threw her own shirt away. She was already barefoot, so Evie didn’t have to worry about her shoes and socks. She did a little shimmy, and her jeans were gone. Okay, a lot of shimmying, and they were gone. She kept on her pink bra and matching panties, and when she looked back at Cole—
Hungry. Hot. His stare scorched her.
“Enjoying the view?” Evie dared to ask.
He pounced. No other word for it. Cole pounced on the bed, on her. He caught her wrists and pinned them on either side of her head even as his mouth took hers. The kiss was wild and frantic, and it was exactly what she needed. Her legs locked around him, and her hips surged up against his as—
He tore his mouth from hers. “I don’t want to scare you.”
Her breath heaved in and out. Did she look scared? That wasn’t the look she was going for. Super turned on, yes. Not scared.
“After what happened to you,” he continued gruffly, “I just don’t—”
“They didn’t touch me, not that way.” He’d asked her before if she’d been assaulted. He’d wanted to make sure he got her help. That he took care of her. “I’m not afraid of you. I want you. I want every single thing that will happen between us tonight.”
His cock pushed against the crotch of her panties. She lifted her hips up again, then angled them down, sliding the silk of her panties—and her sex—over him. A moan pulled from her because it felt good.