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A shiver slithers across my skin in the wake of his fingertips. “Mmm,” I moan.
“So that’s what you like, huh?”
“Stop talking.”
“So I’m just supposed to stand here all day and listen to you moan like that?”
“Yes.”
“Do you like torturing me?”
“I hope that’s a rhetorical question. I like torturing most people.”
“It doesn’t seem like you want to rip out my throat right now.”
“I told you to stop talking.”
“I like your shampoo. It smells good.”
I pull my head away from his chest and stare up at him. “I tell you to stop talking and you tell me my shampoo smells good?”
He shrugs, that adorable half-smirk teasing his lips. “It does. I figured you might like to know that.”
“I don’t care about my shampoo.”
“It smells like something sweet…some fruity shit.” His grin widens. “You don’t seem like the sweet and fruity type.”
“They don’t scent shampoo with vodka.” That sexy smirk. Dammit, it’s contagious.
He tightens his grip on me. “See, you complained about the talking thing, but at least it got you smiling. That makes me feel like I’m safe, and that you’re not gonna pull a knife on me or something for getting too close.” A shadow crosses his face. “I wouldn’t have adopted Stoli 2 if I knew you’d miss him this much.”
“No, you did a good thing for him. He needed a home, and me trying to keep him here wouldn’t have been fair to him.”
“Do you want to see him today? It looks like you can use a friend right now, and if it’s not gonna be me, it may as well be Stoli 2.”
I sniffle and push away from him. I need distance, but the urge to crawl back into him is so strong, it has me faltering. “I didn’t want to fall apart like this…in front of you…in front of anyone…” I tighten my ponytail and move around the desk so there is at least some physical barrier between us since my emotional fortress crumbled like a stale cookie under the pads of his fingertips. “It was never supposed to happen.”
“We all have bad days.”
“I’ve had more than my fair share.”
“So come home with me.” He sweeps a hand through his hair. “I promise I won’t try to take advantage of you. I don’t have a death wish or anything.”
I bite down on my lower lip. Seeing Stoli 2 and holding his furry body tight…I need that, a reminder of something good in my life. I feel closer to Lili and Mom through him. I know it sounds ridiculous, but his presence always brought me comfort, something I desperately crave right now.
“Okay,” I whisper, twisting my ponytail around my fingers. “Just for a little while.”
His lips curl upward, and my breath hitches. From a freaking smile.
I really need to dial back this vulnerability bullshit. It’s not a good look for me.