Page 155

She didn’t bother to explain more. Instead, she shrugged off her coat. Underneath she was dressed in a little slip of a nightgown. He hadn’t realized until that moment that her legs were bare. She’d walked all the way over here in a bit of silk and slippers. Obviously she was paying for the decision, given her uncontrollable shivering.

“Jesus, Sienna. What the hell are you wearing? Or not wearing? You’ll be lucky if you don’t get frostbite.”

She rubbed her hands together, blowing on them for heat. “This was a lot s-sexier when my cousins and I p-planned it from the warmth of my bedroom.”

“Sexy?” Her words hit him like a sledgehammer to the forehead. “Did you come over here to sleep with me?”

Her cheeks were red from the cold, but even so, her blush enhanced the color. “If you h-have to ask, then it’s s-safe to say I’m not doing s-so well.”

He laughed. He couldn’t help it. She was here because she wanted to have sex with him? He’d never been offered such a delectable frozen treat. Unfortunately, she mistook his response.

She reached for her coat, intent on putting it back on. “This was a mistake.”

“Oh, hell no. No mistake.” He pulled the coat away from her and tossed it onto his couch. Then he tugged her into his embrace, trying to infuse her trembling form with some of his own body heat. He rubbed her back lightly.

“You’re warm,” she murmured against his chest.

“And your hands are like ice cubes.”

“Sorry.” She tried to step away, but he stopped her, gripping her wrists. He placed her palms on his chest, holding them there.

“Don’t pull away. Let me warm you up.”

They stared at each other for a few hushed moments, as Daniel allowed his gaze to travel over her silky nightie.

“Say something,” she whispered.

He shook his head. “No. You first. Ask me, Sienna. Ask me to touch you, to take you. I promised I wouldn’t do that until?—”

“Touch me,” she interrupted.

Daniel didn’t wait for her to say more. He reached for the hem of her sexy nightie and drew it over her head. Sienna gasped.

“Wait,” she said, her hands flying to cover her bare breasts.

“No more waiting. I’ve wanted you for too damn long. Hell, since my first day on Compass Ranch. Ever since you stood in the trailer and called me out for being a bad son.”

She wrinkled her nose. “I said I was sorry about that.”

He grinned, his hands gripping her waist for fear she’d come to her senses and try to leave. After weeks of dreaming about this, he was hard-pressed to keep from touching her.

“This is just sex.”

He scowled at her clarification. For one brief, foolish moment, he considered refuting her condition. Luckily, his mama didn’t raise a fool. “Fine.”

“Just this one time.”

He shook his head. “No. We can keep it casual, but we’re not putting a time limit on it.”

She bit her lip, and he wondered if that would be a sticking point for her. Finally, after too many nervous heartbeats, she said, “Okay.”

“I’m only going to ask once, Sienna, and then you’ll never hear these words from me again. Are you sure?”

She didn’t reply for several painfully long seconds as she studied his face. Then, she nodded slowly.

He turned her toward the hallway that would lead them to his bedroom. With a gentle hand on her back, he propelled her forward. “This will be easier on the bed.”

She offered him a sexy grin. “Most things are,” she teased, throwing back the exact same words they’d said to each other the day she massaged his shoulder.