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Her pupils flared and she sucked in a little breath. “I think I really do.”
To hell with it. Seriously. I wasn’t sure she could handle the truth, but...
“I’m thinking about how much I want to rip that robe off your tight little body and see if you’re wearing anything underneath it.” My eyes dipped to her chest. “I’m thinking that those hard nipples mean maybe you’re not, and that makes me think about how much I want to taste them just before I bend you over and fuck you so hard you’re screaming my name until you’re hoarse.”
“Oh God,” she whispered, her hand coming up to clutch at her throat in surprise as color flooded her face.
“Yeah, well, you asked.” I folded my arms across my chest. “But don’t worry, because I won’t—”
“I want you to.”
“What?” My gaze snapped up to hers, sure I hadn’t heard that right.
Her hand fell from her throat to the tie at her waist, a bit shy as she slowly unraveled it so her robe fell open, revealing a tight pink tank top and white boy shorts that left little to the imagination. “I want you to stop dancing around me like I’m untouchable and do all that.”
“Olivia,” I growled. Didn’t she know she was playing with fire?
Behind her, the kettle began to scream, but she ignored it, instead letting the robe fall from her shoulders to pool at her feet. “Justin. Please stop thinking so much.”
The last shred of my sanity held me in place as I wrestled with myself. At least until she reached around to turn the stove off, plunging us into quiet just before she slid one of her hands under her tank, revealing a slice of white flesh and the hint of a tiny tattoo on her hip... then traced her fingers up, slowly lifting her shirt off.
She was trembling with a look of uncertainty in her honeyed eyes as she stood before me in nothing more than her panties, baring her perfect pert breasts and her heart to me, presenting herself on a platter, silently begging me to take what she offered.
My resistance crumbled in that moment. It had probably always been futile where she was concerned.
I took three long strides across the kitchen, until I was directly in her personal space, and let myself drink her in, all soft vulnerability coated in strength and bravado. She was the most intoxicating woman I’d ever met.
I cupped her jaw in one hand, and she closed her eyes, leaning into my touch like she’d been waiting her whole life for it.
I dropped my gaze to her chest and the smooth expanse of ivory skin and pretty pink nipples. “You’re so beautiful.”
Her eyes fluttered open to meet mine. “So are you.”
“No, I’m not. I’m a broken shell of a man. If you knew anything about me, you’d never let me touch you.”
She reached up and put her hand on my heart. “I know enough.”
Fuck. Fuck. We were blowing so far past any boundaries, I couldn’t see them anymore, much less think straight. But I needed her to understand. “You don’t, but...” I wrapped my hand around her wrist, and I waited until I had her full attention. “I tried to keep this professional because on a personal level, I not only have a protective streak, but a possessive one. I do not share. I’ve been burned before, and I do not plan on going there again. Ever. I will storm the gates of hell first.”
“Oh . . .” It came out breathy. “Wow. Okay.”
“I’m serious, Olivia. Is that what you want? Because if not, say so right now, and I’ll go.”
I’m sure she could feel my heart pounding furiously under her hand, but I’d laid myself as bare as I could. That was the last thing I’d planned on ever doing with her, but she’d pushed me, and I had to let her know where I stood.
That shit with Tricia had nearly broken me and I would not let a woman do that to me again. If I was going to be with someone, I demanded total loyalty, and they would have all of me in return. How that would work with a job, I had no idea, but here we were.
Slowly, those eyes that killed me, lifted to mine. “I thought you didn’t want me,” she whispered. “All this time, I thought—”
“I want you more than my next heartbeat.”
“Then yes.”
“Yes, what?”
She slipped her hand from my hold so she could intertwine our fingers, gently guiding my hand so we were both cupping her breast. “Yes, that’s what I want.” She sucked in a breath when the pad of my thumb grazed her nipple. “I want you... every possessive, protective inch.”
She didn’t have to say more. I scooped her up, making her gasp in surprise as she automatically wrapped her arms and legs around me, holding on for dear life.