Page 69

There was only one solution.

I got up and went to sit in the reading chair that wasn’t quite as comfortable as the couch, but it would have to work. I turned it so I’d be facing away from Stace and looking out my windows instead.

I could still hear her breathing and turning pages but cutting out the visual of her helped somewhat.

“Wow, okay,” she said as I settled in.

“Sorry. You’re distracting.”

Stace laughed. “I know I am. It’s one of the main parts of my charm. I’m like a song you get stuck in your head that somehow becomes your favorite.”

No, she wasn’t like that. She was like something that crawled under your skin and snuck into the spaces between your cells and before you knew it, she was there and she was a part of you and there was nothing you could do about it, but did you really want to?

She was more like that.

I ground my teeth together and tried to read my book. I did try. I truly did. It wasn’t Stace’s fault, even if I wanted to blame her. Closing my eyes, I did some deep breathing and counted to fifty. Stace turned a page. I heard it even over the music.

What was wrong with me? I never should have said she could come over. It was too soon. What I should have done was held her off for a few days and gotten my head together before seeing her in person. Hearing her voice on the phone was bad enough, but the combination of her body taking up space and air in my apartment and her voice when she spoke was more than I could take.

Mistakes, mistakes, I had made mistakes.

“Hunter?” Her voice was soft but made me turn and look at her over my shoulder.

“What?” I asked. She’d put one finger in her book to hold her place. I should have given her a bookmark. I had a beautiful collection, including a set of carved wooden bookmarks that I’d gotten from Reid for my last birthday.

“Are you okay? Do you need me to leave? I don’t want you to be uncomfortable in your own home.” Why did she have to say things like that? It would be so much easier to kick her out if she would just be an asshole. But no, she had to be sweet and kind and considerate. She had to bring me pizza and tuck me into bed and give me dozens of smiles and call me baby. She had to kiss me like it was the most important thing she’d ever done.

“No,” I said, my voice rough. “I don’t want you to leave. I mean, I do, but only because…” I couldn’t finish.

Stace’s smile was slow and dangerous. “Is my seduction working? I’m not even trying right now.”

No, she didn’t have to try anymore. Her very presence was doing it for me. Her presence and the memories of what we’d already done and the anticipation of what could come next.

“This is already hard enough, Stace.”

“It’s hard for me too. I know that you want me. And you know that I want you. So really, the only one standing in our way is you. So it’s time to make a choice, Hunter. Because I’m not going anywhere.” She leaned back on the couch and set the book aside. Slowly, she pulled the blanket from her lap and hung it on the back of the couch.

As I watched, she pulled her shirt over her head and set it on top of the blanket.

“Should I keep going?” At least this time she had a bra on. It was a simple black cotton bra with thin straps, but the sight of her shoulders and her toned stomach was more than enough to make my mouth water.

“Fuck,” I breathed without meaning to.

That made her smile and tilt her head to the side. “Like what you see, baby?”

There was no point in denying it. “Yes.”

“Want me to keep going?”

No. Yes.

I kept my eyes on her face.

“Why are you doing this to me?”

Her eyes were steady on mine. “If you tell me to stop, I’ll stop. I promise.”

I didn’t want her to stop. I also didn’t want to not want her to stop. It was all very complicated.