Page 56 of Decidedly Off Limits

The excited look on her face was my undoing. I pulled her back into my arms. She let out a small squeak.

Then I savored the taste of her once more.

And in case you were wondering, there might have also been some exploring ofherass this time.

24

Kelsey

Nothing wassexier than watching a man cook. The way his muscles flexed and rippled as he chopped the vegetables. I could spend an entire afternoon watching Trent cook and I’d be one very happy woman—one very happyturned-onwoman.

And this was Trent with a T-shirt on.

Could you imagine if he was shirtless?

Or wearing only a towel wrapped low around his hips, with the delectable low cut V of his abs showing?

I licked my lips at the steamy image now implanted in my head.

Trent said something, snapping me back to my current reality. “Can I help you with anything?” I asked, watching him chop vegetables for a stir fry.

“No, I’m good. You can either stay and watch or go play with your camera.” Which I had brought with me just in case.

Hmm. That was a tough one. The idea of both was appealing—but watching Trent was even more so.

“Did you want to watch something on Netflix after dinner?” he asked.

The idea of cuddling with him sounded appealing, although I had no idea if he was the cuddling type. From what Erin had told me, there had been plenty of girls in his life, but I had assumed they were all one-night stands or had been very short-term relationships.

“You know about my dating past and my failed relationship.” I grabbed a carrot from the counter and pretended to be fascinated with it. “What about you?”

He was silent for a moment, to the point where I thought he wasn’t going to answer. “I dated a girl in college for a while.” Freezes in Antarctica were warmer than his tone. “She got pregnant in our senior year and I decided to do the right thing and marry her. Because she wanted to be married well before the baby was born, we had planned to get married in Vegas. Then I found out, by accident I might add, that she had lost the baby and was stringing me along, knowing my upcoming job with an investment bank had the potential of being high paying.”

“I’m sorry,” I whispered, mentally cursing the bitch for hurting him. “Erin never told me.”

“She doesn’t know. None of my family does. Call it stupidity on my part, but we were going to get married and then tell our families. I knew my mom wouldn’t be thrilled. She wanted a big wedding for all of her kids, but it just didn’t feel right and there wasn’t enough time…or so I thought. Anyway, it’s no big deal.” He might have said it, but I could tell it was a bigger deal than he let on. “After I graduated Columbia, I studied for my CFA designation and didn’t have time for dating.”

“CFA?”

“Chartered Financial Analyst. You have to pass three levels of exams, but the failure rate of each is high and the amount of material to study is extensive. I needed it for what I wanted to do, and couldn’t fail even just once. Each exam is offered twice a year, and I didn’t want to risk having to wait another six months to retake it.”

“So she was your only girlfriend?”

“No, there were two others after that. None of them much better than the first one. That’s when I decided being a workaholic was better than wasting time on relationships.”

Imagine for a second that you’re riding up in an elevator and the cable suddenly snaps. Now you know exactly what my stomach did at his words. Yes, I know, it shouldn’t have mattered. We had both agreed we weren’t looking for a relationship. But a part of me had secretly hoped for more.

Only now that he had revealed this part about his past…well, the Titanic had a better chance of not sinking than I had of having something more—something wonderful—with Trent. He was incapable of trusting a woman after what his past girlfriends had done to him, and without trust he wouldn’t be able to love.

After eating the delicious dinner he’d made, we took our wine to the living room and Trent found a movie we both agreed on. As for the cuddling? Before I had a chance to sit, Trent pulled me down between his legs and wrapped his arms around me. It was nice.

Correction. It was like bathing in a tub of melted chocolate.

Nothing else could compare.

Half way through the movie I became more aware of his warm breath against my neck, his familiar spicy scent, the feel of his strong hands tracing a path up and down my bare arm, the movement a teasing caress.

And for the past few minutes, everything about me had become supercharged, right to my core. I bit my lip to keep from moaning. Owen had never had this effect on me. He was more the lets-get-down-to-business type. Yes, there had been foreplay, but there had never been any seduction involved. Nothing like this.