Page 48 of With a Grain of Salt

"Come home with me," she says, her voice soft and sweet as she blinks up at me from the driver's seat.

"Okay," I tell her, not wanting her to drive with how upset she's been tonight.

Then she cranks her car.

"What are you doing?"

"Driving home."

"You're riding with me," I tell her, an edge to my voice I don't recognize.

Instead of arguing as I expect her to, she turns off the car, grabs her purse from the passenger seat and steps out of her car.

"Aren't you going to lock it?" I ask when she closes the door and steps toward my truck.

"Believe me, someone stealing this heap of junk would be a good thing and, since good things don't happen to me, I have nothing to worry about."

I open the passenger side door for her. "Do we need to go get your daughter?"

"Larkin," she clarifies. "No, she's staying with the Kennedys tonight."

Chapter 22

Claire

I knew inviting him back here was going to be a mistake, but my life has been nothing more than a series of mistakes, so why try and change that now?

I wait for him to climb out of the driver's side and come around to open my door. I'd never insult the man by doing it myself.

He keeps close enough to me when we walk from the small parking lot to my front stoop that I swear I can already feel the warmth of his body. When I unlock my front door and step inside, he stays on the other side of the threshold.

"Really?" I ask, only capable of mustering a little agitation at this point in the night.

I'll be damned if I'm going to beg this man to come inside.

"Claire," he says when I inch closer.

He sounds torn, like he wishes things were different, and I don't know how to analyze it. Does he want more? Does he think I want too much?

Does any of that really matter with the lines we've already crossed?

I lift up on my toes and press my mouth to his jawline, letting my hand rest on his stomach.

The man is in slacks and a white, button-down shirt just like I am, but he's also wearing a suit jacket. With his collar unbuttoned enough that I can see his throat, I've had a hard time keeping my eyes off him. The businesslike look tortured me until Barrett's insensitive ass came up and ruined my night.

"Come inside."

I don't have to ask him a second time. He manages to pick me up, close the front door, and twist the deadbolt into place all in the same breath.

I lick the salt on his neck as he carries me through the small duplex toward my bedroom.

His fingers tangle in my hair as he pulls my mouth away from him and the tiny bites of pain shoot desire and waves of arousal throughout my body.

"I want it fast and hard," I pant, my eyes locked on his lips.

I watch in disappointment when he begins to shake his head.

"You got it how you wanted it last time. It's my turn."

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