Page 157 of Unexpected Hero

Out of nowhere, she waves flamboyantly. “Have a great night. See you at home, Lettie. Whenever you feel like returning.”

With my head cricked to one side, my eyes narrow to tiny slits. “What?”

She kicks her feet on the front desk, crossing them at the ankles, then tucks her arms behind her head, still sucking on her candy. “Which part didn’t you hear, honey?”

My head wobbles, moving of its own accord. “I have two hours left on my shift.”

Her gaze drifts over my shoulder. “James. Get her out of here, will ya?”She meets my eyes again and waggles her brows. “Unless you’d rather use a room here? I think eight is open and clean.”

“Oh. Oh. Oh!” My eyes must look as big and round as the moon.

Oddly enough, I’m not entirely opposed to finding a room, per se. Then again, I don’t want my first time to be in a sex club. Even one as nice as this one.

And isn’t that sweet of Freya to cover for me? But should I leave in the middle of a shift to lose my V-card? Is that the kind of thing a mature professional such as myself would do?

Ha ha ha. Kidding. If he wants to leave with me, I’ll be gone so fast there’ll be a Roadrunner dust cloud behind me.

Swallowing around a newly formed lump in my throat — one that’s roughly the size of my hometown of Climax — I swing my head around to face James.

With three quick strides, he rejoins me and grabs one of my hands. He laces his fingers through mine and turns his full intensity on me. “Whatever you want, Lettie. I’ll wait for you to finish your shift. We don’t have to leave now. Or we can. No expectations about what happens if we leave. I only want to be with you. In any way you want.”

Well, butter my biscuit. Isn’t that the sweetest?

A naughty thought or seventeen crosses my mind. I trail the fingertips of my free hand over his forearm.“Any way I want, huh?”

That tiny grin of his morphs into a full-blown smolder. “You already know the answer to that. Don’t you, sugar bear?”

My core clenches, and sparks dance over my skin.

It’s a baffling mystery how he makes such a childish pet name sound sexy. He even adds the slightest Southern twang. It’s hidden there, beneath the words in his breathy timbre. It reminds me of home. But only the good parts.

“Yes. I suppose I do.”

He glances from my eyes to my mouth, then bites his lower lip. He’s the picture of restraint.

It’s sexy as hell to see him this way — full of self-control and patience, mixed with a desire that’ll consume us both once he turns it loose. The fire burning in his blue-green eyes makes it known that it’s not an absence of hunger for me but an overabundance of control allowing him to carry himself the way he does.

He fascinates me.

I’ve never known anyone like him. He’s guarded with the armor of a medieval knight. Layers and layers of protection from the world. But it doesn’t make him any less passionate than others. If anything, it’s the opposite.

He’s a pile of matchsticks, ready to ignite.

And I’m eager to burn with him.

“Take me home, James.”

Chapter 31

Bossiness is encouraged in here

TOMER

As soon as we’re through my front door, my lips are on hers.

She reaches around my waist, untucking my shirt with an impatient yank. I break the kiss long enough to pull it over my head before recapturing her mouth. Immediately, her hands go to work on my belt.

This might be a mistake, but I’m too weak to hold back. I want her.

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