Page 16 of Awakening Anna

“I'll have the pancakes ready in a flash,” she said, not looking over her shoulder. “I bet the orange juice is still good.”

“Anna,” he said more firmly, gripping her shoulders. “You don’t have to do this.”

She wanted to throw herself at him. To drag him back to bed and make him mindless until he couldn't think about leaving. Instead, she stared at the center of his chest. “I should clean up these dishes.”

Max tightened his hold. “Anna, look at me.” She didn't want to look, but he’d used that voice. The one she obeyed without question.

She lifted her face.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you I was leaving. That was an asshole move on my part, but I didn’t expect things to turn out like this.”

“Like what?” she asked, afraid to put words in his mouth. To believe that she wasn’t the only one feeling something more than a sexual hangover.

“So damn good.” A hand shot through his hair in frustration. “I knew the sex would be great. You’ve been making me crazy for weeks. But it wasn’t supposed to be more than that.”

So she wasn’t the only one on rocky ground. Good to know. Wait. Did he say weeks?

“I’ve been driving you crazy?”

“I told you that last night.”

He’d told her that he’d imagined her undressing, but she’d assumed that was a line. A fantasy fabricated in the moment to lure her into losing her inhibitions.

“You meant that?”

“I meant every word I said last night. I’m not that much of an asshole. The first couple of weeks I was here, I was too wrapped up in the book to notice much else, but then I needed the library. And there you were.”

He reached out to tuck a lock of hair behind her ear. “After I met you, I could barely focus on the book. I was too busy thinking about getting you naked.” With a wry grimace, he added, “I even looked forward to Sundays because I knew you’d be working in the flower beds out front.”

Sex with Max had rocked her world, but knowing he’d been watching her for weeks didn’t compute. All those dreams she’d been having, and the real thing had been ready and willing upstairs.

“Unbelievable,” she whispered to herself. To Max, she said, “Then why? Why wait until now?”

“Because I wanted you too much. I knew that time had run out, but I couldn’t leave without tasting you at least once. Without touching you and hearing you moan while I drove you crazy.” Stone-gray eyes held hers as he said, “Because I’m selfish, and I wanted you.”

“I wanted you, too,” Anna confessed. “You aren’t selfish, Max. You gave me more in one night than other men have in months. I’ll take one night over nothing at all.”

“That’s the problem,” he said, pulling her against him. “One night isn’t enough for me. I want you more now than I did yesterday.”

Anna would be damned if she’d apologize for ruining his plan to screw her and walk away unaffected. Max had invited himself to dinner. She harbored no regrets about what they’d done, but staying the night had been his choice.

“Well,” she said, trying for an airy tone. “Then we both enjoyed last night. That’s a good thing, don’t you think?”

Pinning her with a hard look, he said, “Not good enough. Give me another night.”

Self-preservation kicked in. Anna could be greedy—two nights was better than one—but she was already in too deep.

Stepping back, she said, “I don’t think so.”

He froze, something about him reminding her of a predator’s stillness. “Why not?”

“Because I might fall in love with you,” she said, managing a wobbly smile. “Neither of us wants that.”

His brows drew together. “No one falls in love that fast, Anna.”

But she knew herself, knew deep down that another night like that… Not just the sex, but the way he’d held her. The way he’d looked at her.

No.

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