Page 21 of Too Sweet

He presses his thumbs into his eye sockets and breathes deeply. “It’s tough to explain. Like my brain knows it was a mix-up. I believe you. I believe Cooper. But there’s just something that nags at me, right here,” he says, rubbing the meat of his palm over his heart. “I can’t get my body to calm down about it.”

“I see,” I say.

“I feel crazy and can’t do anything about it.”

Hmm. I shouldn’t be thinking what I’m thinking, but I’m thinking it anyway.

“Do you…do you need to go for a run or something?” I try.

Carter leans forward, his elbows on his knees. His face is down, and his knees bounce like he doesn’t know what to do with himself. From this angle, the rise and fall of his shoulder blades with every breath sends heat down my spine, warming me to my core.

“No,” he says. “No, I don’t know what I need.”

“Can I help you in any way?” I ask.

He huffs out a rueful laugh. “You don’t want me to answer that.”

Disappointed, I offer to go. “Do you want me to leave you alone?”

Carter’s gaze snaps to me as he sits up, leaning forward slightly. “Leave? No. God, no.”

I’m at a loss.

“I wish there was something I could do to help you, Carter. I just feel so awful?—…”

“Woman, so help me, you have got to stop apologizing.”

“Why?”

“Because it makes me feel guilty,” he rumbles.

“About what?”

“About the answer to your other question.”

“What other question?”

Carter turns toward me, shifting on the ottoman. The low light from the Tiffany lamp on the side table casts a warm glow to his pink cheeks. The man looks rough and ready to pounce. He answers in a near-snarl, “The one about what you can do to help me.”

If this is going where I think it’s going, I really, really want in.

“Just say what you really want, Carter. You didn’t invite us here to dinner on business because it’s better for your concentration. You wanted to get me alone to?—”

He leans in and interrupts me with a feral sound that sucks the breath out of my lungs.“I could kiss you so hard I could leave a bruise. I wanted to rip those hot pants off you and fuck you with my mouth.”

Oh. Wow.

Gotta watch out for the quiet ones, as our mom always said. I don’t think she was talking about this sort of thing, though.

I can’t stand the bouncing leg. Not one more minute. I reach over, rest my hand on Carter’s knee, then meet his eyes.

His furrowed brow, which seems to be in a permanent state of consternation, finally relaxes.

He leans in for a kiss.

Carter’s lips are soft yet firm as he presses them against mine.

This man’s kiss is not for the weak of heart. It’s sensuous and sexy with the slightest bit of tongue, and comes with owning hands on my hip and the other one cupping the back of my neck. His body throws off so much heat but I love it.

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