Page 53 of The Proximity Factor

“Lanie,” he kissed his way up to my ear, where he nipped at my lobe. “I don’t want to get carried away with you, and I’m nearing the edge.”

I took a breath and leaned away from him. His gray eyes were as alive as mine, despite how tired we were and how late it was. He energized me. “You’re right; we should take this slowly. But I blame you for the buildup of the sexual tension between us.” Once he’d opened the floodgates, I couldn’t drink him in fast enough. I knew he would kiss like he lived his life, deliberately and with caution and care. Each of his kisses stole my breath and captured a piece of my soul. Especially that first one, as innocent as it was. That voice Mama said she always heard finally spoke to me. Whoa, did it have some pretty crazy things to say. The craziest part was I knew Parker heard it too. It surprised me he hadn’t run away screaming yet. It had freaked me out. In the grand scheme of things, we hadn’t known each other all that long. It made the voice’s declaration both comforting and scary. Because what if things didn’t work out?

He chuckled. “Guilty as charged. I just wanted to know I had something to offer you.”

With a smile, I gently ran my hand over his hair. “I don’t care about money.” Even though he was going to be rolling in it. At last count, Ruptured Worlds was nearing a hundred thousand downloads. Parker was afraid his servers might crash for how many hits he was getting.

“It wasn’t about the money.”

“Then what was it about?”

He leaned his forehead against mine. “Lanie, it was about knowing that if things work out for us down the road, it wouldn’t be a dead-end street. That wouldn’t be fair to you.”

“Parker, I don’t believe the road to get from here to there is straight. There are lots of exits and turns, sometimes even detours, to every destination. I think the most important part is who you have in your passenger seat. And whether she’s made an awesome playlist.”

He laughed and pecked my lips. “You are something else. I have no idea what I did to deserve you, but I’m glad I signed up for this stupid experiment.”

“Me too. We should probably go in and do our weekly diaries before midnight.”

“I suppose so,” he grumbled while lifting his head.

“I know we aren’t supposed to discuss the diaries or questionnaires, but do you get the feeling they want us to get together?”

“Possibly, but I don’t think that’s their main purpose. They have to be testing some sort of social theory.”

“Like opposites attracting?” I asked, feeling smart for that conclusion.

“Could be,” Parker agreed. “Honestly, I really don’t care. I was just here for the money.”

“Are you still?” I purred.

“I think you know the answer to that.” He pressed his lips to mine and walked us up the porch steps. That took some talent.

I parted my lips, inviting him to deepen the kiss. He took the invitation. His tongue carefully swept my mouth. With every swish of his tongue, my legs squeezed tighter around his body while my hands danced in his hair. He tasted like chocolate and home, some of my favorite things. Without missing a beat, he punched in the security code to the door, all while his kiss drove me to gasp. The need to be as close to him as I could swelled inside of me. Never had I longed for someone the way I did for him. The thought occurred to me I might never get enough of him. It filled me with pleasure and scared me at the same time. To want someone so wholly was pure vulnerability.

When he opened the door, he released me from his hold. We each took a deep breath before I slid down his tall frame. I looked around the dimly lit cottage. It felt different now. More real. I was no longer sharing a house with a stranger—I was seeing if I could make a home with him. Wow. That was huge.

“I guess this is where we say good night,” I hated to say, but I knew making a home with someone went way beyond what happened in the bedroom. Love had to come first. We had so many talks that needed to happen before that could ever be a thought.

“Yeah,” he sighed.

“Are you disappointed?”

“How could you ask that after everything you’ve done for me?”

“Well, I know how guys think and what they want.”

He took my face in his hands. His thumbs caressed my cheeks. “What I want is for you to know this thing between us isn’t about sex. I want you to feel comfortable living here for the next month. Comfortable with me. I will never intrude on your privacy or ask for anything you don’t want to give me.”

If he wasn’t careful, I was going to fall madly in love with him. I rested my hands on his taut chest, feeling the muscles beneath his shirt. Never had I felt so comfortable with anyone in my life. “I know that. Thank you.”

“You don’t have to thank me.”

I stood on my tiptoes and kissed him just once before we got carried away again. “Good night. Sweet dreams.”

“I know they will be. Good night, Lanie.”

I backed away, keeping my focus on him, wishing we didn’t have to part. But we were both exhausted and inhibitions were getting low. Besides, we had the video diaries to complete.

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