Page 13 of Holding Out For A Holiday Hero

He…hadn’t?

“I brought you in here so I wouldn’t fuck you.”

Um, he’d brought her to the bedroom, put her on the bed…so they wouldn’t have sex? She was completely confused. And…True notched up her chin. “I don’t remember asking you to fuck me.”

He took a step away from the bed. “My control with you is razor thin. You tasted like my fantasies, and now I just want to taste all of you. Every single inch.” His gaze had dropped. Once more. Focused on the juncture of her thighs. “Over and over again. Until you come against my mouth.”

Oh. Wow. “Uh, Jake?”

“You’re not ready for that. You’re not ready for me.”

She could agree with one hundred percent certainty that she was not, in fact, ready for him. But she still wanted him. Very badly. Their kiss—kisses—had unlocked something within her. Something that maybe she’d been chaining up for far too long. Playing by the rules her whole life had gotten her heartache. What would it be like to forget those rules? Just once?

“You’re scared. You’re running on adrenaline. And I will not be the bastard who takes advantage of you. That’s not who I am.” Another step back. “I am going to leave you, safe and sound, in my bed. You get some rest tonight. Something tells me that you have not experienced a good night’s sleep in a while. Tomorrow, you’ll wake up with a clear head. And if you still want me tomorrow, then I will fucking date you. I’ll play by your rules.” His eyes glittered. “Then I will have you.”

Her heart still raced far too fast.

He turned and headed for the door.

“Jake?”

He stilled.

“I’m going to want you tomorrow. I’ve wanted you since I was sixteen, and that want hasn’t changed. So I don’t particularly think I’ll wake up in the morning and the need will suddenly be gone.”

Jake glanced over his shoulder at her.

She licked her lips. “So I guess I’ll be having you soon.”

His jaw clenched. “Ice skating,” he bit out.

“Excuse me?” Was that some sort of euphemism that she was not getting?

“We’ll go ice skating for our first date.”

Not any euphemism. He meant actual ice skating. And an actual date. A gentle glow seemed to build inside of her. “Sounds like a plan.”

His head jerked. Then he faced forward. He crossed over the threshold?—

“Good night, Jake.”

His body paused. “Good night, sweets.”

Jake hauled the door shut. Then he looked down at his hand. His fingers were shaking. Need flooded through every cell of his body. He could never, ever remember wanting someone this much.

She’s not just someone.

True Blakely.

And he’d kissed her, and she’d told him it was the best kiss of her life.

“Cold shower,” Jake muttered. “Cold. Shower.”

Yep, just as he’d thought before…it was going to be one long-ass night.

If Rosewood had a fancy part of town, then, of course, True would live in it. The two-story house waited on a small cul-de-sac. Gated yards. Perfect lawns. Houses that gleamed and shined in the morning light.

Houses that were far, far away from the home he’d grown up in.

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