Page 72 of Love Not Qualified

“It’s late. We’ll have plenty of time to talk tomorrow on our way back home,” she replied.

“Please,” I insisted with a defeated and almost begging tone, knowing if we didn’t have this conversation now, I was going to probably forget everything I wanted to say. We needed to talk now. We were alone with no one to disturb us, so that meant wecould talk privately without my friends’ curious asses spying on us.

She moved around the room and I was almost sure she was about to ignore me that I was about to whirl on my toes. But then, the door opened.

Haelyn stood there, with a black silky robe tightened around her body. Her feet laid naked on the floor and her hair cascaded down her shoulders.

“Can I come in?” I asked and felt how a lump lifted in my throat.

Haelyn bit her bottom lip, her red and tired eyes pointed down. She hesitated a moment and my heart skipped a beat. “Yes.”

The door opened wide in front of me and I stepped inside, sensing her close it behind my back. Her presence burned my body in a way similar to how a powerful sun would and I took a moment to stare at her bed, where a part of the blanket was thrown to the side, probably from when she got up to come to the door. The room smelled like her—that breathtaking smell of strawberries.

When I turned around, she was resting her back on the door, legs crossed over each other. She was waiting for me to say something, but at the sight of her soft skin, all my words got stuck in my throat.

Fuck, she was beautiful.

“You wanted to talk, I’m listening,” Haelyn said, watching me from over her nose.

I stepped closer, invading her privacy even though I knew I shouldn’t and her eyes rose to mine, confusion swimming in them. I stopped sooner than I wished and told her the only thing I remembered I was here for. “I apologize.”

She looked at me—the real, raw way—trying to get a hold of who I was on the inside and how true my words were, and forthe first time since I met her, I let her see. Haelyn approached in a curious and shy way, but when she noticed I wasn’t about to back away, she took a deep breath. All I could do was hope that it was enough to make her believe.

Haelyn blinked, nodding her head as her palms rubbed on her forearms. “I know you didn’t mean any harm, Mr. Graves, but…” She stopped, swallowing a gulp. She wasn’t sure if she should have continued and I didn’t move to influence her. It was her choice whether she wanted to speak freely or not. “What angered me more than how you got me here was not knowing why you did it.” Her gaze turned intense and I allowed myself to get lost in her eyes, prepared to act like I was going to hear whatever she was about to say, even if something else caught my attention and not her words.

Yet she didn’t continue, and I realized she wanted me to answer a question she never asked.

Why?

What a simple question, but with such a hard answer.

Did she think I wasn’t wondering the same thing when the idea popped up in my head? Or when I picked up the phone and texted her, lying without even holding back?

I inhaled, deciding the truth was the best option I had. “I don’t know,” I said, watching her pupils to spot any reaction that might happen back there.

But Haelyn didn’t flinch. She just stared at me and because I was starting to imagine how kissing the crook of her neck would feel like—would she shiver at my touch? Would she let out a soft moan that cut the blood from circulating in my body?—if I continued.

Now, the tips of my feet were touching her, but she didn’t budge. “I don’t know,” I repeated. “I don’t know why I wanted you here or why I wanted to help. I don’t know why I feel responsible for you.” I breathed on her face and she straightenedher spine. “And I don’t know why I can’t seem to stop thinking other things about you.”

My blood boiled in my veins, but it wasn’t because of anger. It was because I had never been so vulnerable in front of someone and because of the way she gave me those fuck-me eyes without even meaning to.

She was a forbidden dream I wasn’t supposed to have. Something so close to reach, yet so far away. I could feel her goosebumps on the tips of my fingers when I traced her arm, I could hear the rapid beat of her heart and the way she squirmed under me. Yet in reality, I was at a further distance than I would have liked.

“Like what?” she breathed out through her lips.

My dick hardened in my pants at the unexpected question and I ignored the urge to adjust myself in the grey sweatpants I was wearing. I shook my head, knowing it wouldn’t be right to voice my thoughts. “You don’t want to know.”

Haelyn lifted her chin. “I said I want to know why and if this is part of the answer, I’d like to hear.”

My god.

A low pleasant hum warmed my blood, and my brain fizzled at the mere thought of obeying her request. I was unable to peel my eyes off Haelyn with the short palpitations at the sight of her flushed cheeks.

Haelyn nervously moistened her dry lips and I tried to resist the urge to take it as an invitation, while my body howled in protest. Anticipation purred in my body as I leaned down the slightest, my eyes boldly raking over her.

“Like…” I started, my voice hoarse. The inappropriate scenarios I had about her were going on for too long and instead of towering over her with confidence as I would’ve with any other woman, I found myself doubting my next step.

What was wrong with me?

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