Page 20 of Say Yes

“Don’t do that.” His tone was cautious, and he backed up a step. Sara slowly followed. Her gaze remained glued to his, and as he watched, wary, she licked her lips. He felt like a meal set before a starving person.

It wasn’t an altogether unpleasant feeling. “Sara…” he warned.

“I wasn’t complaining, Gavin, when I asked if—”

“I know.” He held up a hand to ward her off, both physically and verbally. If she said much more, if she touched him again, if she licked her lips just one more time, he was a goner. Thankfully she stopped. He wondered how to begin, what exactly to say. He needed her to know how much he wanted her. That was an important fact she had to understand with unwavering certainty. But he also had to make her understand he wouldn’t allow her to toy with his affections. There would be no simple fling. If she wanted the beef, she had to buy the bull. Period.

“What is it, Gavin?”

Trying to look stern, he folded his arms behind his back and paced. “You’re just coming out of a bad relationship, Sara. People tend to react on the rebound whenever they’ve been hurt, and—”

“How do you know?” Then her eyes narrowed. “You’re talking about your breakup with Karen, aren’t you? You said she had stopped being important to you long ago.”

Her tone was accusing, and he flinched at his poor choice of wording. “True. Karen didn’t mean that much to me. But it was another example of a failed relationship, and I’m getting too old to keep involving myself in dead-end situations. Do you understand?”

She nodded, the movement slow and thoughtful. “But I didn’t think you were looking for involvement anyway. And I’ve already learned all I need to know about these things. If you’re afraid I’ll get clingy, I promise I won’t. I’m not looking for happily ever after. Not anymore.”

So. That hadn’t just been the drink talking. Having her reiterate her intentions so plainly pricked his temper. He didn’t like the idea that she planned to use him for mere sex. For mere, mind-blowing, torrid, delicious sex. God, he was an idiot. A determined idiot.

Glaring, he said, “That’s just it. We’re both looking for different things now. And that means we should move slowly.”

Her gaze skittered away, and she nodded. “I see.”

Exasperated, he said, “No, you don’t. I want you, Sara. A lot. That much should be plain.”

Lifting her shoulders in a shrug, she said, “I suppose.”

“Dammit! You’re deliberately provoking me. No, don’t try to look innocent.” He saw her lips quirk in a small smile, then she frowned again. “Sara.” He said her name as a chastisement. “We’ll have to get together on this if it’s going to work. Do you at least agree to that much?”

“If what will work?”

“Me staying here. We’ll need some rules.”

“Such as?”

“Such as…” He gestured with his hands, indicating the two of them. “We’ll have to work on maintaining some decorum.”

“You don’t want to kiss me anymore?”

“Oh, yeah,” he drawled, letting his gaze linger on her mouth. “I want to kiss you. But it’ll have to stop there. We need time to get used to each other. Time to form some sort of understanding, without the past getting in the way.”

She raised one brow, waiting for him to elaborate.

“You’re going to have to stop making it so easy on me.”

“Me? What about you? You’re the one who started the kissing.”

He smiled to himself, preparing his trap. Give and take, that’s what was needed. “Yeah. But you didn’t have to go all soft and hungry on me.”

“Hungry! I wasn’t…”

“Yes, you were. And you made those sexy little sounds.” He stepped closer again, one finger touching her warm cheek. “I’ve kissed other women and not lost my head like that. So it must be you.” He had to bite his lip to keep from laughing, she’d gone so rigid, her frown so fierce.

“I’m not going to let you blame me for this, Gavin! Why, you’re the one who climbed into bed with me when I was drunk!”

“But I’m not the one who tried to crawl on top of you in the middle of the night.”

She sucked in so much air, she choked. “I would never…!”

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