Page 70 of Puck You Very Much

“Yeah, thanks,” he said absentmindedly. “I think it’s great too.”

What was he doing?

“Are you okay, Dax?” Lucy asked, surprised.

No.

He sighed heavily and closed his eyes. The next time he opened them, he said, “It bothers me.”

“What?”

“You said you liked the type of man who’s honest. I’m honest,” he explained darkly, scratching the back of his neck. “It bothers me.”

“What bothers you?”

“That you flirt with Jack. That you flirt with the others. That you look at them. That you laugh at their jokes. That you’ve been keeping your distance for days. That you can’t look me in the eye. It bothers me.”

“Oh,” she said, her lips parting a bit before repeating, perplexed, “It bothers you.”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

Did she really have to ask that? Didn’t she know?

He pressed his lips together and leaned forward. “Because I want you. Always, constantly. Every second of every day. Because ever since I kissed you in that stupid bar, all I can think about is kissing you again. Everywhere. Until you beg me to finally take what I want. Because ever since that episode in the office, just looking at a hole punch makes me hard. Because I can’t sleep at night, imagining what it would feel like if you were lying next to me right then.” He laughed dryly and ran his hand through his hair. “I’m obsessed with you, Lucy. I know it’s crazy, but it’s the damn truth.”

He saw her swallow. Saw her lick her lips and her eyes darken. And saw her cross her arms and dig her fingertips into her biceps.

“Dax,” she whispered, her voice shaky, “I…you’re a player. I don’t date players, so…”

“Then it’s a good thing I don’t want to date you,” he whispered. “I don’t want to take you to a nice restaurant. I want to do everything else. What we did in Leslie’s office—just in a dozen different ways. I continuously fight the desire, but I keep losing, Lucy.”

She bit her lip and he could see from her expression that she felt the same way.

“Dax, if we’re going to start anything…we need rules,” she whispered, running her index finger down the buttons of his coat.

“I love rules.”

She laughed. “I thought you were going to be honest.”

“I hate rules,” he said, correcting himself. “But tell me anyway.”

Her smile widened. “Now that I think about it, there’s really only one; No one, absolutely no one can know about this. Do you understand? Otherwise, I can forget my career.”

“Jack knows,” he stated because it was better to get it out of the way now. “But he’ll keep quiet.”

“Okay, no one but Jack,” she muttered, pulling his head toward her and kissing him.

Receiving a kiss was different than being the one to initiate it. Dax could never have articulated that until that moment, but when Lucy gently placed her hands on the back of his neck, stood on her tiptoes, and tested his lips with hers, he knew there was a difference.

He didn’t like one any better than the other—because both were amazing!—but there was something to be said for letting Lucy direct the kiss. He could find out what she liked. He could feel for himself how much lips could do before her tongue had to follow. Damn, the euphoric feeling of being caressed and then possessed by Lucy James’ mouth was something he would definitely save in a drawer in his brain, never to forget.

She opened his coat and ran her hand up his chest to his shoulders, making it hard for him to hold back a sigh. It was like coming home…and the feeling was unsettling. But how could he hold onto a negative emotion when Lucy’s hands were pushing up his shirt, touching bare skin?

“Okay,” he said stiffly and removed her hands from his body before clearing his throat. “We should go inside, Lucy. Otherwise the neighbors will get a show…”

“Enough said,” she said, grinning guiltily and pulling him behind her by the hand.

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