Page 78 of Tempt Me

She grumbled her next words, but I understood every word.

“We shouldn’t be doing this.”

The knives in my heart twisted. Maybe she was right. If she didn’t care enough about me to talk to my brother, weshouldn’tbe doing it.

“Come on.” But instead of leading me up the mountain, she turned back down.

“We’re not going to the summit?” I asked.

“Nah. You’re tired. I’ve already pushed you too far.”

She trudged down the mountain, never turning back.

23

When we steppedinside Jamila’s house, she bent to untie her hiking boots and spoke for the first time in almost an hour. “Want to jump in the shower?”

I didn’t relish the thought of sweating all over the leased Porsche on my drive back to San Francisco. Plus, we’d come back early enough that Mother might still be home when I returned, and she was the last person I wanted to see in my stormy mood.

“Sure.” I toed off my boots, grabbed my overnight bag, and headed toward the guest bathroom.

She grabbed my wrist. “With me?”

“But I…I thought…” I sucked in a deep breath. “You didn’t say a word on the drive back from the trail.”

“I had to think. And now I’m done thinking. I want to do something else.” She tugged me closer and dipped her nose toward my neck.

I pulled away. “What are we doing, Jamila? I can’t be your dirty secret. I don’t need a car or a paycheck from your company. What I need is someone who isn’t ashamed of being with me in public or in front of my family.”

“I know.” She twirled the end of my ponytail around her finger. “I’m sorry about earlier with your brother. I wasn’t prepared, and I didn’t know what to say.”

My shoulders lowered an inch or two. “What would you say if you saw him now?”

She paused for a moment. “I’d tell him you’re not a little girl in pigtails anymore.” She tugged my ponytail, making my scalp tingle. “You’re a grown woman. A sexy grown woman. And I’m very, very interested in you.”

“Very interested? What does that mean?” My heart pounded.

“It means I want to fuck you. And keep doing it for a while.”

As on board as I was with the sex, fucking for “a while” didn’t satisfy my romantic heart. “A while?”

“A while. With my past partners, that didn’t interest me. Look, I need some time to figure my shit out. I suck at talking about feelings. This is the best I can do right now.”

Was that a plea in her eyes? They were soft and warm as melted chocolate.

I wanted to drown in them.

“I’ll take it.” I kissed her softly on the lips. “For now.”

Her arms wrapped around me, and the kiss turned dirty. Dirty because I smelled my gross sweat.

I pulled away. “Let’s get in your sexy shower. Half of that hiking trail is stuck to my face.”

“I like you dirty,” she said, dropping a kiss on my lips. “I also like cleaning you up. Let’s go.”

We left our dusty boots and socks in her laundry room, then she led me by the hand to her bathroom. It wasn’t as spacious as the one in her beach house, but the shower was big enough for two. She flipped on the rainfall showerhead and turned to me. “Strip.”

It was just like the dirty daydream I’d had this morning when I got dressed. I set my fingers on the neck opening of my hiking shirt and pulled apart the sides with a pop. Her lips parted. Letting a smile tease my lips, I repeated the deliberate action with each snap on my hiking shirt. Jamila’s irises grew more molten with each ping of the fasteners. I shrugged out of it and let it flutter to the floor.

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