Page 28 of Lust
They both knew this wasn’t a game anymore. This wasn’t appropriate. This was nothing friends did, and certainly nothing co-workers did.
He massaged her thigh, pushing his thumbs into the pillow of her bottom. His fingers hit her apex and her husky moan shot out. She bit her lip to stop the sound, but it was the trigger on her heart, her breath, her desire.
His touch slipped around her front, lingered at her stomach, and then fluttered down to where he found her bulging pocket.
No.Too soon.
She didn’t want this to end, but he plucked the item out. She winced and dipped her forehead to the coolness of the car window. She shut her eyes and waited with bated breath.
His silence was deafening.
“Don’t give up on us, Joey,” she whispered, knowing he stared at their baseball, at the childish signatures scrawled over it, and at the two little words she’d added last night.
I’m sorry.
When no answer came, her throat closed up. She blinked rapidly.
“We’re not the same people anymore, Liza.” His sad voice rasped over her heart.
“Maybe that’s a good thing. Maybe we’re better like this. Just give us a chance.”
Was it selfish of her to want him? Was it only because of the bond making her think and act like this? Or the fact that she knew she’d be able to have sex with him and actually enjoy herself. Would she have felt the same for him without her hormones telling her to need him so badly she wanted to burst, or her pheromones seducinghimto wanther?
“Maybe we’re worse,” he muttered.
Do you like me, Joe?she’d asked. He hadn’t answered. But neither had she. And if she was going to take a step away from that mean, jaded person, she had to let him know how much he meant to her. She had to grow up.
Goddamn feelings are hard.
“Ilikeyou, Joe,” she said, still facing the car. Her fingers flexed against the solid surface, wanting to ball into fists. “Do you understand?”
Ker-thunk. The baseball hit the pavement.
Defeat sat heavily on her shoulders.
But then a tickle at her neck sent electricity zipping down her spine. She straightened, shocked. Joe shifted her ponytail. Soft, velvety lips landed on the flesh beneath her ear. It was so gentle, so hesitant, so vulnerable. Her knees weakened. Her heartburst.
“I like you too,” he whispered.
And then he was gone.
9
Joe Luciano’sworld had been turned upside down and he didn’t know how to respond.
I like you, Joe.
I like you, too.
What were they, twelve?
He strode down the sidewalk toward the restaurant Heaven and didn’t look back. Maybe he was a coward. Maybe he should have stayed and talked it out with Liza, but part of him didn’t believe her words. Or his. The butterflies in his stomach roared. He could barely hear logic banging in his head.
Why now? Why after all these years?
Joe’s doubts screamed at him.
She’s lying. She’s using you. She doesn’t want you. Never has. You’ll never be good enough for her.
