Page 41 of Unbelonging
"This means something to me. Whatever we do – or don't do – I want you to know that. You're not like any other girl I've ever –" His voice trailed off. "It's just, you're different. The way I feel for you, it's different. It's been different from the first time I saw you."
His words were intoxicating, but I wasn't naïve enough to believe them. If this truly meant so much to him – ifItruly meant so much to him – he'd have treated me as more than some walking buddy. And he'd have definitely invited me to his party. The undeniable logic was a cold splash on my steamy thoughts. My hands froze in mid-caress.
He sat up, concern darkening his gaze. "What is it? You okay?"
I took a deep breath. Whatever this was, I refused to ruin it by overthinking. I nodded and shook off the logic to embrace the fantasy with renewed fervor.
I had this beautiful guy right here, right now. We were in a beautiful house, and he was saying beautiful things that any girl would love to hear. Only an idiot would ruin it by letting logic get in the way.
I lowered my head to nuzzle his neck. "Actually, I'm better than okay," I murmured against his skin. And it was true. He was doing all the right things, saying all the right things, making me feel all the right things.
I couldn’t help but smile. "So I'm different, huh?" I teased. "Different bad?" I ran a hand over his chest, and then trailed my fingers lower to his flat, muscular stomach. "Or different good?"
When my hand brushed lower still, he made a muffled sound of pleasure. "Different good," he ground out. "Really good." He closed his eyes. "You showing up, me finding you tonight, I swear, it's like a gift." A soft moan escaped his lips. "I wished for it. I'm not kidding. They had this stupid cake, and when I blew out the candles, swear to God, I saw your face."
Wow. That was really, really good. No wonder women fought over him.
Lots of women. I bit my lip. I wanted him. I wanted him so bad I could taste it. I could feel it too. I could feel it in my racing heart. I could feel it in my hungry core. I could feel it in my ever-dampening panties, where my body cried out to know him better.
"Cake?" My voice sounded breathy as I asked, "Is today your birthday?"
"Technically, a couple days ago," he said.
My own birthday was just a couple weeks away. It probably meant we were the same sun sign or something, not that I paid attention to any of that stuff. "But I didn't get you anything," I said, feeling all the more awkward at the realization that I'd not just ruined his party. I'd ruined his birthday party.
"Wrong." His voice was soft. "You fell right into my lap. Seems to me I got exactly what I wanted."
Still, fantasy or not, I couldn't help but speak at least a little bit of the truth. My tone was light, but the words still tumbled out before I could stop them. "Nowthat, I'm finding that a little hard to believe."
He ran a hand along my back. "Yeah?"
I nodded.
"Well," he said, pulling me close, "now that you're actually here, maybe it's my job to convince you."
"Funny," said a voice from the doorway, "I always thought your job was to beat the shit out of people."
Chapter 25
Gasping, I bolted upright and practically jumped out of my skin. Pulling away from Lawton, I scooted toward the end of the couch and looked wildly toward the sound of the voice.
There, in the doorway, stood his friend. The dick.
Lawton jumped to his feet and gave the guy a murderous look. "I sort of feel like beating the shit out of someone now."
The guy leaned against the door jamb. "Yeah?"
"Yeah," Lawton said. "You interested?"
The guy grinned. "Bring it on."
"I wasn't joking," Lawton said.
"Neither was I."
I was still catching my breath, and I was all too aware that we'd been caught nearly in the act. A few minutes later, and the stranger would've seen more than just a sweaty make-out session. I squared my shoulders and glared at the guy, refusing to be cowed by embarrassment.
"You need to stop doing that," I told him.
