Page 13 of Hot Response
“You know, I have a dishwasher.” I glanced over my shoulder. Evie stood leaning against the rounded archway that separated the kitchen from the living space. She was still wearing my clothes, her hair messy and wildly piled up on top of her head, and damn if the sight of her so casual and pretty made my heart beat triple time. I wanted to see her this way all the time, in the quiet simple moments, just as badly as I wanted to see her all dolled up and ready to go on a date. With me. Only me.
“You should be resting,” I rumbled.
“I’m okay, but seriously, you don’t have to hand wash them.”
“It’s okay. I don’t mind.” I turned back and kept working on scrubbing the lid of the pot I’d used to boil the noodles. I needed to keep busy so I didn’t do anything wild, like pounce on her.
“Hmm…” she sighed, silence filling the space slightly. “Did I do something?”
“Something?” I asked without looking back at her.
“You kinda ran away just now,” she said, calling me out, and damn it, I must have lost my goddamn mind, because I fucking liked that. I put the lid on the drying rack, turned off the water, and turned around. Leaning my back against the counter, I wiped my wet hands on my uniform pants I was still wearing.
“I didn’t—“ I started to say but stopped myself. Evelyn might not know it yet, fuck, she hardly knew me, but she was mine. I’d do whatever it took to make it a reality. And I wasn’t going to lie to myself, much less her. “You’re right,” I admitted. “Being close to you is hard for me.”
“Oh.” Her face fell, and I knew she had misunderstood me.
“I wanted to kiss you,” I cleared up and felt my face heat. Shit, I was as smooth as extra chunky peanut butter. “But I, um…” I cleared my throat. “I figured you wouldn’t appreciate some guy you hardly know pawing at you.”
“Pawing at me,” she repeated softly, her pretty, dark eyes dilated as her breathing changed. Her gaze dropped to my hands, and she licked her lips before looking away.
“Yeah.” My hands gripped the edge of the kitchen counter. I tried not to blink. I was deathly afraid I’d miss some kind of expression when she pushed her sweet curvy body off the archway and took two steps forward before she stopped.
Three big steps, and she would be within my reach.
“What if I don’t mind a little pawing?” She chewed on her bottom lip like a little temptress.
“A little pawing, huh?” I swallowed, hardly recognizing the depth of my voice. Her pretty head bobbed up and down. “Baby girl, that’s the problem. I don’t know if I could only do a little, and I don’t want to hurt you,” I warned. I gripped the counter with a white-knuckled hold to stop myself from rushing her, tossing her over my shoulder, and pressing her to the closest flat surface to rut into her like some kind of savage animal.
“You won’t.” The confidence in her voice, believing and trusting so much in me, was fucking humbling.
“Baby.”
“In an attempt to be crystal clear because I don’t do games and I’m not a fan of misunderstandings or wasting time. God’s honest truth, I am the world’s worst dater,” she confessed. “Just letting you know that. And that kissing doesn’t sound bad, either… it’s been a while since… I’ve been kissed.”
“How long?” I asked, my brows bunched.
The idea of any man touching her, kissing her, made me see red. It wasn’t fair or logical.
We were both grown adults with our own pasts, but fuck, I didn’t like the idea of anyone other than me ever tasting her lips or hearing the sounds she’d make in pleasure.
“Two years,” she answered without hesitation. My teeth mashed together. Two years since she’d been kissed or touched.
“It’s been a year for me,” I shared, and she nodded slowly.
“I guess we’re both a little rusty.”
“Rusty?” I chuckled and shook my head, staring at her like a wolf would his next meal.
Rusty?If she thought I didn’t know exactly how to handle her, she had something else coming to her.
“Baby, there is nothing rusty about me,” I warned. She stopped chewing on her bottom lip, and her hands moved to rest at her side.
“Show me,” she said and broke whatever self-control I had left. I pushed off the counter and was tempted to run to her. But I didn’t. Somehow, I managed to keep my steps slow.
Watching her closely. Evie’s breathing changed with every inch I neared. One more step would bring me right there. My skin felt like it had been pulled taut all over my body. The blood rushing southbound felt warmer, trails of heat through my veinsand bones. I would have never guessed a few footsteps could have ever felt like foreplay, but they did.
And when I reached her, standing right in front of her, both of us breathing hard, like we’d been working out, all I wanted to do was take her in my arms.
