Page 57 of The Grump I Loathe
“I don’t know if it is,” she mumbled against my chest. When she pulled back, she looked at me, those green eyes pinched. “I’m sorry. I don’t even know what I’m doing here. I shouldn’t have come.” She tried to step away, but I tightened my hold. “I didn’t mean to dump this on you.”
“It’s okay,” I said. I would a million times rather have her here, where I could make sure she was safe, than driving around in the dark and the rain when she was distracted and upset. I racked my brain for a way to help her.
Money?
No, her dad presumably had enough of that. I knew a great divorce lawyer, but if he wasn’t willing to fight, that wouldn’t do him much good—by which I meant it wouldn’t doEddiemuch good, since she was the one who actually seemed to care about fighting to stay close to Alannah. Eddie jerked with chill, and I registered the temperature of her skin.
“You’re shivering.”
“’Cause your house is frigid,” she said, teeth rattling. “What, is your AC on super ultra mode?”
“It’s because you’re wet,” I said. Right now, more than money or divorce lawyers, she needed to get warm and dry. “Come on.” I escorted her down the hall to the bathroom. “Why don’t you have a shower, get warmed up? I’ll find you something to wear, and we can throw your clothes in the dryer.”
“Thanks,” Eddie said. I opened the door and started the shower, turning the handle all the way to hot.
“There’s all sorts of soap and shampoo,” I said, doing a mini tour. “This is the bathroom my mother uses when she visits. So everything should be suitably…girly.”
Eddie gave me a weak smile.
“And there are towels under the sink here.” I pointed them out. “Grace says the white ones are the softest and?—
“Thank you,” Eddie said, catching my hand, her voice small. Her skin was still like ice, but heat bled through me from her touch. She blinked hard, then rubbed at her eyes as a few stray tears slid down her cheeks. “I really didn’t mean to intrude. This was stupid. I’m sorry I came here.”
“I’m glad you did,” I said, the words escaping before I could stop them.
She looked up at me, her gaze softening from hurt to something else—something like desire. In spite of my best intentions, I fell into those green eyes. The pull was magnetic. My hand landed on her hip. The other cupped her cheek. And then I was dipping down, closing the distance to take her in a breathless kiss.
Her lips were as chilled as the rest of her, but they warmed as our mouths fit together, again and again. She tilted her head, and I nipped at her lower lip. When she parted them, I pressed my tongue into her mouth, exploring every groove and angle and the softness of her own tongue.
When I pulled back, Eddie groaned in displeasure. “Don’t stop,” she rasped.
I cleared my throat. “You should get out of these clothes.”
“Okay,” she said, reaching down and popping the button on her jeans.
“What are you doing?” My eyes widened.
“Getting out of my clothes?”
“I didn’t mean right now.” The room filled with steam, and my cock twitched in my pants. The sirens that should have been going off in my head hardly made a sound.
“Didn’t you?” she said, giving me a cheeky grin.
Fuck. Like hell I didn’t. I surged forward, capturing her in another kiss, this one less gentle, filled with all the desperate desire I’d been packing away since I’d encountered this frustrating creature and her damn hot sauce.
Eddie moaned into my mouth, the sound sending all my blood rushing south, and I slid my hands under her shirt, pulling it up and over her head. I kissed her everywhere I could reach, eager to taste the newly exposed skin. That long neck. Her collar bone. The dip at the base ofher throat. Everywhere I’d been dreaming about since that night in the club.
“Grace?” she whispered as I nibbled at her throat.
“Sleeping upstairs.”
Eddie gasped as I sucked on her pulse point. “Oh God,” she muttered. “Mmm, Connor.”
Yes, something inside me crowed.Say my name.
Eddie rocked against me, and I cupped her ass, grinding my erection against her.
“I need you naked,” I growled. “Right now.”
