Page 70 of Already At Risk
“It’s hardly themiddleof the night,” Natalie argued, and I shot her a look.
Our eyes connected. Only for the briefest moment, but it was effective enough, sending an inferno hurtling through me. Awareness glittered in her green gaze—of us, of what this was, of what we’d said to each other a few nights ago. She tugged her bottom lip into her mouth, chewing on it as she observed me back, and I swallowed a moan as I focused on the road again.
“Your place or mine?” I asked. “Where would you be more comfortable?”
“I wouldn’t mind seeing your place,” she answered, almost shyly. I bit down on a smile as I took off in the direction of home.
It didn’t take long; SCMC hospital wasn’t far from Natalie’s house, and I only lived a little bit further. When Natalie realized just howlittleof a bit, she burst out a laugh.
“Oh, we do live close,” she muttered as I pulled into the parking garage of my apartment building.
“We do,” I agreed, glancing over at her. “Convenient, isn’t it?”
“I suppose it will be,” she said, looking back at me, her tone softer, more sensual. Seductive.
My cock was already swelling in my pants.
I willed myself to keep it together. Toat leastget up to my apartment before losing it.
We stepped out of the car after parking, and I held my hand out to her. “Can I help with your bags?”
“I got it,” Natalie insisted, and I let it go. But when the strap of her bulging work tote slipped from her shoulder for the fifth time on our way up to the eighth floor, I swooped it off and carried it the rest of the way.
“Thanks.” Her voice came out breathless, and her cheeks flushed red, but it was hard to tell exactly why. She didn’t appear nervous, but maybe a little jittery, like she didn’t quite know what to do with her body.
I’d fix that for her soon.
Tell her exactly what to fucking do.
“Can’t have you wearing yourself out too soon,” I muttered as I led her down my hallway.
A brilliant blush spread over Natalie’s entire face. “I might be a lost cause in that department, unfortunately. It was a long shift.”
I stopped at my door, swiping my key over the lock and pushing it open. “We’ll have to see what we can do to remedy that.”
Natalie followed me into my apartment, and I noted the way her eyes swept over the interior, from my perfectly stacked shoes to the vintage stadium posters framed on the wall.
“See, I knew you liked things tidy,” she said with a click of her tongue.
“Sue me for wanting to clean up in case I brought home a hot single mom tonight,” I said with a grin, wanting to make her feel at ease.
I liked my apartment, but it was mostly utilitarian. I had a few touches that made it my own, but Natalie’s house felt like ahome, and she should be proud of what she had done with it since separating from her ex and moving out on her own with Chloe.
“Stop.” Natalie stared down at her feet as she kicked her shoes off, meaning I couldn’t see the flick of her eyes as she rolled them. But I didn’t need to; I knew her well enough by now to read her tone.
“Stop what?” I pressed, stepping close enough to her that when she looked up from her shoes, she had to crane her neck to meet my gaze. Natalie rocked back, her shoulders meeting the wall in my entryway as I crowded her against it.
She didn’t seem to mind, though; her gaze slithered over me with longing in it, as though she’d been waiting for this closeness, to once again experience how fucking hot just the simple proximity between us could be. “Stop wanting to impress you? Or stop reminding you how unbelievably attracted I am to you?”
So unbelievably attracted that it was taking everything in me not to immediately haul her off to the bedroom.
I watched the slow shake of her head, unable to take my eyes off her. “You don’t have to do anything to impress me, Cameron. And you don’t have to compliment me, either.” Her voice had lowered, and every word she spoke sent me into a spiral of want. How the hell she did that, I had no idea. “I’m already here, and I’m not going anywhere.”
Thank God for that.
“Oh, I know.” I pressed a hand to the wall behind her, leaningin. Fuck, she smelled good. She always smelled so fucking good. But I could tell she had just showered, that crisp, clean scent warping with her vanilla perfume. It surrounded me, disarmed me. “I’m not the least bit worried that you’re going anywhere tonight, and if you think that’s why I compliment you or want to impress you, then you’re sorely mistaken.”
She blinked up at me, like she didn’t understand.
