Page 49 of The Player (Close Quarters 5)

“Yeah, but I also know as a business owner it really sucks when that stuff happens.”

Rowan tugs me into his apartment and closes the door behind me. “Yeah, it reallydidsuck.”

I reach up and brush the hair from his forehead, wanting to soothe his worries and give him back some of the joy and excitement he’s given me these past few weeks. I see the worry brimming in his dark eyes, the little crease between his brows and the tautness of his jaw. Something is definitely off and it feels like there’s an invisible wall between us.

A wall that I thought I’d knocked down and yet...the bricks are suddenly back in place.

“Want me to distract you from your worries?” I touch his face, hating that my past breakups linger in the background, casting a shadow over Rowan and me. Am I reading into this too much?

“That’s not your job, Em.”

Em.

My nickname, the one I’d asked him to use at GameCon, warms me. “I know. My job is badass business bitch, but I can also play the role of healing lover.”

Rowan laughs and the sound is genuine and glorious. Some of the tension drains from his expression and he toys with my hand, moving my fingers and watching the glittery black nail polish glint in the light.

“Healing lover, huh?”

“That’s right.” I run my hands up and down his chest. “Sex so good you’ll forget about last night and every other crappy day you’ve ever had.”

“That’s some pretty good sex.”

“I’m confident in my abilities.” I grin.

“As you should be.” He traces a fingertip along the edge of my jaw, circles my ear and then toys with a strand of my hair. It’s so intimate, so familiar. “And to think I accused you of always doing it with the lights off.”

“How wrong you were.”

“How wrong, indeed.”

I bring my hands to the bottom of my T-shirt and tug it up, slowly revealing the lacy purple and black bra I picked out with him in mind. “Did you miss me?”

“Yes.” He swallows and pushes my hands away so he can take over the undressing. I stand still while he works, sighing as his lips caress each part of me that’s exposed. My collarbone, my breasts, my stomach, my sex. “Too much.”

The words stick in my chest. “No such thing.”

“I think there is.” His eyes find mine and my knees go a little weak. When he looks at me with that intensity, I feel seen. Wanted. Whole. “But as much as I should have been focusing on work I’ve been thinking about you all day. I can’tstopthinking about you.”

Rowan’s eyes are dark as he undresses himself. Then he backs me into his bathroom and into the shower. His earlier tension is gone. There’s a coy smile on his lips and he chuckles when I gasp as the cold tiles hit my back. But then the water comes and it’s gloriously warm. He steps through the billowing steam and for a moment, I can truly believe we’re the only two people in the world.

“I’ve been waiting for this, too,” I say. My voice is husky and low, and I can’t help admiring the way the water glistens over his shoulders and chest. God, he’s perfect. “Waiting for you.”

He lowers his head and kisses along my jaw. One hand slips down over my stomach and presses between my legs. The second he touches me, I melt. But that strange beating in my heart, that quiet little voice in the back of my mind...they’re whispering the same thing.

I want more.

“You’ve turned everything on its head. All my thoughts, all my wants. All my plans.” He presses the heel of his palm to my sex, moving in slow, aching circles. “I know what you are.”

“What’s that?” I gasp as he strokes me.

“You’re it.” For a second, time stutters to a halt. His dark eyes are eating me up, the burning intensity of his stare like pins holding me in place. “You’re the real deal, Emery. The complete package.”

Before my brain can even compute, his mouth is on mine. His lips are hungry and willing, and he tastes so achingly familiar. So perfectly, frightening, wonderfully familiar. How can it feel so right so quickly? This isn’t simply sex.

I came for connection and I have it with him. I have it in spades.

“I need to be inside you.” He grinds the words out between clenched teeth and I nod, saying yes over and over. “Widen those legs.”

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