Page 71 of No More Heartbreakers

I laughed. “You’ve driven by? More than once?”

“Mmm hmm. Multiple times. See what you’ve done to me? You’ve reduced me to stalking. Some ladies’ man, huh?”

“Okay. You can have my number,” I said in my most generous tone. “And, not only that, but I’ll even give you my apartment number, so the next time you’re driving by my crappy little building, you can stop and come in.”

“Ooh. Thisismy lucky day.” He laughed, his breath warm and soothing against my ear. “Heidi?”

“Yes?”

He put on a stalker-ish voice. “Are wefraternizingnow?”

I giggled and rolled to face him. “Oh my. What would Mr. Aubrey say?”

Hitching one leg up over his hip, I brought our lower bodies into intimate alignment.

His arm automatically went around my back to draw me more tightly against him. His voice sounded pained, “Mr. Who?”

Then the pressure eased. “Heidi, I don’t know if this is—”

I kissed him, and just like that, the irresistible urge to be close to him, to touch him and feel his touch, returned full-force.

NINETEEN

What Are You Waiting For?

My hands went to Aric’s face, sank into his hair, glided down over his shoulders to his back, relishing the heat and incredible texture of his skin.

He kept his hands in safe territory, caressing my hair, my back, my upper arm. He kissed me slowly, with deep absorption, as if he was trying to read my thoughts.

They shouldn’t have been too hard to figure out.

As we kissed with increasing hunger, I slid my hands down to his sides, finding that intriguing belt of muscle, exploring with every cell of my mind and body focused only on him.

He felt so good. I couldn’t get enough.

When my fingers glided across his lower abdomen, Aric inhaled quickly, his breath hissing through his teeth. He grabbed my hand, pressing it flat against his hot skin.

“Hold on. I need to slow down,” he said in a gritty voice on the edge of pain.

“I don’t want to slow down.” I pressed a wet kiss to his neck, working my way down to his collarbone.

He gave a little laugh-groan, loosening his grip on my fingers when I squirmed to be free.

“I don’t think this is a good idea after what you told me. I made you a promise about tonight. And I don’t think you’re quite ready.”

“I think I should be the judge of that.” I kissed him in a way I hoped expressed just how ready I was.

Aric pulled away from my mouth again with some apparent difficulty. “I don’t want you to sleep with me so you can exorcise your demons or because you want to get it over with or something. We should only be together if you want me—me.”

“I do want you.”

To demonstrate how much, I swirled my tongue against his neck, speaking to him between kisses.

“And if you reject me now, it’s going to be very bad for my fragile self-esteem.”

Pressing my lower body against his, I discovered evidence of his willingness to give me anything and everything I wanted, as he’d said earlier.

His eyes squeezed shut. “Heidi—whatare you doing?”

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