Page 124 of Crossing Every Line

The kiss gentled until his forehead pressed to hers. She couldn’t move her hips thanks to the tangle of lights. So when he ducked under her bound arms and stepped away, she had no choice but to stay where she was.

“Want to help a girl out?”

Shane shook his head and paced to the end of the deck and back. “Give me a second.”

She slowly blinked the haze of his kiss away. They were just gearing up for more, right? She used her teeth to unwind her wrists until she could slip free. The hard ridge of his cock under the Carhartt pants he was wearing told her he wanted her just as much. She frowned as he took a long circuit around the entire porch and came back.

When he was before her, the hard-on was still blatant, but the wildness was missing from his eyes. He’d stepped back as if he couldn’t bear to touch her.

“Are you testing me or something?”

“What?” Shane stopped pacing and stood in front of her.

“We’ve done a helluva lot more than kissing, Shane. Why are you walking off your hard-on?”

“Because you’re going to go inside and trim the tree with your mom, and I’m going to go work on my koa wood table. And we’re not going to mess everything up with sex again.”

Gobsmacked, she managed to squeak, “Never?”

He picked up his hat off the deck. “At least for now.”

“And why do you get to make this rule?”

“I get near you, and I can’t think.”

Thinking was highly overrated. The attraction between them was just part of the love she already felt for him. She’d been in the safe kind of love before. It was warm and reassuring and lovely. But it paled in comparison to what she felt with Shane.

“I don’t want to go back to how we were this past month.”

He shook his head. “Neither do I.”

“But you don’t want to have sex with me either?” It killed her to phrase it that way. She wanted to make love with him. Wanted to shout it out and shock him. But somehow she knew that was a bad idea. Spouting out words of love after such a short time would make him turn tail and run.

“I want to boost you up against the siding and sink into you until your brain melts.”

She swallowed. “Good plan.”

“But I won’t disrespect your mother or you like that. Not right now when it’s not just sex for the fun of it.”

“It could be.”

“You don’t believe that any more than I do.”

Her heart tripped and then fluttered madly. “What are you saying?”

“It’s not just sex, Kendall. It hasn’t ever been just sex from the very first day.”

“You’re right.” She closed her eyes against his serious expression. Did he have to look so ominous? Loving her shouldn’t be so grave and sad. It was supposed to be hopeful and amazing.

Why didn’t anything work like it was supposed to between them?

She met his gaze again. “It’s going to be crazy with Mom and I getting ready for the Simmons family anyway.”

“It’s supposed to be warm for the next few days, so I’m going to work on the dock.”

She frowned. “It’s too cold to stain it.”

“I have another idea.”

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