Page 35 of Billionaire Babysitter

“It must have been tough on you all. But I can’t imagine enduring something without my family. They can be the most annoying people in the world — you met Katie; you’ve seen what she’s like. But if I was hurting, she’d be there for me. If I lost that… I can’t imagine how much harder it would be.”

The atmosphere has grown close and heavy, like a thick blanket has been thrown over us. It should extinguish whatever flame is here, but instead it’s just pulling me towards him in a way I can’t explain or fight. The candle flickers and makes the soft shadows dance over his nose, and the idea of kissing him doesn’t seem like a terrible one at all.

We eat in silence for a while, then I push my seat back to stand. “Do you want another?” I say, holding out my hand to him as if to take his empty glass.

“I can get it,” he murmurs, standing, suddenly looming over me. I look up at him, my heart pounding.

We’re a breath apart, staring at each other’s lips, almost able to feel each other’s hearts pounding. My palms are sweating with indecision. I should just take his glass, fill it, and say goodnight. We should just take a step back and call it a night.

And yet I don’t.

CHAPTER 22

LUCAS

Ican see her chest rising and falling, almost feel it. We’re so close that I can almost feel the static crackle between us. It’s an effort not to look down at her lips or breasts and even more to not touch her. “What are you doing to me?” I whisper. “I’ve never told anyone so many of the things I’ve said to you.”

“You can trust me,” she whispers back, and I swear she tilts up her chin as if to invite me to kiss her.

“I know,” I say, dipping my head ever so slightly. I can feel her breath on my skin, we’re so close. “I’ve never felt this way before. You make me feel so…” I trail off. How can I express any of the things she makes me feel?

Instead of words, I steel myself for the rejection and lean in to kiss her.

Her lips are plush and soft, pressing into mine like that’s what they’ve always been meant to do, and the second they touch I know there’s no turning back for me and my heart. It’s wide open now, and all it wants is her.

But her hands don’t press against my chest, and she doesn’t flinch away in disgust. She barely even pulls away when I do.

“Sophie,” I whisper, gathering my scattered thoughts in an effort to figure out what to say to accept her rejection gracefully. Our faces are still so close to each other that I can feel her breath, that looking into her eyes is like looking into a deep well.

“Do that again,” she whispers back, and I think I must have misheard until her lips are on mine again, this time crashing as hard as a wave, making me stumble a step backwards in surprise.

I don’t need to be told twice, though.

All my fantasizing doesn’t come close to comparing to this. I let my hands fall to her waist, pulling her in closer to my body, feeling the heat radiating out from her. I’m sure it’s the same kind of heatI’mgiving off. I’m on fire.

Her hands roam up my back, tracing their way over my shoulder blades then dipping back down, wrapping around me to squeeze me in, and our lips barely part for a second, only stopping to surface for air when we need to. Her tongue swipes over my lips, and as she explores and deepens the kiss, my heart somersaults again, pounding in my chest so hard that she must be able to feel it too because her breasts are pressed up against me, and I can feel her hardening nipples through her shirt.

It’s taking great restraint to not tear it from her so I can see her entire body, revel in its glory and lay kisses over every inch of her skin.

Again, her hands dive down my back, but this time they go lower, her fingers toying at the waistline of my shirt. “Sophie,” Ipant, my chest heaving, “I need more. I want to take you to bed, right now.”

“What’s stopping you?” she asks, just as breathless, her eyes ablaze with that defiance and warmth that I fall a little harder for with every second.

“You mean it?” Even through the haze of lust, I don’t want her to feel like she has no choice. I want her more than anything, but I don’t want this to be a regret. I don’t want anything to push her away.

She kisses me again, forcefully, and says, “I want you, Lucas Adler. God help me, but I want you to take me to bed right now.”

I haven’t got anything else to say, so I just kiss her again and grab hold of her waist, guiding her backwards towards the hall. She clings onto my shoulders and then it’s like we’re dancing, the way she jumps and I lift her, the way she wraps her legs around my hips and I spin around, staggering as I try to keep my balance. She isn’t heavy, but it’s distracting having someone kissing you like they want to suck all the air out of your lungs when you’re trying to carry them.

I wouldn’t let her fall, though. I would always catch her. I love her too much to let her go.

When we reach my door, I have to let her down so we can open it and drag each other inside, both grabbing at each other’s shirts in desperation. The door clicks shut and we spin round, and I’m kissing her hard again, pinning her against the door, feeling her body writhe against mine and my erection growing.

“Lucas,” she says, pushing against me. I take a step back, and she keeps pushing until we both fall down on the bed. “What have you done to me?”

“Nothing yet,” I say and she giggles. It was a cheesy thing to say, but the way she smiles makes my chest feel like it’s about to explode. Her joy lights up the room, leaves me with no choice but to stare at her.

Carefully, she pulls my shirt out from my pants and slides her hands over my bare skin, making me shiver despite the fact there’s nothing cold here. Getting the hint, I pull my shirt off and fling it to the floor where it lands in a heap. Her eyes rake up and down my body and I flush, not exactly out of embarrassment, but I can hardly remember the last time anyone looked at me like this, with tenderness and longing instead of a pure attraction.

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