Page 56 of Grip Me Tight
“I had fun with you.”
“Oo-kay?”
“I was thinking about what you said in my hotel room, before. About Noah and me being your only friends for a while.”
Well, this got serious fast. I’m not sure where he’s going with this, but I nod, waiting him out.
“Noah’s my best friend. And the other guys are great. We really are like brothers, and considering I didn’t have a family growing up, I’m grateful for that you know?” He rubs a hand over the back of his neck. “We spend a lot of time together. Even in our down time, we’re not that far from each other. And I wouldn’t give them up for anything in the world.”
I bite my lip. He’s reminding me that what we have here is just pretend. My brother, the band, his life – it’s all separate and apart from me. I’m just a content writer.
And a temporary, fake girlfriend.
“I get it, Tanner. I know I’m not part of your life.” I turn and walk outside.
He chases me. “Hey, that is not where I was going with that at all.” He stands next to me, looking out at the lake, but he reaches out and laces his fingers with mine. “I wanted to say that I can’t remember having a friend outside the guys for a long time. But today wasn’t about being with the guys or the band.” He squeezes my fingers. “I’m messing this up.” He tugs me around so I’m facing him. “I’m sorry you felt alone back then, Silver. And I’m sorry I hurt you by leaving that night. I’m grateful to be your friend too.”
My lips part and he drops his gaze. An awful feeling comes over me. An awful, wonderful feeling and I get this sinking sensation in my belly. I can’t swallow past the lump in my throat. I can’t fall in love with Tanner. Sex, yes. A crush, infatuation, adoration? Absolutely reasonable. But this tripping, tumbling, stumbling slam of my heart? I need to shut it down fast because when this is over, it’s really over, and I will still have a job to do, regardless of whether my heart lies in a million shattered pieces.
“Tanner?” He’s so beautiful he makes the orangey-pink ribbons of the brilliant sunset fade to the background. “No history, remember?”
He closes his eyes, lowering his head to mine. “No history.”
What in the world am I doing? Being this close to him, smelling the clean scent of his skin fresh from the shower is playing havoc with my brain. I want him. But he’s told me time and again no matter how much he wants me, it won’t work. This is the only way I can have him, but if my emotions get tangled up again with my desperate attraction for him, I’m doomed.
And Tanner might worry about a future where everything has changed with my family, but now I’m worried about a future where nothing changes and I have to sit and watch him laugh with Noah and kiss my mom on the cheek and know he’ll never be mine.
His big hands slide up to the back of my neck, cupping me tightly. “Let’s pretend.”
I reach up, clasping his forearms, and my bracelet slips up my arm. I wonder if I’ll ever be able to take it off. I’ll think of it as friendship bracelet, nothing more.
No history. No future.
Tilting my head up, I seek his lips, the gentle brush of his mouth too sweet, too soft. I need something to drive these thoughts out of my head. I break away, gripping the edge of his shirt, pulling it up and off fast. A slow burn starts in my belly and rises in my chest at the sight of his muscles flexing as he flicks open the button of his jeans and roughly shoves them down. Tanner Steele in all his glory. I almost hope someone is out on the lake watching because he is too beautiful to have all to myself. He gives me his signature sexy grin and it’s like watching an actor slip into character.
“You like what you see?”
I bite my lip. I like it too much. I fold my arms across my chest, tilting my head from one side to the other, as if I’m studying a painting. “I don’t know. Maybe do a little turn?”
He obliges, his big body pivoting with a hip roll. My nipples harden. “That’s pretty good. Do you dance for a living?”
He struts towards me, in full stage mode. “You might say that.”
He’s fully aroused, his gaze dropping in a slow perusal of my body. “Should we take this inside?” Before I can answer, he bends, scooping me into his arms.
“Tanner! I can walk.”
“But this way I get what I want much faster.”
“What do you want?” I’m a little breathless as I cling to neck.
“You, naked and trembling for me to fuck you.”
Oh god. His voice is designed to make women weak, and I am no exception. If he wasn’t carrying me, I’d be a puddle on the floor.
He sets me on the floor inside and grabs a couple of boxes from the top of my condom tower, while pointing at the ladder. “You, up.”
I rush to the ladder and climb while he growls behind me. I get to the top and fall into the soft mattress, piled high with pillowy muslin blankets. I pull them back and swipe my hands against the cool cotton sheets. Tanner pushes me down, crawling over me, dragging my dress up my legs. His hand slides between my thighs, shifting my panties to one side. “You’re already wet for me,” he groans plunging his fingers inside. My eyes close on the sudden, sharp burst of pleasure, heat coursing through me. I push back against him and twist around, wanting to see that naked need in his eyes.
