Page 76 of When He Lies
He lowered the coat. Tossed it to the stone floor. “Simone?”
She backed away, moving toward the nearby wall. The lights around the Arch let him see that he hadn’t protected her from the rain fast enough. Her white blouse was soaked and clung to her. It had also gone far too transparent.
His gaze jumped back to her face. “Simone…”
She motioned toward him. “You’re wet. A man in a wet, white shirt is sexy as hell, just so you know. I can see all those bulging muscles of yours. That fabric clings so tightly in all of the best ways.”
He swallowed. “Same, sweetheart…same.”
“I don’t have bulging muscles to—oh.” She’d looked down at herself. “Right.” A delicate clearing of her throat as her head tilted back and she met his stare. “Guess we both got soaked, huh?”
He didn’t give a shit about the rain except for what it was doing to her. Bringing up her past. Hurting her. “You’re trying to distract me by talking about my wet shirt and muscles.”
Her back pressed to the wall near her. In that location, she was quite protected from prying eyes. All eyes but his, that was.
“Would it be hard to distract you?” she asked. “You distracted me when I was afraid in the elevator. I quite liked the distraction.”
He’d quite liked kissing her.
“What if I told you that I wanted your mouth?” Simone asked. “What if I said that I’d like for you to kiss me, right here? Right now? Would that distract you?”
He glanced around the Arch. A ladder had been left out. Appeared someone had been doing repairs, and a ladder had been placed against the wall opposite of Simone. Shoddy work, that. Someone could get hurt with a ladder left hanging around.
“Don’t you want to kiss me?” Simone pushed him.
“Baby…” His gaze returned to her. “I want to devour you.” Just so they were clear. “I want to kiss you. I want to taste you. I want to fuck you until you scream for me. Those items are always on my to-do list where you are concerned.”
“Then what are you waiting for?” Such very tempting words. “I’m right here.”
He closed in on her. His hands lifted, then moved to press against the stone behind her, caging her between his body and the wall. “Stop playing games with me.” When would she learn that she couldn’t play with him?
“I’m not playing games. I’m offering to fuck you right here. Unless you’re afraid of fucking in public?”
Not like it was something he’d ever done before. And, also, they were not quite in public. In this particular spot, he had them hidden from sight. His head lowered toward hers. “There is nothing I want more than to fuck you.”
Her head tipped back. “Then do it.”
“You’re scared. You don’t want to face your pain.” Gritted words. His control held. Barely.
“What is the point in facing your pain?” Simone seemed truly confused. “It’s better to just bury it and walk away. Facing it does nothing but make the ache worse.”
He wanted to make all of her pain vanish, forever. “I upset you in the hotel suite.” He could see past her mask. Did she realize that? “When I talked about my family. As soon as I mentioned them, I noticed a difference with you.”
Her gaze darted away from his.
Ryan didn’t think she was going to respond.
The rain kept falling, so hard and heavy now.
“I was jealous.” Simone’s soft response. “I won’t ever know what it means to belong with a family like yours. To grow up in that kind of home.” Her stare slowly drifted back to him. “I can be jealous and also be happy that you have them. I can feel both things at the same time. I’m a multitasker that way.”
His chest ached. “Tell me about your past.”
“My past? Why? Isn’t it just better to focus on the present?” One delicate hand rose between them. She unhooked the top three buttons on his shirt. The fourth button.
“Simone.” This was important—she was important. “You were in the ditch. The water was rising. Why didn’t your parents help you?”
Her fingers had slipped inside of his open shirt to press against his skin. “Because the dead can’t help you.”
