Page 29 of Sinful Sharing

Oh... now it clicks. A chuckle escapes. “Roman and I aren’t together, pretty boy. It’s nothing serious.”

Surprise settles in his eyes. “Okay...”

“Satisfied?”

“Yeah—well, no. I don’t understand. You’re both living together. How can you be casual?”

“Because we don’t want anything more than that. I’m not looking to settle down anytime soon, and Roman... well, he pretty much swore off relationships when his partner left him years ago.”

“Damn.” Taylor winces. “That’s awful.”

“Yeah. Tell me about it.” I sigh, feeling a familiar rush of pity for Roman. “Imagine your boyfriend packing up and leaving when your business started falling apart.”

“God, no. I can’t imagine that,” he says. “But if that happened to me, I wouldn’t want to get burned again, either.”

Ah. So he understands. Good. “Well, there you have it,” I reply.

“Not quite.” He quirks an eyebrow at me. “I understand Roman’s point of view, but why don’t you want to settle down?”

The easy, rehearsed response floats off my tongue. “I like my freedom.”

“Oh… okay.” It’s hard to tell if my answer satisfies him.

“Are we cool?” I ask, throwing up both hands, when he says nothing more. “Is the interrogation over, detective?”

A sheepish smile tugs at his mouth. “I wasn’t judging you and Roman, you know. I really don’t care if you are... um...” His gaze averts to my chest. “You do you. And him. And whoever you want—okay, I’m going to shut up now.”

I snicker, gently patting his red cheek, then I turn and head to the door. Almost there, I pause. “You were wrong about one thing.”

“Which is?”

I walk back to where he’s standing. The space separating us shrinks until I can see every detail of his face—the faint freckles across his nose and the curiosity in his eyes. Reaching up, I tuck a golden strand behind his ear. The gesture feels surprisingly natural. A tenderness settles over me that I don’t entirely understand, but for once, I don’t want to fight it. “You didn’t misread the signs.”

Taylor wets his lips. He takes a step closer. Then another. His gaze lingers on my mouth. For the first time all day, I don’t feel cold at all. In fact, my entire system is on fire. A violent spark of need erupts inside me, testing my self-control. I’ve never wanted to kiss another man so fucking badly.

But the last thing I’d want is for him to do something he’d regret.

“I want more than signs,” he whispers, tilting his head, staring up at me, wetting his lips once more. “I won’t be here for long.”

His words send a healthy flow of blood to my groin. “You sure?”

“Yes.”

The tension between us snaps when our lips meet. I kiss him softly at first. Carefully. Almost as if I’m trying not to break him. But then he moans and grips the front of my jacket. He breaks the last shred of my restraint.

Groaning, I press him against the steel wall. My tongue dives between his lips. He kisses me back with the same hunger, matching every stroke, every lick, making me hard as hell. I pound him into the steel, letting him feel what he’s doing to me.

“I want you,” I whisper.

He sighs into my mouth. I sense his hesitation, even though he’s as hard as I am.

“It’s okay. You can tell me to fuck off,” I assure him. “Say the word, and I will leave you alone.”

18

Taylor

Say the word, and I will leave you alone.