Page 60 of Winning Back His Wife
“I live here.” He faced her, his gaze trapping hers. “We should be together.”
The poles shifted. Her world spun off its axis. Air rushed from her lungs. “Together?”
He nodded with a determined set to his jaw. “A couple.”
Surprise clogged her throat. It took a second to find her voice. “We already tried that.”
“We’re good together.”
“Sometimes.”
“That’s a start.”
If only... No. Too much separated them. Too high a wall to climb, too wide a river to cross. “We’re too different.”
A seductive fire blazed in his eyes. “Opposites attract.”
He leaned closer. His heat enveloped her.
She felt light-headed. “They can also repel.”
One side of his mouth lifted in a sexy grin. “We definitely attract.”
She struggled to breathe.
“I’ll prove it to you.” His lips swooped down on her. He kissed her hard until her toes curled, sparks ignited under her skin and she was gasping for air. “Enough of a data point, or do you need more?”
Oh, she had all the information she needed to make a conclusion. That brief but oh-so-hot kiss reminded her of the time they’d first met. His kisses had stripped her bare, leaving her naked and emotionally vulnerable and wanting another kiss. All her dormant fairy-tale fantasies had clamored to be heard.
But Sarah didn’t need to be rescued. She couldn’t fall under Cullen’s spell the way she had in Las Vegas. The way he’d—they’d—been acting tonight made it so easy to believe they could be a couple again, not the same as before, but like Hannah and Garrett or Carly and Jake. The way Sarah had always dreamed.
But how long would that last?
Her parents had abandoned her. Dylan, her ex-fiancé, too. She found it hard—okay, impossible—to believe Cullen would stay the distance. And when he left her...
She couldn’t let him make her believe in magic or happy endings. “I can’t.”
He stroked her cheek with his knuckle. “You’re going to have to give me more than that.”
That was what she was afraid he would say. “I’m tired.”
He wrapped a finger around a loose curl. “We can have this conversation lying down.”
Warning bells clanged in her head. “Cullen.”
“Nothing wrong with the horizontal position,” he said. “You used to like it.”
Loved it. Heat pooled low in her belly and spread outward, making her limbs feel like liquid silver. She swallowed.
“Come on.” He pulled her up from the couch and tugged her gently forward by a wayward curl. “Get ready for bed. Then you can tell me why you ‘can’t.’”
* * *
Can’t. Can’t. Can’t. The word echoed through Sarah’s head.
She was tired, but took her time in the bathroom. A mix of procrastination and nerves, each vying for victory. But she didn’t imagine there would be any winners tonight.
Apprehension coursed through her veins. She put her robe on over her pajamas. An extra layer of protection. Not from Cullen. From herself.
In her room she crawled into bed, then pulled the covers to her neck. She willed herself to sleep. Hard to talk if she was asleep.
Cullen entered the room wearing only pajama bottoms. His muscular arms and smooth chest and his defined abs made her mouth water. He looked as though he’d been sculpted to her specifications.
She itched to run her fingers over his skin, to feel his strength and his warmth. To have his hands touch her all over.
Sarah shivered with need.
He took a step toward her.
“I’m not having sex with you.” The words fell from her mouth like a glacier calving.
His lopsided, sexy grin appeared again. “Who said anything about having sex?”
The man was sex with a stethoscope. Well, if he had one with him. “Just setting some ground rules.”
“That’s rule number one. Any more?”
She narrowed her gaze. “Maybe.”
Laughter sparkled in his eyes. He turned off the light.
Darkness filled the room. She couldn’t see or hear him. As he stretched out beside her, the mattress dipped.
She tightened her grip on the blanket. “Stay on top of the covers.”
“Your wish is my command.”
Sarah gulped. That was what she was afraid of. Because she wanted him. Now. Here in his house. In this bed.
He cuddled against her.
Every muscle tensed. “What are you doing?”
“Getting comfortable for our conversation.”
That would be impossible for her to do. Even with the covers, a robe and pajamas separating them, she felt the warmth emanating from his body. And it felt good.
“So why can’t we be together?” he asked.
