Page 144 of Wrecked
“He’ll be okay,” Addison replied.
“So, do you two usually hang out together?” Tommy asked her.
“Sure,” Addison replied.
Tommy slid his gaze to Hawk, then back to Addison. “Nice. Hey, so Liliana at your club is cool. We’ve been talking. She’s busy with grad school, plus she has another job, but I’m hoping we can chill together.”
When the pizza was devoured, Tommy stood. “Thanks for letting me hang with you guys. So, Addison, how come I’ve never seen you at ALPHA?”
“No idea,” she replied, keeping her answer vague on purpose.
As soon as Tommy left, Hawk said, “Computer, activate the security system. Lock all exterior doors.”
“Security is on,” said the computer. “Exterior doors locked. Goodnight, Nicholas. Sweet dreams.”
Addison cleared the table.
Hawk intercepted her. “You don’t have to clean up.”
“It’s no big deal,” she said. “Your cousin is some talker. He doesn’t stop.”
“I thought he could handle the mission, but it was too intense for him.”
“He’s in ALPHA. They’reallintense.” She cleaned her glass, set it in the dish drainer. “I’m going to sleep. What are you going to do?”
He stepped close, tilted her chin toward his. “Not what Iwantto do.”
“Whatdoyou want to do?”
“You know exactly what I want.” Then, his gaze softened. “But I’ve got this shit storm at work, so I gotta figure out what’s happening.”
“Thanks for stepping up to keep me safe,” she said. “Can I hug you?”
“Two hours ago, you kissed me. Last week, we were going at it pretty good. You think I’m gonna refuse a hug?”
She pushed onto her toes, wrapped her arms around him and hugged him. He folded her into him and held her like she was his. This was where she wanted to be.
Then, she kissed his cheek.
“I don’t want to mess this up again,” she whispered. “You mean a lot to me and I don’t want to lose you.”
She broke away, started to leave, but he pulled her back and peered into her eyes. “If we take a step forward, there’s no going back.” Then, he took her by the hand. “I’ll make sure you get upstairs okay.”
As they climbed the steps, she caressed his finger with her thumb.
Outside her bedroom, she asked, “If we kiss again, are we still just friends?”
He regarded her for the longest time, and she squirmed from his wicked-hot gaze. Confidence oozed from him. “Call it whatever you want, baby. You need to get fucked on a regular basis and I’m the only man forthatjob.”
Her mouth dropped open.Oh. My. God.
With more swagger than any one man should have, he headed back downstairs.
A little dirty talk, paired with the fire in his eyes, was enough to tip the scales. Determined to move toward intimacy, she marched into her bedroom and got ready for bed. Wearing a T-shirt and undies, she crawled between the most decadent silk sheets. When sleep wouldn’t come, she found her book, got back in and started reading.
But it was impossible to concentrate with him downstairs. After too many minutes of reading the same page over and over, she turned off the light and lay there. Another thirty passed.
She heard him on the phone, then she heard him cussing. When she heard him on the stairs, her heart beat faster. She wanted him to slide in next to her and love her all night long. That’s what she fantasized about, but it would take a herculean effort to divorce herself from costumed role playing. For some, porn was a crutch. For her, sex was physical pleasure devoid of any emotional connection. She couldn’t get hurt because the hookup was just that. Fun fucking.
