Good with His Hands(10)

Under other circumstances, the soft spoken flattery would have gone  straight to his head. But it was impossible to accept the compliment  when she didn't know who he was. Doesn't she? She'd spent hours with  him, enjoying his company and their chemistry. Okay, she had his name  wrong, but was that more important than the connection they'd formed?

"So did you always know you wanted to be an architect?" she asked.

He flinched inwardly, her innocuous question destroying his attempt at  rationalization. "Not exactly," he said. "I got started in my dad's  roofing company. I guess my career evolved from there. You spend enough  time working on people's houses you start to imagine how you would build  them yourself. What you'd do differently. What your own dream home  might be like." That was entirely true. He might not have Bryce's  schooling, but Sean had consulted with friends and experts and was  almost finished with blueprints for his eventual dream home.

"Sounds a little like my inspiration. Except I never worked as a roofer."

"Shame. You'd look cute in a hard hat."

"Dad and I moved a bunch of times when I was growing up, so I spent a  lot of time daydreaming about my perfect home, too. In case you were  wondering," she added in a wry voice, "this apartment isn't it. This was  just a temporary stop that got extended when my relationship status  changed. Anyway, even when Dad and I stayed in a place longer than  usual, it was base housing. It was never truly ours. Helping clients  find their perfect place makes me feel like a fairy godmother."

He tilted his head, unable to reconcile the sexy as hell woman whose  towel only barely concealed her luscious breasts with a kindly old  godmother. "Didn't you want to be the princess when you were a little  girl?" Dani was certainly more beautiful than any fabled heroine with  snowy skin or rosy lips.                       
       
           



       

She snorted. "Princesses hid out with dwarves or waited around in  towers. The really unlucky ones waited around in comas. Fairy godmothers  get shit done." She opened a drawer, pulling out a pizza cutter and  brandishing it like a magic wand. "And I'd be effective, too. None of  this spells wearing off at midnight nonsense."

That, he could believe. Because he felt as if he'd been bewitched since  the moment she first smiled at him, and the spell she cast over him had  been growing steadily stronger ever since.

* * *

WHEN DANI STOOD to refill her water, she caught a glance at the time.  She blinked, startled by the numbers glowing above her microwave. Had  she and Gray really just spent an hour and a half sitting on the floor  of her kitchen? They'd wiped out the pizza amid conversation and far  more laughter than she'd expected.

In some ways, being with him reminded her of hanging out with Meg. Her  best friend was usually the only person who could bring out Dani's silly  side. Major Yates had many excellent parenting qualities, but her  childhood home hadn't been filled with carefree whimsy. One of the  traits she found attractive in Gray was that he didn't take himself too  seriously.

Apparently, though, it was true what they said about time flying when you were having fun.

"It's late," she told him.

He glanced up, his eyes searching. "Is that your way of suggesting it's time for me to leave?"

"No, I... Stay the night? I've got spare toothbrushes." A hot blush  prickled her skin as she realized how that-coupled with propositioning  him after three minutes of small talk today-might make her sound. "I  bought a multipack because it was on sale. Not, uh, because I have guys  sleeping over on a regular basis."

"I'd love to stay, Dani."

The way he said her name made her melt inside. But when she caught  herself gazing adoringly at him, she gave herself a mental shake. Sappy  wasn't her thing. "I'll, uh, just go find you that extra toothbrush."

She retreated to the bathroom, taking time to recover her composure.  She ran a comb through her hair, brushed her teeth and finally exchanged  the towel she'd been wearing for a robe from Meg's shop. The green  material was filmy, almost but not quite see-through, and fell to  midthigh. When she opened the door, she found Gray sitting on the edge  of her bed in nothing but his boxer briefs. Since she'd had all evening  to get used to the sight of his well-muscled torso, it was silly that  her mouth went dry. It was equally silly that her stomach did a  somersault at Gray and bed in the same thought. Didn't sexual tension  fade after two people had been intimate? Shouldn't his magnetism have  lessened?

No. Because now you know exactly how good he is. All her feverish speculation before had only been educated guesses.

She swallowed, struggling to find her voice. Although she hadn't wanted  him to think she picked up a different man every night of the week, she  didn't want him to deem her unsophisticated, either. Then again,  considering her abysmal language whenever she missed a pool shot and the  contents of her fridge, that ship had probably sailed.

"Um, all yours," she said, moving out of the doorway. While Gray took  his turn in the bathroom, she sent one last check-in text to Meg.

He's staying over. Best date ever. Call you tomorrow.

When Gray rejoined her, she was in the process of turning down the  comforter. "Two things you should know," she said with mock solemnity.  "The right side of the bed is mine. Nonnegotiable. Also, I snore." She  had no idea if that was true. But making the statement kept her from  swooning over his body. Any man who ate pizza and had abs like that  must've signed a deal with the devil.

"Hmm." He reached across the bed for her, eyes glinting with sensual  promise. "Then maybe I should come up with ways to keep you awake, so  the snoring won't be a problem."

A quiver of expectation rippled through her. She met him in the middle  of the mattress. After only one night, his kiss was familiar, as if they  were lovers with a shared past. And a future? It was a sweet thought,  but fleeting, incinerated by the rush of fiery need as their tongues  tangled. He tunneled his fingers through her hair, which had dried in  wild ringlets that matched her mood. Untamed. Primitive.

Using the element of surprise as much as her own weight, she shoved him  back onto the bed and sprawled across him as they kissed. He cupped her  ass through the silky material, dragging her against him. She sat up,  straddling him, so that she could control her movements better.

"I like this," he said. "But-"                       
       
           



       

"There's a but?" Was he one of those men who had a problem with a woman  on top? Nah. He was rock hard beneath her, obviously sincere in his  appreciation. She shifted her weight in a slow, deliberate gyration.

He closed his eyes momentarily, his grip on her tightening. "But," he  continued, "we still have a theory to test." That was all the warning he  gave before flipping her over and reversing their positions. "About my  mouth on you."

His weight on top of her, wedged between her thighs as he pinned her to  the crisp sheets below, was a new erotic delight. He caught the end of  the sash belting her robe and tugged. The knot gave way immediately, and  the fabric parted, sliding down either side of her body.

But he kept his eyes locked on hers as he whispered, "You are  beautiful." Something about the reverence of his tone more than the  actual words made her shiver.

Kissing her neck, he scraped his teeth lightly across the hollow of her  throat and nuzzled his way downward. By the time he reached the tip of  her breast, she was breathing hard. He flicked his tongue over her, then  drew her into the heat of his mouth. It was as if there was a current  that ran from his lips straight to the core of her.

Electric pleasure zinged through her body until she was shuddering with  it. If he'd continued his attention to her breasts, it might have been  enough to push her over the edge into climax. But he was moving lower,  stopping to kiss her navel, both her inner thighs. And then finally,  finally...

"Oh!" The soft exclamation was all she could manage.

Hands beneath her knees, he nudged gently, and she bent her legs,  resting her feet against his shoulders. Coherent thought evaporated  beneath the stroke of his tongue. Her head thrashed on the pillow, and  her heels dug into the mattress. The neighbors could probably hear the  sharp cries Gray wrung from her, but she was beyond caring.

Then it was as if all motion and sound stopped. Her body straightened, a  silent gasp frozen on her lips, and spasms began deep within her,  undulating through her in crashing waves. It took her a moment to  register that Gray's sudden absence was because he was unrolling a  condom. She was still experiencing tiny aftershocks when he braced  himself above her and drove into her, hurtling her up another  roller-coaster ascent toward free fall.