Once Upon a Rose(30)

He took a long, slow breath, holding onto that upraised knee as if it was his own lifeline, and just watched her. Waiting.

Waiting for her to maybe change her mind, she realized. Or make it up.

Oh, hell, the crazy, stupid, intense arousal that pressed through her at his waiting.

“Please don’t,” she said. Because if he did reach for her, if he tested her response at all, she might just…go with it. Be swept away. And then where would she be?

Besides satisfied? protested her rebellious body.

Matt frowned just a little. “Bouclettes, you already said no. You don’t have to add a ‘please’ to that for me.”

She drew a breath and forced herself to break his gaze, blurrily eyeing instead the scattered chocolate bars.

“You don’t have to add a ‘please’ to a ‘yes’ either.” That deep voice rubbed over her.

She wet her lips.

“Yeah.” A rumble like thunder. “You could just say it like that.”

She pressed her lips together and shook her head, not daring to look at him. She desperately wanted to do something stupid.

He reached for a rag and very carefully, very thoroughly, wiped his hands clean.

Oh, lord.

“I said no.”

“I’m not touching you, Bouclettes.”

Damn. Why was that so hot? To not be touched? Why did it make her want to be touched so badly?

“That’s good,” she managed.

The deep vibrations of his voice just wrapped her up and caressed her, easing into a tone so gentle it was all she could do not to curl up in it. “Why is that good, chérie?”

She scrubbed her hands over her face, trying to rub some sense into herself. “Because I don’t know what I’d do if you did,” she confessed.

He drew one hard breath in, his fist clenching on the rag. Their gazes locked and sizzled. “That is a hell of a thing to tell a man while you keep asking him to do nothing.”

“I know.”

He shook his head slow and hard. “No. I bet you think you know. You think you can imagine it. But I bet you have no idea how hard it is to not just…do.”

She drew another breath and scooted herself to the other side of a table leg. A flimsy, silly barrier for all it was a sturdy old table. But she could hold onto it and stare at him from its pseudo-refuge.

She felt more like a lion caging herself so she wouldn’t attack her prey rather than, say, prey hiding from the lion.

But maybe he misinterpreted, because he frowned and looked down, releasing all that delicious pressure. He took his own deep breath in and let it out now, heavily. “So…you like chocolate,” he said randomly, picking up a few of the bars. And then a few more. A smile started to curl the corners of his lips. “A lot.”

“They had all these flavors!”

Just that hint of amusement did the most amazing things to his mouth—easing the pressure that firm upper lip kept on the full, sensual lower one. Letting a hint escape of how much sensuality was there waiting to be freed. That lower lip, when the upper one relaxed, looked—vulnerable. Erotic. Looked like something a woman could lick and nibble and…

Stop it already.

His smile deepened, and he rose, setting the bars on top of the table. “I think you pierced my eardrums. Merde, but you’ve got a voice on you.”

Ah...yes. That had been commented on before.

He reached out a hand for her, and she hesitated one second to gaze at the size and strength of it before she put her hand in his. It closed with just the right firmness, entirely engulfing hers as he pulled her easily to her feet.

She sighed, gazing up at him. He didn’t look the least bit grumpy now. Intrigued, alert, ready. But…there was a gentleness to that alertness, a patience. He didn’t move in on her with that big body. She could tell he wanted to. But he let her keep the corner of the table between them.

“I think you’d better give me your key to this house,” she said regretfully.

Oops. She had meant to say that firmly.

That smile warmed the brown of his eyes to the most amazing color, rich with gold. “I’ll leave the door unlocked on mine.”

Hey. She started to blush. “That will not be necessary.”

He laughed out loud, and pleasure leaped through her, to have made the grumpy bear laugh. “No, it will be something a lot more fun than necessary.”

She put her hands on her hips. “Seriously. Don’t leave your door open. I’m not coming.”

“All right, Bouclettes. I got it. You didn’t mean to go that far.” He moved away to turn on the faucet and let it run a moment, checking under the sink. Then he nodded and started packing up his tools. A little color showed on his strong cheekbones and a little smile still curved his mouth while he cleaned up, just this sexy, happy curl.