Romancing My Love(17)

No! She had things to do, didn’t she? Study the menu? Look for a place to live? Go to the gym. Shower, for God’s sake. She must stink. Although the way Pierce was nuzzling against her neck told her that she must not smell too bad.

“Shower?” he asked.

Shower? She shook away her jumbled thoughts and realized he was asking her if she wanted to take a shower. With him or alone? With him. God, yes, with you, please. What was happening to her? She’d never showered with a man before, and she was ready to jump in with Mr. Sweet ’n’ Sexy.

“Oh, um. If you take me back to my car, I can shower at the gy—” She caught herself, and realized the gym was a reasonable answer. “I usually go to the gym in the mornings, so I can just wash up and then shower after I’m done there.”

“You go to the gym in the morning? Great. I have a full gym downstairs.”

Of course you do. “I usually go for a run while I’m there.”

“Perfect.” He kissed her chin. “I run, too. Let’s go for a run together, then work out, shower, and spend the day getting to know each other better. Unless you have other plans.”

“I would love that, but my gym bag is in my car back at the hotel.”

He helped her to the floor, then secured the blanket around her again and picked up her folded dress, panties, and bra from the coffee table. How had she missed those? Folded?

“Let’s wash up, eat some breakfast, and then we’ll get your bag. We can go by your place and pick up clothes if you want. Then we can come back here and work out.” He took her hand and led her down a hallway.

My place? She could see his reaction. Welcome to my car. I have two bedrooms, the front and the rear. Shoot me now. Please.

“I don’t know. I have to get that check to the bank.” She thought about the things she needed to do. Definitely study the menu, but while she needed to find a place to live, she should at least wait until she started work to ensure she’d really have a paycheck coming in. She didn’t want to jinx anything at this point. Absolutely nothing sounded better than spending the day with Pierce, but she wasn’t used to spending so much time with anyone other than her mother, much less a man. A man whom she was quickly coming to like way too much too fast.

He folded her in his arms and touched his forehead to hers. Oh no, she really loved that. A lot. When he closed his eyes, her resolve softened. He was so tender and was such a good listener—and lover. Oh yes, an amazing lover. When he opened his eyes, they were serious again.

“Rebecca, did I totally misread you? Was last night supposed to be a one-night stand?” He drew back from her.

She clung to his waist, holding his body close to hers. She opened her mouth, but words didn’t come. She swallowed, trying to figure out how to say what she needed to—wanted to. They’d been so open with each other last night, and it had felt natural. He was looking at her with his caring, dark eyes, filled with desire, and something warmer, deeper. Something so real and big it made her entire body fill with a sense of him.

“No, it wasn’t supposed to be a one-night stand. Maybe it was supposed to be just a date, but…” She didn’t understand why she felt the need to share what she felt after hiding behind thick, impenetrable walls for so many years. How had he torn them down without even trying? “But it felt like a lot more than a date. God, Pierce, I fell asleep in your arms. Naked. I don’t do that.”

“And?”

He was giving control over to her again, just as he had last night. How did he know what she needed? How did he know what fed her trust?

“And I liked it. A lot. But it’s also scary for me. I’m not a wake-up-naked kind of girl.” She turned away. “Especially in a house like this, with a guy like you.” Then she remembered. She turned back and looked him in the eye. “You’re a player, Pierce. You told me so, and I don’t mean that judgmentally. I was kind of the same way a few years ago, but I’m just finding my footing again, and I can’t afford to open my heart for a guy who’s going to hurt me.” A shiver of worry snaked up her spine right before her mother’s words snuck in—You matter, mi dulce niña—easing her worries and giving her the approval she didn’t realize she needed.

His brow furrowed, and he reached for her again. His eyes softened, reeling her right in. She actually felt her body melting to his touch, to all of him. She wasn’t a melter, and she was powerless to fight the feeling that she was exactly where she belonged. And it scared her a little more.

“You’re right. I’ve always been that guy.” He kissed her forehead and this time she closed her eyes. If this was goodbye, she wanted to memorize the feel of his lips before she went back to her lonely, Pierceless car.

“I can’t explain it, and as I said last night. I want to date you, Becca. I want to see where we go.”

“But—”

“Please let me finish.” His voice was a gentle caress, soothing her worries. “I can’t make promises or declare my love for you, but I’m a man of my word. If I tell you that I want to date you, I’m not going to date other women, and, Rebecca, let me be very clear. I want to date you. I want to see where whatever this is between us takes us.”

OhGodohGod.

“I don’t want to scare you off, but I have to tell you that when you fell asleep in my arms, it was the first time I’d wanted to fall asleep with a woman in years, and when I woke up with you cuddled against me, I didn’t want to move.” He searched her eyes, and he must have read her mind, because what he said next softened the lingering sharpness of her worries.

“I don’t want to save you, Rebecca. But I get the feeling that we were supposed to come together, and I think maybe you were supposed to save me.”





Chapter Eight


THEY WERE DRIVING back to the Astral to get Rebecca’s gym bag from her car. He’d seen her struggling with the decision, but he knew she felt the same attraction winding its way around them and binding them together as he did. She’d finally agreed to spend the day with him.

“Why don’t we swing by your place and pick up whatever you need?” It was a breezy morning, and all she had was the dress she’d worn last night. He wanted her to have whatever clothing or personal items she needed—and he didn’t want her to have any excuses to leave. Call it control, or call it the newness of their relationship. Whatever it was he was feeling, it was bigger than anything he’d ever felt before and he wasn’t about to ignore it.

Rebecca looked up from the menu she was studying. “It’s okay. I always keep extra clothes in my car.”

“Should that worry me?” He arched a brow.

She playfully smacked his arm. “Not for those reasons, you gross hog. Just in case I spill something on my clothes.”

“Okay, but I don’t mind if you want to. I’d like to see where you live.”

“Trust me, you’re not missing anything.” They pulled into the parking garage. “I’m on the fourth floor, aisle C.”

He pulled up behind her car and opened his door. She grabbed his arm. “I’ve got it. I’ll only be a second.”

“Nonsense. I’m a guy. I open doors and car trunks.” He stepped from the car, and Rebecca hurried toward her trunk.

“It’s embarrassing how messy my trunk is. I’d really feel better if you didn’t see it. Please? It’s like seeing a messy room.”

“It’s a trunk, Bec.” He reached for her keys, and she lifted her hand out of his reach.

“Okay, fine.” She put the key in her trunk and then drew in a deep breath. “You know what? I need my purse. I want to throw a few things in it. Would you mind grabbing it for me?”

“Not at all.” He went around to the passenger seat. “Finally, you let me do something for you.” He ducked into the car, and when he came back around with her purse, she had already retrieved her clothes and gym bag from the trunk.

“All set?” She snagged her purse and tossed her keys in.

“I thought you wanted to put something in your purse.” He eyed her trunk.

“Yeah, well, I decided not to. Come on. I should really get to the bank.”

Pierce had a sinking feeling in his stomach that there was something she wasn’t telling him.

They went to the bank to deposit Rebecca’s check and then went back to Pierce’s house to go for a run. He could barely believe he was with a woman who actually enjoyed running as much as he did. He had to slow his pace, but not by much. Rebecca was surprisingly athletic. They ran three and a half miles, and when they got back to his place, they paced the driveway while they cooled down.

“I’ve never run with a guy before,” Rebecca admitted. She looked hot in her running bra and spandex shorts. Her body was lean and fit, but still held womanly curves, so different from most of the pin-thin women in his circles. He felt like a kid lusting after a crush, the way his eyes were drawn to her.

“Can’t say I’ve ever gone for a run with a woman before, either. It was fun.”

“It was fun, although I’m sure I slowed you down. Thank you for that.” She walked over to him and touched his waist. “I thought I knew all about fast-talking guys like you. I warned myself that night I met you not to get too close to a guy like you.”