Say You Will(34)

Opening the door, he reluctantly withdrew her hand, kissed it, and led her inside.

“So this is your home.” She looked around, her eyes bright with curiosity. She walked around the virtually empty living room before wandered into the kitchen.

“I should take you home, Rosalind,” he said, hating that he even had to think it. “It’d probably be wiser to take a step back and consider the situation.”

“Wisdom is overrated.” She pulled out a drawer and surveyed the contents. “There’s a beer opener in here.”

“Yes.” He shrugged out of his jacket and put it on the counter.

“That’s all there is.” She grinned at him over her shoulder. “Do you have a bed?”

“Of course I have a bed.” He frowned. “Although that’s a valid question.”

She sauntered toward him, stripping off her coat and setting it next to his. When she reached him, she twined her arms around his neck and pressed herself against him. “Do you have condoms?”

“Yes.” He didn’t bring women home—truthfully, he wasn’t home often—but he kept a stash for when he went out, because some things you didn’t take lightly.

“So you have a bed”—she began undoing his shirt buttons—”and you have condoms, and you have me. And you want to wait?”

“I really don’t.” He was going to throw Summer from the Tower Bridge. His head told him he could recover from the deception if he was honest with Rosalind before they had sex, but the chances that she’d understand after they’d been intimate were slim. He wasn’t stupid.

As he hesitated, she pushed open his shirt and crawled her fingers down his torso, all the way to the waistband of his pants. One finger dipped in as her leg pressed against his hard-on. “What’s the problem then, if you don’t want to wait?”

“It just seems like we could know each other better first.” He mentally winced. He could hear Luca laughing at him. If the Italian were here, he’d ask Nick what sort of panties he liked.

And, even as he said it, he couldn’t help holding on to her hips. Under her top, of course, so he could feel her soft skin.

She lifted onto her toes and kissed him, a soft, lingering caress. “I’m proposing you get to know me better,” she whispered against his lips. “In a biblical way.”

He groaned, not able to resist the way she overwhelmed his senses. But the one last clear-thinking cell in his body said, “I think—”

“You know what I think? You should shut up and take me.” She tugged his head to bring his mouth to hers.

There was no resisting her. The taste of her, the feel of her under his hands—perfection. Something in him surged, pushing him to take her.

He’d never had any choice.

As he lifted her in his arms, he promised himself he’d make it work somehow. He’d overcome the damage from Summer’s lies. He couldn’t resist Rosalind any longer.

“Are you taking me to your bedroom?” Rosalind asked as she kissed him.

“Yes.” Hell yes, he was. He carried her the short distance, not caring that the bed was in disarray or that he had clothes piled in a corner to take to the cleaners. He lowered her to the mattress and followed her down.

She nestled into the downy bedding, her arms stretched above her head and a slumberous look in her eyes. “Finally. I’ve been waiting for this forever.”

He had, too, despite his better judgment. He brushed her hair away from her face. It was everything he could do not to tear her clothes off and push himself into her. He ran a hand up her body, over her clothes until he cupped her breast. “It’s been a test of my will.”

“I think you should prove how much you want me.” She wiggled out of her top and tossed it aside.

She had a lacy, barely-there bra on, in red, matching the panties he knew she wore under the pants. The lace did nothing to cover the rosy circles of her nipples.

“I don’t think proving how much I want you is going to be a problem.” Straddling her waist, he sat up, unable to take his eyes off her. He thumbed her nipples, loving the way she moaned and writhed under his hands.

He lowered his head and took one in his mouth, over the thin lace. Her fingers raked his hair. “Nick.”

The need in her voice went straight below his waist. He sat up and quickly divested her of her pants and underwear. He let his gaze roam over her beautiful naked body as he stripped out of his clothes. He covered her body with his, closing his eyes at the amazing feel.

Sighing, she wrapped her limbs around him. “Don’t you feel foolish for holding out as long as you did?”