“Want to watch a movie or something?”
No, she wanted to lay her head on his lap and be the one he petted. “Sure. Want a glass of wine?”
“A beer for me, please.”
She grabbed the remote and handed it to him. “Here, find a movie. No baseball.”
“I only watch baseball when I want to fall asleep.”
“You better not fall asleep.” She went to the kitchen, poured a glass of wine, got a beer from the fridge, and returned. Jake was flicking through the channels, and she caught a glimpse of some kind of space movie. “Wait, what was that last one?”
He turned back to the channel. “Looks like Alien.”
That movie should be able to divert her attention. She handed him his beer. “I’ve never seen it. Let’s watch it.”
“You like scary movies?”
“God, yes. But only if I’m watching them with someone, and I have to sit next to you so I can grab hold of you when the scary parts come on.” His expression blanked and she thought he would refuse. Why didn’t he want her sitting next to him?
Finally, he patted the space at his side. “Then I’m your man.”
She liked the sound of that but wished he’d said it with a little more enthusiasm. Nestling against his side, she felt his body tense. Really? What was his problem?
The spaceship landed on a planet and she forgot everything but the movie. The astronauts were in a creepy cave with even creepier egg-shaped pods when Jake took her empty wineglass out of her hand and set it aside. She didn’t remember drinking it. By the time goo-dripping aliens were popping out of people, Maria had her face pressed into Jake’s chest, her hands gripping his shirt.
“Want me to turn it off?”
“No!” She had to know if somebody saved the cat.
He chuckled and his arm circled her shoulders, pulling her close. “Your eyes are closed, you’re not even watching it.”
“Am too.” She opened one eye to prove she was, but quickly closed it when another astronaut’s belly began to quiver.
By the time the movie ended, she’d practically crawled onto Jake’s lap and he’d let her. Her one and only boyfriend had made fun of her for watching scary movies with her eyes closed. Jake had held her tight against him.
Maria opened her eyes and grinned. “She saved the cat.”
His answering smile, the one she was coming to adore, lit his face. “And you scared yours so badly with your screams, he took off an hour ago.”
“But you’re still here.”
“I am.” His eyes searched hers, and hers answered the question in them with a yes.
Oh, God, yes. Please kiss me.
Their mouths met as if they were enacting a scene from a movie. Slowly, so achingly slowly, his lips covered hers. She slid her hand around his neck, brushing her fingers through the bristle of his short hair, pleased when his skin quivered under her touch.
He’d kissed her yesterday, but that one had been borne of anger, his frustration with her getting the better of him. If a kiss could melt her bones, this one would. His lips lightly brushed over hers, his breath warming them. Jolts of electricity sparked through her when he nipped on her bottom lip, then captured it with his teeth.
When his tongue scraped across her teeth, she opened her mouth and his hand came to rest against her jaw as he explored her. His taste, flavored by the malt beer, made her drunk with desire.
Maria moaned, and he stilled. “Please.” She would beg if necessary to keep him from stopping.
His mouth inched away and he leaned his forehead against hers. “No, we can’t do this.”
Jake never turned down sex freely offered. Why was he saying no to her? She placed her palm over his heart, felt it pounding. He wasn’t unaffected.
“We can. I want you, and I think you feel the same.”
He put his hands on her waist and lifted her to her feet. “Go to bed, Maria.”
She searched his eyes but they shuttered, blocking his thoughts. “I don’t understand.”
“There’s nothing to understand.”
Jake turned off the TV and the lamp, leaned his back on the sofa, and tried to wipe from his mind the look of confusion and hurt on Maria’s face as she left the room. I want you, and I think you feel the same. Damn straight he wanted her. He’d come close to taking her right there on the couch.
But he was Romeo. He loved ’em and left ’em. In the end, he would hurt her, something he’d never much worried about with other women. Of course, he’d always made sure the women he chose knew the rules, understood the game.