She shook her head, disbelief evident in the furrow of her brow. “You can’t be serious.”
“I’m dead serious.”
“Why?”
“It’s not like I’m suggesting something that outrageous here. Last I checked, sex between consenting adults was all the rage. And friends with benefits isn’t exactly a new concept.”
“Dillon, think about what you’re saying. We’ve been friends for eighteen years. You’re like— Like…”
“Like what, Aly?” Don’t say it. Don’t fucking say—
“Like my brother.”
That. Ouch. No guy ever wanted to hear the “I love you as a friend” speech. But the “you’re like my brother” speech was even worse. Friends could at least fool around if they got drunk enough. But unless they grew up in Arkansas, no one fooled around with their sibling.
Only, the more Dillon studied her, the more he saw signs that she might not be telling the whole truth. Things like the hitch of her breath when he leaned in the slightest bit. How her pupils ate up the blue of her eyes. That her cheeks looked like they’d been kissed by pink rose petals.
Or maybe she was nervous. Or embarrassed, for that matter. It’s not like he’d announced his presence or the subject of being friends with bennies in a civilized manner. But damn if he hadn’t almost thrown a punch as soon as he’d heard that pirate-ass invite Alyssa up to his room. The fact that Dillon merely traded insults with the guy should earn him a trophy for immense restraint.
And then it happened. Her eyes settled on his mouth, and her tongue flicked over her lips. It happened faster than the blast of an air hammer, but his brain played it back in super slo-mo. She probably had no idea the things she’d just revealed.
If there was any place to go all-in and hope he played his cards right, Vegas was it. So he’d call her bluff and hope she folded.
Bracing his other hand on the wall, he caged her in completely. Dillon needed to take the upper hand where he could. He wanted to overwhelm her, get her off her game. So all she saw, heard, smelled, and felt was him in front of her, and to hell with the rest of the world around them.
“Kiss me.”
Her eyes grew wide. “What?”
“Kiss me. I think you owe it to yourself to make sure I don’t do anything for you before you go to some stranger.”
Alyssa sucked the corner of her lip between her teeth. Her tell. He had her on the run. All he needed was to up the ante one more time to drive his point home.
“Besides,” he said. “Here you’ll get two nights at the most before you go home to the same problem you started with. I’m right next door. You’ve always had free rein in my kitchen. I have no problems giving you free rein in my bedroom, Aly.”
“This is crazy.” Her words lacked conviction.
“All you have to do is kiss me. If you can honestly tell me it feels like kissing your brother, that’ll be the end of it.”
“You’ll drop this whole thing? And go home?”
Hope sparked in her eyes and burned his pride. He hated thinking the idea of him leaving made her relieved on any level. “Promise.”
This time, when she dropped her eyes to his mouth, she let them linger. The weight of her gaze traveled through his body and settled in his balls, making them heavy with years of anticipation for this moment. Years of longing, of waiting, was finally coming to an end. He balanced on the knife’s edge between letting her make the first move and taking what he wanted. What he’d demanded.
Her pulse beat a rapid tattoo at her throat, and he made a mental note to kiss her there later so he could feel her excitement against his lips, his tongue. The thought had him biting back a groan that had been building for over a decade.
But he couldn’t let himself have that luxury. Not yet. Not until Alyssa admitted to herself and to him that she wanted this. He had to remain in control for a little while longer or risk scaring her away.
Dillon used every last bit of restraint he could summon to hold still. He dug his fingertips into the wall until he had plaster under his nails. She placed her hands on his chest to steady herself as she rose up, slowly closing the gap that had always kept them separated, even as they’d been inseparable.
This was the point of no return. The moment when things would change, for the better, or worse. No matter what happened after, things could never go back to the way they were before. This one kiss would be a defining moment.
Her thick lashes lowered as her breath whispered over his face…and his control slipped. Cupping the sides of her face, Dillon obliterated the last inch that lay between their past and their future.