Tempting Her Best Friend(40)

“I want a relationship with you. A very real, very serious relationship,” he said honestly.

“But you don’t believe in relationships. And although sex with you was…well, a revelation…I’m not so naive as to think that with your history, sex with me moved you to change your lifelong stance.”

Dillon mentally counted to ten. Slowly. “You’re right,” he said. “Sex with you definitely didn’t make me want more with you, Aly.” Her face fell, and she cast her eyes down to the floor. Moving to her, he lifted her chin with a finger until she met his gaze. “Sex with you is so far beyond anything I’ve ever experienced with any other woman. Swear to God. But that has nothing to do with why I want more with you.”

“Then why?” she asked, her voice whisper-soft.

“Because.” Biting the bullet, he took a deep breath and exhaled from his heart. “Because I’ve been in love with you for years.” A slight gasp passed her lips, but he pressed on before he lost his nerve. “I couldn’t even tell you when it happened. All I know is I’ve wanted you for a long damn time, but I never told you because I was convinced I’d only end up hurting you.”

Alyssa swallowed hard and went back to hugging herself. He wanted it to be his arms holding her, but the last thing he wanted to do was push her. “So,” she began carefully, “when you suggested I use you to satisfy my physical urges…”

“Yeah, I know, it sounds bad considering it wasn’t exactly a selfless gesture. But all the reasons I told you are still true. They just weren’t the only—or main—reasons I wanted you to choose me over anyone else. And now I’m hoping that you see how good we are together. Not just as friends, but as lovers. And we are, Aly. You can’t deny that.”

“I’m not denying that the sex is great, but a relationship is more than just friendship and great sex. However,” she said carefully, “I’ll agree that I felt a certain connection that went beyond that today. So, you have me believing in that much at least.” She gave a little chuckle that sounded part nerves, part hysteria. “Next you’ll be proposing marriage and making me second-guess which planet I’m on.”

Fuck.

Dillon swore his heart stopped. He knew for certain his lungs had seized up on him. Something on his face must have given him away. All color drained from her face, her eyes blew wide, and her fingers flew to her mouth.

“Oh my God.”





Chapter Nine

“You can’t be serious, Dillon,” she said in apparent disbelief. “Have you gone completely insane?”

Pushing past him, she headed for the door in a panicked rush. Goddammit! This had all the signs of a train wreck.

“Alyssa, wait.” He followed her out the door and jogged the couple steps it took to catch up to her in the hall as she stalked toward the elevators. “Tell me what makes me so insane. That I want to spend the rest of my life with someone I love and who knows me better than anyone else? Hell, we already acted like a married couple with the exception of sex and where we slept at night, and we crossed both those bridges last night. How much different would it really be if we started staying on the same side of the town house?”

They rounded the corner just as two ladies dressed in masquerade attire boarded the elevator. Alyssa raised her arm up and called, “Hold the elevator, please!”

Her gait went from speed-walking to a light jog as though she wore cross-trainers instead of high heels. If she thought being in public would stop him, she was dead wrong. As they entered the elevator car, he put his back to the other ladies and braced one hand on the wall at Alyssa’s shoulder. “Tell me exactly what it is that makes this—us—such a bad idea.”

As they started their slow descent she said, “Eighty-five percent of marriages—”

Using the hand already on the wall, Dillon smacked it against the cold metal. “Fuck the statistics, Aly.” Not only did Alyssa jump, but he saw the women behind him startle in the blurry reflection. “You weave those things around you like a jaded suit of armor, and I think it’s total bullshit. I get that it’s your job to know that stuff, but you focus on it too much. You should focus a little more on my job and maybe you wouldn’t be so damn pessimistic.”

“You think I should focus on construction,” she said with obvious doubt.

“Yeah, I do. It shows you what results when you build something right. Whether it’s a cabin in the mountains or a high-rise in the city, there’re three things I need in order to make it the best it can be.” Holding his free hand between them, he ticked them off with his fingers. “A strong foundation to build on, solid framing to hold it together, and damn good teamwork.”