I twisted my fingers in the sheets so that I wouldn’t reach up and pull him down on top of me.
“When you think of my hands on you, where are they?”
I tried to look away, but he caught my chin with his fingertips, turning it to face him once again. “Jada,” he said, more forcefully this time. “Where do I touch you?”
“Everywhere,” I whispered, my voice overflowing with need.
I ached for him to touch me, nearly desperate for physical contact. I tried to hold on to the part of my brain that remembered why that shouldn’t, couldn’t happen but I was losing control fast.
“Like here?” He trailed his fingertips lightly down the side of my face. I could feel the connection ripple throughout my entire being.
I nodded faintly as my breath hitched in my chest.
“Where else?” His fingers lazily trailed down my throat, across my chest. He paused at my breast, my nipple hardening at the contact.
My body was throbbing, screaming for a release. And the only thing that could release me was waiting for a response.
“I think about you touching me everywhere,” I whispered. Before I knew it, I was flipped to my back.
Cane placed one knee on either side of me, pinning both my hands firmly above my head with one of his. He leaned down, his face inches from mine.
“I want to touch every part of your body, Jada. I want to make every part of your body mine.”
All thoughts of fighting my attraction for him were long gone. I was putty in his hands.
I tipped my chin and his mouth crushed mine, owning it. I kissed him back with everything I had. He growled at my responsiveness, which only made me want him more.
His mouth moved more urgently. He nibbled my bottom lip and I couldn’t hold back the whimper that escaped against his mouth. As soon as I made the sound, Cane immediately broke the kiss. He pulled back, panting. My eyes searched his, wild and fierce, as I struggled to catch my breath.
“Cane,” I whispered raggedly, not sure why he stopped when I so desperately needed more.
He closed his eyes and rolled off the bed, pacing a circle in the room.
My head was spinning. I scrambled to sit up, my body feeling bereft without his touch. “Cane?” I asked again, my voice shaking.
He ran his hands through his hair, clearly agitated. He paced around a few more seconds before he stopped moving and turned to look at me.
My heart pounded, uncertainty and confusion warring inside my head.
“I’m not going to do this,” he said quietly, his voice rough.
I stopped breathing as I stared at him in shock. “What? You’re kidding me right now, right?”
“I can’t do this.” He threw his head back and chuckled. “I can’t even fucking believe this,” he said more to himself than anything.
“What’s wrong? Did I do something?”
His head jerked back up. “No, baby. You did nothing wrong at all.” The term of endearment wrapped around me, protecting me just a bit from the sting of being rejected.
“If we do this—if I push this, you will hate me.”
“You’re not pushing anything. I want this, Cane. I really want this.”
He took the few steps between us quickly and bent down to eye level. “I don’t think I’ve ever wanted anything as much as this,” he whispered, brushing a lock of hair out of my face. “But you aren’t that girl, Jada. And I can’t treat you like one. I’m probably going to have to give up my man card for this shit, but I won’t let you do this to yourself.”
“I’m a woman—we change our minds. I’m definitely that girl,” I reassured him.
He laughed softly. “But you’re really not. One day, maybe you will want this for real and I will give it to you like you’ve never had it before. But right now, ironically, I’m the one that has to go.”
He kissed me on the forehead as he stood up and walked out of my room.
I heard him call for Max and the door slam roughly as I sat there, not sure what in the hell had just happened.
JADA
The water was cool as I pushed through it, arm over arm, lap after lap, until exhaustion finally set in.
I swam to the steps and trudged out of the pool, my limbs deliciously heavy. I walked to the cabinets on the patio where Kari kept the beach towels, grabbing the first one my fingers touched. I tossed it back in the cabinet, exchanging the blue one for a red striped version.
Screw everything blue—blue towels, blue skies, and blue fucking eyes.
It was a pair of aqua orbs that I couldn’t outswim, outwork, outrun. Cane’s beautiful eyes as he knelt in front of me, full of sincerity, telling me I wasn’t that girl.
Bullshit.
I scrubbed my face with the red towel.