Trade It All(57)

What if being with her didn’t change that side of him?

Was she the one he was meant to be with?

Or did he just want to fuck her so badly that all sense had left him?

I should know how I feel before we go further.

I should be sure.

But she said yes.

He’d promised her next to nothing, and she’d still said yes. He fought the urge to roll down the window of the car and yell that she was finally his.

It was a primal desire that brought a small smile to his lips. He was a rational man. A careful man. That’s not how he felt when he was with Willa. They had a bond as old as time itself. His mind told him to take his time, not to be reckless.

His body screamed that she was his woman. His. It defied logical explanation, which was the source of the war within him.

He didn’t consider himself a selfish man, but even as he told himself taking Willa to Cape Cod was about putting his needs above hers—he couldn’t convince himself to drive her home.

Not when he could spend the night kissing her sweet lips, exploring that amazing body of hers. He wanted to be the reason she lost control—his name the one she cried out as she climaxed.

He could have her in bed with him in less than an hour. All he had to do was stop asking himself if she needed more time. She’d said she didn’t.

He thought back to what his sister had said about Dax being protective of her. He understood him better now. As much as Lance wanted to have Willa, he also wanted to protect her—from anything that would hurt her, even if that was himself.

When he didn’t immediately answer Willa, her eyes fell from his, and she moved fully back into her seat. He turned forward and belted himself back in. She did the same with a click. With his hands once again on the steering wheel, Lance pulled the car back out into traffic.

He headed in the direction of the highway. He knew he should say something, but he was waiting for his thoughts to settle. He glanced at her face and then his in the rearview mirror. He doubted there were two more miserable-looking, turned-on people in Boston.

It shouldn’t be like this. No matter where we take this, her happiness is what matters most.

He thought about how she’d looked as she’d told a funny story to his family. He sorted through his memories until he came across one he knew would make her laugh. “Asher used to wear Superman underwear. He thought it gave him special powers. Ian teased him mercilessly about it. I don’t know when Asher finally stopped wearing them, but he’s older in every retelling. If you ever want to see him squirm, ask him about them in front of my mother. She thinks it was adorable. I’m waiting for just the right time to tell that story to Emily. I was thinking when I give her a pack of super-hero diapers at the baby shower.”

A smile returned to Willa’s face. “He’ll kill you.”

Lance shrugged. “Emily would never let him. Besides, he’s getting old. I can outrun him.” He held out his hand to Willa. She placed hers in his without hesitation.

“Emily’s definitely a good match for him. I didn’t know what to do when she told me to block the door at the museum. I’m not like that. She knows how to get what she wants.”

Caressing the delicate bones in her wrist, Lance said, “Normally, I would say I do, too, but you’ve always been able to turn me inside out.” He took her hand and laid it across his bulging erection. “And turn me on.”

She gasped softly and bit her bottom lip, but her hand curled around him. “What are you saying?”

He ran a hand up her thigh and gripped it possessively. “I hope we make it to the Cape.”





Chapter Fourteen




The property manager who met them with the key to the beach house gave up trying to hold Willa and Lance’s attention and hung the key on a hook by the door. A man in a suit carried their luggage in and asked them if they needed anything else. Lance tipped him but declined his services.

As soon as the door closed, Lance locked it. The smile he gave Willa was deliciously decadent and perfectly represented how she felt. He loosened his tie and tossed it behind him. Then he made quick work of unbuttoning and removing his shirt. The wide smooth expanse of his muscular chest took her breath away. There was no missing the bulging evidence of how much he wanted her, or that they’d reached a place of no return. It was both exciting and a little overwhelming.

She thought he was going to move on to the belt of his trousers, but he wiggled an eyebrow suggestively at her. Mesmerized by him and unsure if he was asking her to strip for him or do something provocative, she stood frozen. A lifetime of inhibitions stood between her and the way she imagined she would be with him.