Unexpectedly Hers(61)

“She did. Thanks for leaving so the spotlight stayed on her and Trip.” Emma dug into her purse and pulled out one hundred dollars. “Unlike you, I made Trip pay up.”

She handed him fifty, but he shook his head.

“You keep it. You earned it.” His tone had flattened, playfulness gone. “I’ve been thinking.”

“Uh oh,” she murmured, half-joking, half-terrified.

“I can’t decide if the real truth is that you’re refusing to spend time with me because you think I’m a user, or because you don’t want to end up on camera.”

The fact he seemed so troubled by her rejection surprised her. At first she’d suspected his ego couldn’t take the hit, but now she wondered if there was more to his persistence. “I don’t think you’re some jerk, Wyatt. And I do not want any part of my personal life to become memorialized as part of some documentary.”

He stepped a little closer, and her body predictably responded with a shock wave of flutters. Flutters she had to admit she enjoyed. His smoky, hazel eyes fixed on hers as he lowered his voice. “What if we kept it a secret?”

Another secret. If he only knew how hard it was for her to keep the secrets she already hid from the world. Another one might do her in.

“Listen, you’re good-looking, and you seem like a nice enough guy. But if we get together and it feels like a mistake for either of us, it could be uncomfortable for the rest of your stay. And if we hit it off, it will hurt when you go. Either way, it’s a bad idea.”

But the lusty devil whispered that it would no doubt provide hot memories for months to come.

He stood there, silently debating. His eyes scanned her from head to toe before focusing on her face, as if looking for some kind of sign. She braced for another argument, but he shrugged. “Seems I can’t talk you out of your opinion. But before you go upstairs, there’s something weird happening with the radiator in my room. Can you come take a quick look?”

She frowned. “I swear, I wish I’d win the lottery so I could afford to fix up this old place and make her beautiful and functional again.”

“I kind of like her just as she is.” He’d looked straight at Emma when he spoke, lest she missed his double meaning. A meaning she didn’t want to examine too closely.

She strode into his room and went directly to the radiator. Nothing appeared to be hissing or bubbling or cracked. “I don’t see anything weird.”

As she spoke those words, she vaguely registered the sound of the door closing. She turned around in time to catch Wyatt slowly prowling toward her. “That’s because I lied. I wanted to get you in here, where no one is listening or watching or gossiping, so we could be honest with each other.”

“Wyatt . . .” She waited for a surge of anger to arise, but instead her stupid feet just froze in place, and her body buzzed with nervous excitement. She’d seen this version of him before—the guy who liked to take control. She liked this version of Wyatt, too, and doubted she’d be able to resist him.

“Emma.” He came right up to her and cupped her face “Stop thinking for a few minutes. Just let go and give me control.”

And just like that, she dropped her shoes to the floor and gave in to his kiss.

Wyatt had a great mouth, with full lips and a very skilled tongue. Within seconds she’d abandoned all sense of right and wrong and let herself melt against him, her arms looping over his shoulders. A fallen woman . . . but, at the moment, a very happy one.

He clasped her wrists and, backing her up to the wall, pinioned her arms above her head as he pressed himself against her while kissing her mouth, jaw, and along her neck and shoulder.

She submitted completely, because she rather loved the sensation of being overwhelmed by his powerful body. Almost as if the choice had been stolen from her, although it hadn’t. She knew she had a choice, but he’d effectively maneuvered her so quickly, it allowed her to pretend she didn’t.

“Emma.” His ragged voice brushed across her ear as his hand found the inside of her thigh. “I’ve been thinking about you since I left the party. Tell me you want this.”

Her body quivered from the electrifying twinges firing through her limbs and into her core. Some dirty, carnal part of her did want this. Wanted this very much. Even though she knew regret would follow.

He stroked his hand up along the inner side of her leg until his fingers found her underwear. He dipped one inside the elastic band. “Tell me it’s okay.”

She could feel his erection throbbing against her hip.

“Yes,” she breathed, barely able to get the word out.