When I Need You (Need You #4)(62)

"Right. You wouldn't want to disappoint Calder. That's become his favorite show because he gets to spend time with you."



       
         
       
        

"I like hanging out with him. But this is one of those big signs you're misreading, so let me help you out by taking the damn blinders off."

She watched me warily.

"Admit we're more than friends, Rowan."

"We're more than friends, Jensen."

"Tell me you missed me, sweetheart."

"I missed you, sweetheart."

She wouldn't be Rowan without some sarcasm. "Assure me that if we're in a team meeting situation, you won't be dismissive and act like you don't know me."

"If we're in a team meeting situation, I won't be dismissive and act like I don't know you. However, for your part after a team meeting, there will be no hugs, no kiss-kiss on the cheek, no whispering in my ear, no patting my ass, no staring at my ass and no ‘Hey, babe, you left your shirt on my couch' type of comments."

"Fine. After a team meeting no hugs, no kiss-kiss on the cheek, no whispering in your ear, no patting your ass, but I'll stare at your ass if I want to-ain't nothin' gonna change that-and no ‘Hey, babe, you left your shirt on my couch' type of comments." I smiled. "See? We can compromise and work this out."

She drilled me in the chest with her index finger. "Also, when I'm trying to be serious you have to stop looking at me like you're imagining me naked in your bed."

"Not happening. And give me some credit, woman, I don't only think of you naked in my bed. Sometimes I imagine you naked against the wall. Or naked in my shower. But my favorite is you naked on my kitchen table, all spread out in a lickable, fuckable feast."

"Jensen Lund. You can't tell me stuff like that."

I lifted a brow. "You'd rather I acted on it?"

"Yes. I mean no. I mean yes." She closed her eyes. "I suck at this."

"Then I have one question for you. Do you want this?" Do you want me?

"Yes. But I need to ask you to do something for me."

Yes, as soon as we're alone I'll pull down your shorts, spread your thighs wide open and drop to my knees so I can feast on you until you scream my name.

Somehow I forced that sexy image from my head and managed to say, "Hit me with it."

"Give me a reason not to second-guess myself-and this-again."

My heart beat as if I'd just sprinted a mile when I reached for her, curling my left hand below her jaw.

Those hazel-green eyes blinked at me with uncertainty.

I slanted my mouth over hers and kissed her.

Keeping my lips soft and the kiss gentle . . . not what I wanted. Rowan didn't need sweet; she needed heat and passion. She needed to see me as the man with a voracious sexual appetite who had been denying his hunger for her for far too long. 

I traced the seam of her lips with the tip of my tongue and she opened her mouth on a soft gasp. Then I used both hands to hold her in place as I kissed the hell out of her. I dove into her mouth, again and again, changing the angle of her head so I could kiss her deeper. Harder. Longer.

She fisted her hands into my shirt and pulled me closer.

My head buzzed like I'd downed a dozen shots of tequila. My dick was hard as a goalpost. I couldn't remember the last time I'd gotten an erection from just a kiss.

In public. In broad daylight.

Not smart.

I slowed the kiss. Then I nibbled on her swollen lips, kissing each corner of her mouth. But even though our lips were no longer touching, I couldn't let go of her. My thumb stroked the edge of her jaw. My fingers were tangled in her hair.

When I opened my eyes, she was already looking at me.

She whispered, "Holy fuck."

I didn't release her. I didn't smile or make a smart-ass comment. I just let my eyes drink in every nuance of her face as I tried to level my breathing and unscramble my brain.

Rowan maintained the iron grip on my shirt as she studied me in the same way.

"Jensen-"

I pressed my thumb over her lips. "I talk first. You listen."

She parted her lips as if she intended to argue, but she remained silent.

"Now that I've had a taste of you?" I dragged my thumb along the inside rim of her bottom lip. "I want more. I want it all."

She nipped at my thumb and I moved it, allowing my hands to slide free from her hair to rest at the base of her neck.

Her eyes turned serious. "This is uncharted territory for me."

"It is for me too." I kissed her lips and her forehead before I dropped my hands.

"I didn't want this to happen."