Bringing Home the Bad Boy (Second Chance #1)(33)

His comment stunned her.

“Glo and I didn’t fit in Chicago. Tested it out, didn’t work.”

She cringed. Tested it out? So they had slept together. She’d known it, on some intuitive female level, but to hear it…

“Ugh, I don’t want to know. Let me up, please.”

His arms tightened around hers, his body warming her to the point her face heated. And so did the leg trapped between two of his.

“Not gonna let you bolt when something’s happening between us.”

At this, she didn’t blink. She stared. Something was happening between them? Not only her but them?

“Good,” he said as if she’d spoken aloud. “Like when you pay attention. Keep paying attention. Gloria and I kissed. One drunken kiss that did nothing for either of us. She is one of the guys. Gorgeous as all hell, but make no mistake, she can match any dude whiskey shot for whiskey shot.” His eyes went to the side as he thought. “Except for Asher. He has a titanium liver.”

He was joking. She felt her mouth lift in a smile of relief. Some of the tension had ebbed from the minimal space between them, enough to allow room for her to inhale some oxygen. Then there was the iota of relief that all he’d done with Gloria was kiss her. Followed by the truckload of relief because he hadn’t liked it.

“Next subject.”

Oh, great. He wasn’t through yet. Her smile fell.

“Why do you bring up Rae whenever I’m close to you?”

“I don’t,” she was quick to say.

“You do.”

She did. It’s just that she didn’t want to tell him why she did it. Because it would involve her admitting she was bringing up Rae as a defense mechanism. A way to keep her new, confusing, and delicious sexual fantasies about him at bay.

Gosh, it was hard to think with him this close.

“Ace,” he prompted.

“Maybe you shouldn’t be close to me.” This came out in a whisper. He heard. There was no way he couldn’t have heard. He was right there.

“I disagree,” he whispered back. He smelled like suntan lotion. His hair was beachy and mussed, his body heat radiating around her. Unfair. The steadiness of his eyes made her gaze flutter around the room like a moth bouncing off a lightbulb.

Unbelievably, he leaned closer. She pulled back until she realized she likely had a double chin, then settled her head on her neck in a more reasonable position.

Gosh. He was making her crazy.

“Know why I moved here?” he asked, keeping his voice low.

She wrenched her eyes from his and focused on a spot over his shoulder.

“Because you didn’t want to live in Columbus anymore.” That’s what he’d told her. That he wanted a change. That he and Lyon had outgrown the house. And, she imagined it’d be hard to live in the house where Rae had passed.

“But why here?”

“Um…”

His fingers grazed her jaw and turned her head, his palm moving to her neck where he cupped her nape and forced her eyes to his.

Reluctantly, she met them.

“Rae’s more alive when you’re around, Ace.”

Her heart, oh her heart. Kicking against her chest in a confusing, hectic rhythm.

“You bring her to life for Lyon—more than anyone else. I need him to remember her because he can’t remember her alive.” His hold stayed, his palm warming her neck, his gaze unwavering.

She tried to separate the two feelings she was having—one, she was now talking about Rae with Evan, and two, he was touching her while talking about Rae.

Before she could, his lips closed over hers.

Her thoughts short-circuited.

This wasn’t anything like a soft peck hello. This was his lips moving over hers, slanting over hers, warm and firm and then his mouth opened and—

Oh my gosh!

His wet, warm tongue slid along the seam of her lips. She stopped being passive and started kissing him back. When she would have touched her tongue to his, he relocated it, running along her bottom lip instead and tugging with his teeth.

If she’d been standing, her knees would have given out and dropped her right on her butt.

The palm on her neck speared through her hair and clutched on to a handful of it. He held her captive, his hand fisting her hair as he angled his mouth again. In response to the whimper escaping her throat, he swept his tongue into her mouth. He tangled his tongue with hers once, twice, then released her.

When he pulled his mouth away, a long, satisfied sigh escaped her lips. Because that was a kiss. A kiss to rival all other kisses.

She opened her eyes to realize (a) she’d closed her eyes, (b) she’d at some point wrapped both hands around his forearms where she was holding tight, and (c) Evan looked as pleased as she felt.

“God damn, Ace. Your mouth.” His eyes flicked to her lips. Lips still tingling from the rough scrape of the stubble surrounding his.

She concurred with his sentiment. Not that she said anything. She’d gone dumb, completely mute.

He backed away but held on to her chin and tweaked it lightly with the rough pad of one thumb. “That’s the way this is gonna go from now on.”

Her breathing went shallow, her thoughts went muzzy, and her head blurred as her heart palpated to the point of panic attack.

“Sorry, Rae.”