Be with Me (Wait for You #2)(48)

When I slid out of the Jeep, I looked up into his eyes. A big smile stretched my lips as he reached between us, taking my hand in his. He closed the door and as I stepped forward, I stumbled way to the right.

He chuckled, tightening his hold on my hand. “Easy there. You keep it up and I’ll think I really swept you off your feet.”

I giggled, thinking that he’d most definitely been doing some sweeping. He led me to the sidewalk and my feet got tangled up a bit. I tripped and then laughed again.

Jase stopped, looking down at me. In the overhead lamps, and the way the shadows played across his face, I thought he looked like someone who stepped straight out of a dream. “Did you drink at the party?”

“Maybe?”

The relaxed half smile faded. “How much have you had to drink tonight?”

“Ah, three? Four? I don’t know.” I paused. “I don’t really drink. With dancing, you know? Can’t dance when I’m drunk. Well, I could, but it wouldn’t be that good.”

“Shit.” He hung his head and took a stuttered breath. “You’re drunk?”

“God. You do sound like a dad,” I yakked.

He shot me a blank look.

“All right, I wouldn’t say I was drunk.” I yawned as I turned toward the dorm and then glanced over my shoulder at him. He still held on to my hand, but our arms stretched out. “I wish I could teleport myself into my dorm.”

His brows rose. “Yeah, you’re a bit drunk.”

Was I? I couldn’t tell. The buzzy, happy feeling could be from the beer or the orgasm. “I’m going to go with orgasm.”

“What?” He laughed deeply.

Tugging on his arm, I smiled when he started walking. “I feel good—-better than I’ve felt in months. And I’m going to say that it was the orgasm and not the beer that is making me feel this way.”

Another deep, alluring laugh rumbled from him. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“You should.” We were still horribly far away from the door, and Jase wasn’t moving quickly enough. Maybe he would stay. I didn’t think Debbie would be back for a long time. We’d have the place to ourselves. And we’d have a bed and—-

“I didn’t know you’d been drinking.”

Stopping at the somberness in his tone, I spun around and nearly lost my balance, which didn’t help my case. His hands landed on my hips, steadying me. “You regret it, don’t you?” My happy bubble was about to burst. “I’m not plastered. I know exactly what I was doing. I wanted to do it. Maybe it wasn’t my smartest idea—-”

“I f*cking disagree with that,” he commented, eyes glimmering for a moment. “It was brilliant, but . . .” His features softened as he placed his large hand against my cheek. “If I’d known you’d been drinking, I would’ve stopped you.”

Tilting my head to the side, I tried to figure out what that meant. “And if I wasn’t drinking?”

“I think you know the answer to that.”

I guess I sort of did. “But I’m not drunk. I wanted to do that to you. I wanted—-”

Jase groaned. “You have got to stop talking like that.”

“Like what?” My brows knitted.

“Telling me that you wanted to. Don’t get me wrong. I’m glad to hear that, but it makes me want to let you do it again. And for me to do it again. But I wouldn’t want to use just my tongue.” He pressed his forehead to mine, and I drew in a shaky breath at his closeness. “I’d start with that, but I’d want to use my hands and I wouldn’t stop there.”

His words scalded my cheeks, and maybe I was a bit more intoxicated than I realized, because a rush of boldness invaded me. “I wouldn’t stop you.”

He closed his eyes, and a deep sound came from the back of his throat. “God, Tess . . .”

I swallowed hard, and then tilted my head, lining up our mouths. “Jase?”

There was a moment of hesitation, and then he kissed me softly, a gentle sweep of his lips over mine. A barely there touch that somehow affected me more than any of the other kisses. “I know you’ve been drinking. I don’t want that hanging between us.”

“But—-”

“We’ll talk more later. Okay? Right now, let me just get your not--drunk--but--slightly--tipsy cute ass upstairs.”

“You think my ass is cute?”

He pulled away, laughing. “Baby, your ass is like my own personal holy ground.”

“Oh my God . . .”

A grin appeared. “Come on.”

“I can’t believe you just said my ass was—-ah!” I squealed as Jase slipped an arm around my waist and lifted me up, holding me to his chest. Stars cartwheeled for a few seconds. “What are you doing?”

He looked down at me, eyebrow arched. “Getting you to your room.”

“Carrying me is necessary?”

“Yep.” He strode across the pavilion. “Card?”

Wiggling around, I dug it out from my back pocket of my skirt. He hefted me up and managed to grab it without dropping me. I didn’t protest when he asked me to open the door and caught it with his foot. Resting my head against his chest, I closed my eyes. Seconds passed and the gentle bob of his steps swayed me back into that pleasant state. We needed to talk. About stuff. Serious stuff. And waiting until tomorrow was probably a bad idea, but I snuggled closer. Being in his arms, well . . .