Finding Our Forever (Silver Springs #1)(29)

That wasn’t the reason she’d stepped back; he could tell. “So... I screwed up somehow. You don’t want to see me anymore.”

She rubbed her forehead. “You didn’t screw up.”

“I must’ve done something, because I thought everything went...well. Better than well. Great.” He lowered his voice in case someone else happened upon them. “Maybe I came too soon that first time and disappointed you, and you have every right to be frustrated that I wouldn’t be more sensitive to your pleasure, but I hadn’t been with anyone in a long time. That isn’t how I usually behave. Trust me. I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

“I’m not like that, Eli. I wanted you to come—to do whatever you were compelled to do. That first time has nothing to do with it.”

“Then there’s something else...”

She said nothing, so he stepped closer.

“I’d really appreciate it if you’d take two seconds to explain, so I don’t have to keep wondering why everything was fine and then...”

After tucking her hair behind her ears, she lifted her chin to confront him. “Being with you did go well. Too well. Every night before I go to sleep, you’re all I can think about—the way you touched me, the way you kissed me. Even the way you smell.”

“So why are you stonewalling me?” he asked, stunned.

“I’m trying to do us both a favor, okay?”

He spread out his hands. “By rejecting me?”

“By adhering to our original agreement! You wanted to keep it strictly physical.”

“So did you!”

“Yes, but—”

“Physical means we touch each other.”

“Except I feel something! I know it’s crazy. We just met. But you were right in the beginning. I can’t do it,” she said and brushed past him.

*

Cora wished she could go home. Sitting next to Eli, talking and laughing with his brothers, certainly didn’t make her want him any less. She’d thought her admission in the hallway would scare him away, or at least make her feel so exposed that would douse the flames. But the way he watched her only made her crave his hands on her body more with each passing second. Sexual energy all but crackled through the air between them like electricity.

How could she become infatuated with someone so quickly? Especially when she’d only ever been lukewarm with her previous partners?

Her ex-boyfriend would’ve given anything to be able to make her feel even half as much...

Her response to Eli was a mystery—an ironic mystery. After being so cavalier with him that night when he brought Doug home, she was getting what she deserved, having to eat her words. And, to make it all worse, she couldn’t slip out of the bar to escape the tension between her and the man sitting next to her. Forcing Darci to leave when she was having so much fun would be too selfish. After what Darci had been through, this was the kind of thing she needed. A night that was carefree and fun. The chance to talk and laugh and forget the difficulties of the past year. Darci was enjoying every moment and didn’t seem to notice that Cora sat on pins and needles.

“Dance with me.”

Dallas had danced with her twice before, but this was Eli. He hadn’t danced with anyone yet, and because he’d asked in front of his brothers, she didn’t feel as if she could refuse him.

“Go dance!” Darci said before she could respond, and she got up and let him lead her onto the floor.

Rihanna’s “Stay” was playing as he looped his arms around her back. She tried to resist getting too close but gave up on that the moment his hands slid up her back. He was coaxing her to relax, which made it impossible to resist the temptation to melt into him.

“Why are you doing this?” she asked as they swayed to the music.

“Why am I doing what?”

His breath was warm against her ear. “Tempting fate.”

“Because it’s too late to back away now. We’re already in this.”

“It’s not too late.”

As he brought his head up, his lips brushed her neck. To the casual observer that move probably looked inadvertent, but she understood he’d done it on purpose—and felt a corresponding sizzle zip through her.

“You think we’re going to be able to fight what we feel for a whole year?” he murmured.

What else could they do? He was Aiyana’s son! The only reason she’d let herself go as far as she did was because she’d assumed she’d be able to remain somewhat objective. Now that she’d spent some time with him, however, she had to acknowledge that it wasn’t going to be easy come, easy go.

“We can try.”

“As far as I’m concerned that’ll be a frustrating exercise in futility,” he said. “I’m already going crazy.”

She hated that she’d started something and was refusing to finish it. That didn’t seem quite fair. Maybe she needed to let this play out. She’d never gotten involved in a relationship that was more physical than anything else. That meant the attraction might be explosive at first, but would eventually burn itself out, didn’t it?

If so, she was worried about nothing.

“To be honest, so am I,” she admitted. “So...where can we go?”