Playing for Keeps (Neighbor from Hell #1)(33)

Jason hovered over her, panting for breath that had nothing to do with laughter. That kiss….. That innocent, sweet kiss hit him harder than every make out session he’d ever had in his life.

“Jason?” Haley’s broken whisper brought his attention back to her lips.

This was over. He was going to climb out of bed, apologize to her, walk her back to her house and put some distance between them. He was no good for her. He treated woman like shit and had no clue how to treat someone as special as Haley. She deserved a man who would make her his entire world. A man who would take care of her, hold her and love her. And he was not that man.

“Haley, I-“

His words broke off in a groan as Haley’s mouth covered his again. She brushed her lips against his enticingly. His entire body went rigid as he forced himself not to respond. He couldn’t do this to her. As much as it would hurt both of them he couldn’t give in to her. His body shook with the need to kiss her back and lower his body onto hers, but somehow he found the strength to fight it.

**************

He wasn’t kissing her back.

There, she had her answer. She just had to go and kiss him to find out. She couldn’t just ask him like a normal person. Now, she not only probably just wrecked everything between them, but she was also horribly embarrassed. Peachy. Just freakin’ peachy.

She felt the tears burn in her eyes. He was not going to see her cry. She absolutely refused to let him see how much this hurt her.

“Excuse me,” she mumbled softly, breaking away and pushing at his chest. He didn’t fight her this time. He moved off her. She was so close to breaking down. She jumped off the bed and headed for the bedroom door. She didn’t care about her clothes or anything else at the moment. She just needed to get out of there.

“Haley!” Jason called after her. “Let’s talk about this!”

The last thing she wanted to do was talk about this. She ran out his door and across the yard to her door. Barely able to see through the tears that were now flowing freely down her face as she searched for her hidden key beneath the front step and went into her house.

She locked the front door and ran to her room to lock her window and pull her curtains shut, knowing Jason would just come through the window for her and try to joke his way out of this. She didn’t want to joke about this. This hurt! Her heart was broken and she just lost the best friend she ever had over her own stupidity.

A sob broke free and then another until she was sobbing uncontrollably. She dropped onto the edge of her bed and buried her face in her hands as she let it out. She was too tired to fight it anymore.

Warm breath tickled her hands the same time strong fingers gently pulled her hands down. She averted her face so she wouldn’t have to face him kneeling in front of her. She just couldn’t.

“Will you look at me?” he asked softly.

She bit her lip and shook her head.

“I’m not……Haley, I’m just not good enough for you. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

Haley shrugged, wanting him to get to the point quickly and leave. At the moment she didn’t trust herself to open her mouth, afraid she’d just embarrassed herself more.

“You’re too good for me, my little grasshopper,” he said softly as he laid his forehead in the crook of her neck. “You could do so much better than me without even trying, Haley. So much better.”

His voice dropped as he continued and he sounded like he was in pain, but still she said nothing. “You’re kind, smart, funny, you have the biggest heart of anyone I’ve ever met and you’re sweet. God, are you sweet.” His hands slid up her sides and gently rubbed up and down.

His breath came quicker against her skin and Haley wanted nothing more than to wrap her arms around him and hold him one more time, but she couldn’t do it. She couldn’t stand for him to push her away again.

“Do you know how sweet you are, my little grasshopper?” his voice was hoarse as his hands moved lower to her h*ps and slid back up until his thumbs brushed beneath her br**sts and then down again. He pressed a kiss to her neck almost as if he couldn’t help himself. A pained groan escaped him when he did it.

“I should walk out of here and never come back and let you go on and meet some nice guy who will give you everything in life you deserve.” He pressed another kiss to her neck and she barely bit back a moan. His hands slid down her sides and this time when they moved back up they were beneath her shirt.

Large warm hands slid up her sides only to stop right beneath her br**sts. They hesitated there for a second before continuing their journey downward. He continued to kiss her neck almost desperately. The next time his hands moved up he ran his thumbs along the underside of her br**sts and groaned.

Haley’s head dropped back while her hands fisted in the comforter. She still hadn’t spoken, but for other reasons now. She was afraid if she spoke she would break through to him and he would realize what he was doing and leave her. Heaven help her, but he had her too desperate to chance it.

“I need to leave.” He pressed an open mouthed kiss to her neck and gently sucked while his hands moved further up only to teasingly brush over her hard ni**les. They moaned in unison. “It's the right thing to do……the um,….the um……” His hands made another swipe this time gently squeezing before moving back down.