Dare to Resist (Wedding Dare, #0.5)(13)

She gave him a small smile and stepped around him, opening a clear path between him and his reflection.

Colton looked himself in the eye. Could you give a relationship a meaningful try for her? he asked his mirror image.

His gut gave a squeeze of alarm at the thought, not because of the idea of being with her, but because nothing he’d seen growing up had taught him how to be a good half of a whole. And he wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he gave her anything less than the happy future she deserved.

And that wasn’t the only question worth considering.

Could you dial the roughness down for her?

Another squeeze. Not really. He’d had “regular” sex before, and it could get him off. But no way he could only have regular sex. Something in him required the release of aggression that rough sex gave him. And for him, it was so much more…exciting, satisfying, fulfilling.

He couldn’t change. Not this. And trying probably wouldn’t serve his cause, either—instead, it was likely to create the same kind of tension and conflict that had cracked the foundation of his parents’ marriage and slowly but surely rotted everything from the inside out.

If you couldn’t be your true self with the person you planned to spend your whole life with, you shouldn’t be with them in the first place.

Problem was, he cared about Kady Dresco—about what she needed and what she thought of him—too damn much to put their relationship at risk.

…

Kady busied herself with the ten new emails that had come in while she’d dealt with Bob and then Colton.

Colton. Who had almost kissed her.

Why the hell had he almost kissed her?

More importantly, why had she stopped him?

Kady’s fingers pounded harder against the keyboard than perhaps was strictly necessary.

She knew exactly what she’d just missed. Colton Brooks kissed in an all-consuming way that stole her breath, demanded her surrender, and blocked everything else out until the only thing she saw or heard or felt or knew was his lips, his tongue, his hands, his body. Him. After all this time, she could still remember the almost aggressive way he kissed, claiming her with his mouth, his harsh grip, the hard press of his chest and hips and thighs against hers. Just the memory of it made her heart flutter.

And she’d just turned him down.

No, he’d just withdrawn. Again. Though, she respected him for being honest, at least, even if that led him to a different decision than the one she wanted. Much better than him taking advantage of her interest and willingness and putting them back in that awkward place they’d had to navigate after their ill-fated encounter at the party.

Which was exactly why she’d turned him down—or at least, made it clear what proceeding meant to her. Because as much as she’d seriously consider selling a kidney for one night of no-strings-attached sex with him—just one—she knew she wouldn’t be able to weather the blow if he did anything that communicated that the fact he was with her wasn’t important. And she suspected her ego might never recover if he pulled away midstream like he had the last time. It had taken Kady a lot of phone calls with Julie, who was hands-down the best listener among all her sorority sisters, long talks with her roommate Christine, quite a few pints of Ben & Jerry’s, and therefore, lots of trips to the gym to make up for said emotional eating, to realize that what had happened between them that night had absolutely nothing to do with her.

But having worked so hard to achieve that insight, she wasn’t putting it at risk again unless Colton actually saw her, actually wanted her, and actually intended to follow through. If she could put a check mark next to all three of those boxes, she would sign up for that ride in a heartbeat—and get on and off as many times as she could. Heh.

After their conversation, she felt better about the first of those. In fact, she almost felt like something had shifted between them. Maybe finally, after all these years, he’d truly realized she was an adult, a woman. Their near miss of a kiss proved he desired her, at least on some level. But the third? Well, the fact that the kiss hadn’t happened said it all.

Why did he find her so easy to resist? As much as she appreciated the honesty, she’d be lying to herself if she didn’t admit to the ball of hurt feelings rolling around inside her chest.

Kady opened up a new email window and hammered out a thank-you message to Colonel Jepsen and his team. She smirked to herself as she typed the words “Thank you.” Colton was so not winning that bet. She’d superglue her lips together before she let that happen.

“What did that keyboard ever do to you?” Colton asked from across the room.

Kady flinched and looked up to find him leaning against the wall outside the bathroom door like he’d been watching her. Heat bloomed over her skin. How long had he been there? And why was he looking at her?

Maybe for the same reason he almost kissed you?

Ugh. Men are so freaking confusing. Especially that one.

“Uh, what are you talking about?” she said, gentling her keystrokes.

He grinned and shook his head. “Any chance you’re getting hungry?”

Kady smiled. “I’ve been hungry since our driver mentioned the milk shakes.”

“Wanna walk over and get some dinner?” Colton strolled toward the table.

“Yeah, sounds good.” She hit send on her message, closed her laptop, and fished her phone charger out of her computer case on the floor. “And I’m even going to be a rebel and leave my phone here while it charges.”