Do You Take This Man (30)

I felt around on the floor and found her phone almost immediately where it rested halfway under the seat. I let out a slow sigh while paused at the red light with my blinker flashing, ready to make an illegal U-turn to drive back across town and pretend I didn’t want to devour this woman.

I tapped the button to buzz her unit when I arrived, lamenting for the first time in my life the loss of the landline phone.

“Hello?”

“RJ, it’s Lear. You left your phone in my car.” I could hardly hear her with the rain falling in sheets behind me. With all my skills in preparation and planning, I hadn’t thought to grab another umbrella from the back of my SUV, and I’d ended up waterlogged from the quick jog to her door.

“Dammit,” she muttered. “I just got out of the shower. Can I buzz you up? I’m in 3F.”

I shook some of the water off my shirt as I walked down her hall. The building was completely quiet—it was nearing midnight—and it looked expensive. Classy and maybe a little pretentious in the way I always thought of RJ. I knocked on her door, brushing the dripping water off my face.

“Hey,” she said, eyes widening at my appearance. “Oh, God. Did you get soaked running in here?”

I shrugged and pulled her phone from my pocket, trying desperately not to let my eyes roam over her body wrapped in a thin white robe. I was sure that was the last thing she wanted. “No big deal.”

Our fingers grazed when she took it. “Come in. I’ll get you a towel. It’s the least I can do.” RJ hustled to a closet in the hall and returned, holding a fluffy red towel to her chest. I should have been taking in her legs or the gap in her robe that showed a sliver of skin leading down from her neck, but my attention was drawn to her bare feet. It was so casual, so comfortable to see her like this in her home.

“Here,” she said, handing it over. “Thanks for bringing my phone back. I felt so gross once I got inside, I just went straight to the shower.”

I rubbed the towel over my head and down my arms, feeling her eyes on me. “Thanks,” I said, handing it back.

She smiled, the unguarded smile I’d only seen once or twice. “I told you I can be nice.”

“Yeah.” I didn’t mean to stare at her body. The entire elevator ride up, I’d reminded myself to drop the phone, turn around, and leave, but I found myself gazing at her legs and then following the lines of her robe.

She coughed, drawing my attention up.

“God. Sorry.” My face heated, and I glanced away. “I didn’t mean to be a jackass.”

“You’re always a jackass,” she said, taking a half step forward and tossing the towel aside.

I felt the grin tip my lips up. “What was that about being nice?”

RJ crossed her arms over her chest, which really just made her breasts more pronounced. “You were imagining me naked.”

“You are practically naked.”

Her eyes were narrowed, but then her face broke into the most unexpected laugh. She’d looked like a powerhouse with her arms crossed. Even in the robe, she was formidable. And then she laughed, and she still looked like a powerhouse, but in the most captivating way. I was mesmerized. “So, my dream . . .”

“I know.” I raised my palms. “You said to drop it. I will. I have.”

“Well . . .” She stepped forward and sank her teeth into her lower lip. “What if you didn’t drop it yet.”

I glanced around her entryway, my gaze once again snagging at the dip of her robe. “What?”

“It was a stressful night after a long day. I could use some stress relief. Couldn’t you? We’re clearly attracted to each other.” Her expression told me my dumbfounded response was unwarranted, and she pressed on. “So, prove it.”

Did I hit my head or something? She paused and I nodded. “Attracted to” was probably not a strong enough phrase, but I wanted more. “Prove what?”

“Your . . . skills.”

My brain short-circuited, but I reminded myself to attempt cool. I folded my arms over my chest and leaned against a nearby column. “Which skills do you want me to prove?”

Her expression shifted from badass energy to annoyance. That was a look I was used to seeing from her. “You want me to spell it out?”

“Yes, I’m going to need you to spell it out.”

“I can’t with you.” She growled and paced her small living room, which was as cute as it was sexy. “I’m inviting you to stick around and we can . . . you know.”

“I don’t know. You still haven’t said.”

If my dick hadn’t been straining in my pants at the idea of peeling the robe off her shoulders, I might have continued trying to get a rise out of her.

RJ stopped pacing and turned as I neared. Her gaze dropped to my belt. “Looks like you know.” RJ met my stare again with a cocked eyebrow.

Challenge. That’s what this was. That’s why this was new and exciting. She challenged me and she liked it when I challenged her back. I reached her in two strides, resting my arms on either side of her head and caging her against the wall. Damn, she smells good. Her breath caught as I leaned forward, grazing my lips over her ear. “I know what skills I want to show you.” I edged closer, the puffs of her breath on my neck sending electricity through my body. “Because I think you’ll kiss like you want to win, and I haven’t been able to get that out of my head. But what do you want? Because I don’t know what we’re doing here.” I dragged a finger gently down the other side of her neck as my lips lingered. The almost-kiss at that wedding had been fast and stolen. This moment felt like it stretched.