Driven(book one)(97)

“You,” I whisper.

“Me?” he mouths.

“You confuse me at every turn, Colton.” I shake my head softly and despite telling myself that touching him will only make walking away that much harder, I lift my finger and trace the hem of the neckline on his damp shirt. “One minute you tell me you can’t stay away and the next you tell me you have to keep me at arm’s length because you’re going to hurt me. On Saturday you told me whatever is between us will never work unless I agree to your terms and then today you kiss me breathless.” I step back from him, looking over at the boys getting a tour of some of the items in the garage to avoid having to meet Colton’s gaze. “I can’t give you what you want and you can’t give me what I need. That’s all I know. All I understand, Colton.”

He steps toward me again and tugs on my ponytail, forcing my head to lift and my eyes to meet his. And despite the chaos around us—the boys laughter echoing off the concrete walls, the clang of metal on metal as the car is worked on by mechanics, the sound of an air compressor in the distance—when his eyes hold mine, it all disappears. It’s just him and me. A guy way too irresistible for his own good and a girl in way over her head and heart.

“As much as I keep telling myself that this needs to be—should be—over, Rylee, for both our sakes … I still want you.” He cups the side of my face with his free hand and traces the pad of his thumb over my bottom lip. “Desperately,” he whispers. His words resonate into my heart. “I think about how soft your skin is. The feeling of your body against me. Of it under mine. How you tighten around me when I’m buried in you …” His words mixed with the intensity in his eyes leave me breathless. Has my body vibrating with a deep-seated need for him that I’m not sure will ever be sated. “Christ, Rylee, it … you … are consuming me.” He leans in and brushes a soft, momentary kiss on my lips. The innocence and vulnerability behind it beguiles me. “And I intend to have you again.”

I breathe in a sharp, audible intake of air that gives away what he does to me. I step back from him, holding his gaze for a second longer before looking around the garage to check on the boys. I notice we’ve had some more people join us while we were talking. The perplexed look that passes between Beckett and Quinlan in what I assume is response to our interaction does not go unnoticed by me. I see Davis rounding the boys up, and I know our time here is ending.

“I’m sure you’ll feel that way until you find someone else who fits your requirements,” I quip, fearing my words speak the truth. I turn back to Colton, still trying to recover from the impact of his confession and yet needing to show him that I have some semblance of resistance when it comes to him. A complete lie, but I have to try any way. “Why waste your time on me when you can have any other girl willing to give you exactly what you want?”

“But. I. Want. You. Rylee. No. One. Else,” he smirks, “and I told you, my mom taught me when I want something, I need to go after it until I get it.”

The man is relentless, but I still think he’s after the challenge when it comes to me. I shake my head at him. “You have a habit of telling me what you want, Ace, without asking me what I want.”

Colton takes the baseball hat in his hands and tugs it down over my head, a Cheshire cat grin spreading across his face and a sinful gleam in his eyes. “Oh, sweetheart,” he emits a low rumbling chuckle as he takes two steps back from me, “I know exactly what you want.” He holds his hand up to motion to Beckett that he’s coming when his name is called. His grin widens into one of the wickedest and most carnal smiles I have ever seen. My core coils and I tense to stifle the desire it creates. “And I have just the right tools to give it to you.” And with those parting words, he turns on his heel and walks over to Beckett, his laughter reverberating in the garage. Beckett eyes him up and down, a bemused look on his face as Colton says good-bye to the boys.

When Colton finishes, he turns back toward me and smirks, “All consuming experience!”

He laughs at the confused expression that crosses my face. “What?”

“What it stands for,” he grins and I finally get it. He’s still guessing what Ace means.

“Nope,” I say back to him, fighting the smile that tugs at the corners of my mouth.

He takes a step backwards, biting his bottom lip in concentration. I can see the minute he thinks of another one for his eyes light up, the corners around them crinkling. “The amazing Colton experience,” he shouts over to me, garnering an eye roll from Beckett.

“Oh geez!” I laugh at his lack of humility and copy Beckett with an eye roll of my own. “Nope,” I yell back at him with a suppressed laugh, my standard response to his guesses.

Colton takes another step backwards, his face alit with humor, and shakes his head at me. “Later Ryles.”

“Later, Ace,” I mutter, begrudgingly accepting the fact that in so many ways Colton is right. That no matter how intelligent I am or how rational I try to be, his pull on me is just too strong. And like a moth to the flame, I know I’ll end up burned.

I tug his hat down on my head, adjusting my now-wrecked ponytail, and watch as he throws a playful arm around Beckett’s shoulder as they walk down the pathway. I shake my head, overwhelmed by the day’s events, and head over to collect my excited but very tired boys for the long ride home.