Lost and Found (Masters & Mercenaries: The Forgotten #2)(24)

She was single.

God, was he single?

She stepped back.

“What’s wrong?” Owen asked.

“Do you have a girlfriend?”

His lips curled up in the sweetest grin, as though he knew exactly why she was asking that question. “No, love. I don’t have a girlfriend and I don’t have a wife.”

He was single. She was single.

The moment lengthened between them.

He stepped back. “I’m sorry. I’m coming on way too strong.”

He wasn’t. He’d been gentlemanly, friendly. Up until the last couple of moments, he hadn’t put a hand on her or leered. She could feel his attraction. It was there in the warm way he looked at her, in the set of his shoulders, relaxed earlier and tense now that he’d touched her. He was thinking about the same thing she was.

“I’m very nervous, Owen. My logical mind knows that it’s far more likely for me to die getting hit by lightning than in an elevator, even one that’s stuck.” Unfortunately, her logical mind was slowly losing control of her dumbass lizard brain.

“Will talking help?” Owen asked. “Because I’m willing to do that. Or whatever you need to take your mind off things.”

There was a wealth of promise in those words. Dirty and sweet at the same time. They’d shared her wine, passing it back and forth between them, her lips touching the same place his had been moments before. When she’d drank after him, she’d thought about kissing him.

It had been too long. Two years was way too long to go without sex.

They had a half an hour or so. At least that’s what Colin—who might be murdered soon by Owen Shaw—said. She even thought his name was sexy.

What exactly would it hurt if she did kiss him? If she touched him and let him touch her? Hell, what would it hurt if she fucked him? They were both single, both a little needy. They had some time to kill. They’d done everything else.

“I would like to kiss you.” If he didn’t want her to, he could say no and they could find something else to do. She wasn’t going to be embarrassed because some guy didn’t want her. Some stunningly gorgeous guy. Some funny, sexy guy. After all, she wouldn’t see him after this. She’d never seen him before. He’d told her he was moving in, but she went into work early and came home late. He was a bodyguard, so he likely worked odd hours and traveled a lot.

He was safe. She could open that door, enjoy herself, and then close it again. Owen Shaw could be her first good memory in a long time, the start of many because it was time to get serious about finding some joy and balance in her life.

But only if he wanted some joy, too.

He moved, placing his back against the elevator wall, the sweetest smile lighting up his face. “You have no idea how much I want you to kiss me. I’m right here, love. Do your worst.”

He was letting her make the first move. And probably the second. And the third. He was obviously a careful man. It would be easier if he took over, but he was right. This needed to be her choice, and she had to make the move.

She’d been the girl who’d told her parents at the age of five that kindergarten was boring and she wanted to move through the grades until she found something challenging. When they’d told her they wanted her to slow down and enjoy her childhood, she’d gone on strike until the teachers at her school begged her parents to let them move her up.

She was the girl who’d put it all on hold to take care of her mother, too.

Now she was the woman who took what she wanted, and she wanted Owen Shaw.

“It’s been a long time since I did this.” But her body was already heating up. Her body remembered. Her marriage might have sucked, but the sex had been fairly good. It had been the reason she’d married him. She’d gotten used to regular, good sex.

She’d get used to it again, just on her terms this time.

“Somehow, I think you’ll remember,” he said. “You play all you like. Stop when you want to.”

She’d been right about him. He was a careful man. “And if I don’t want to stop?”

“Then you should be happy I’m a man who believes in being prepared,” he said, his voice huskier since she’d gotten closer. “The minute you know what you want, you let me know and I’ll make it happen. I promise you won’t be sorry and you won’t be thinking about anything but how good I can make you feel.”

He was making her feel alive, and it had been so long since she’d felt like anything but a brain.

Though she knew her brain was a part of this. Her limbic system had been triggered, had been slowly churning for a while now.

She touched him, finally getting her hands on him, and she could feel her respiration rate tick up. The decision made, she gave up on feeling self-conscious. Maybe it wouldn’t be as good as she thought it could be. Maybe she was only nervous and killing time in a situation that made her want to pull her own hair out. It didn’t matter. He was an indulgence and she’d earned it.

She went up on her toes and brushed her lips against his. Soft and warm and somehow still masculine. His scent washed over her, piney and clean. She could see him in the shower, soaping up his muscular body and oh, yes, it was very muscular. Her hands found his waist and ran up his torso. He was solid and fit.

He stayed still, seemingly willing to let her explore. He kissed her gently, as though he was afraid to scare her off. He obviously did not understand how much it would take to scare her off. Her body, so long denied, was pretty damn determined to have its way at this point.