Playing for Keeps (Heartbreaker Bay #7)(69)

She shivered. A full body shiver of the very best kind.

“I’ve been fascinated by you since the beginning,” he murmured.

“Not true,” she said. “We ran into each other plenty over the past year and you never seemed fascinated.”

“You didn’t notice because you were too busy doing your best not to be fascinated by me as well.”

The sheer male ego in this statement made her laugh, but it backed up in her throat when his teeth grazed her earlobe. Then his hands slid beneath the material of her shirt and settled on her waist. “You’re deflecting,” she said.

“Yes, and I’m very good at it. The truth is, Sadie, you scared the hell out of me.”

She stared at him. “How is that even possible?”

“Whenever I get in close proximity to you, I feel something.”

She wriggled in his lap, her ass to his crotch, and felt something alright. “Yeah,” she said on a low laugh. “It’s called lust.”

“There’s some of that,” he agreed, “but it’s more. Before Lollipop, there was always something in your eyes that made me feel . . .” He drew in a deep breath. “Exposed. Vulnerable. And I don’t typically do vulnerable. That didn’t change once we got to know each other, by the way. But my curiosity and need for you overtook my fears.” He smiled, though his eyes were serious. “But if the question is really when did I start to fall for you, then it was the night we rescued Lollipop. When you stood in the freezing rain with me, your clothes molded to your body, your eyes flashing. I couldn’t see straight I was so turned on.” He smiled in memory. “And then you proceeded to argue with me. Over everything.” His laugh was low and rough. “I wanted to push you up against the wall and kiss you until you wanted me even half as bad as I wanted you, until you melted for me.”

“And then?” she heard herself whisper.

“And then you co-adopted Lollipop with me. And not because you were looking to get something from me, but because you wanted to do the right thing for the dog. That’s when I knew it was more than lust, and I had to walk away and plan my strategy.”

“Always the venture capitalist?” she murmured.

“Something like that.” His hands spread wide over her ribs, the tips of his fingers just brushing the undersides of her breasts. “You’re not an easy woman, Sadie.”

“I am a handful,” she agreed, her pulse kicking into gear. “But that’s why you have two hands.”

He ignored her attempt to lighten up this conversation. “You’re not easy,” he said again. “You’re something else entirely.” And while she simmered over that, he smiled and kissed her softly. “And I like it,” he said against her mouth. “I like you very much, Sadie Lane.”

She sighed and tightened her grip on him. “I like you very much too, Caleb Parker. I didn’t want to.”

“Do tell,” he said, voice amused.

She rolled her eyes and then got serious, staring up at him. “I mean, I really didn’t want to. But you sneaked in under my defenses when I wasn’t looking. And now I can’t seem to shake you.”

He smiled, gentle and warm. “I’m very grateful for that.”

Lollipop was zooming around them like a wild woman, darting here and there and back again, occasionally tripping on her three legs, but getting right back up again, still having zero idea that she was handicapped in any way.

Sadie had the urge to stand up and run around too. Run around and . . . hide. She was a master at hiding, she’d been doing it all her life, both physically and mentally. But actually, she didn’t want to hide from Caleb. She wanted to stay right here in his arms for as long as she could have him. Craning her neck, she stared up at the night sky. It was a tumultuous one, threatening rain, which she loved. When a few drops began to fall out of the sky, she stuck out her tongue to catch one.

Caleb watched, his voice husky when he spoke. “If we’d been out here a week ago, we’d have seen a rocket launch sending payloads into space.”

“Yours?” she asked.

“Yes. The technology, anyway.”

His world was so much bigger than hers. She’d known that. But it never failed to marvel her. “You used to travel for work all the time and be mostly gone,” she said. “Before Lollipop.”

“Not just Lollipop. There’s a lot of reasons why I’m using SF as my home base these days. My family. And friends.” He paused and met her gaze. “You.”

Her breath caught audibly, and a small smile curved his lips. “I knew the day I met you,” he said. “Which was just under a year ago now.”

“Knew what?” she whispered.

“That I was going to fall for you and never recover.”

Her chest tightened. “I don’t want to ever be the thing that holds someone back.”

“You don’t hold me back. You make life more.”

“More what?” she asked.

“More everything.”

“Because I sleep with you?” she asked.

He smiled. “Most definitely.”

She rolled her eyes and tipped her head up to watch the lazy drops fall out of the sky, but his fingers stroked her jaw and turned her back to him.