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Her hand trembles in mine. “Took you long enough.”
“What do we do now? I don’t—I don’t know what happens from here.”
Her mouth tilts in a sensual curve, and she closes the distance between us, the warmth of her body chasing away the chill of the ice beneath us.
“Well, considering how long I’ve been waiting…I think now? Now, you take me back to your place.”
“Jack isn’t home,” I rasp. “Physical therapy.”
Her smile is almost predatory now. “Oh, I know.”
It’s crazy, it’s ill-advised, and I have no idea what I would even begin to tell Jack, what he would say, but still…all I can think about right now is what her mouth tastes like.
And I fully intend to find out.
Thirteen
DELILAH
I have wanted to kiss Ian Chase for a long time. I’ve had a long time to think about how it might go. Like, a long time. An inordinately long amount of time.
Which means that standing in an enclosed space with him on the ride up the elevator to his and Jack’s apartment is both torture and an utter thrill. Questions ping around my skull like a pinball game seeking a high score, wondering if I should have kissed him on the ice, wondering if I should kiss him now, wondering how much convincing it would take to get him to throw me over his shoulder and carry me into the apartment caveman style before having his way with me.
Like I said, a very long time.
He seems as nervous as I am, at least, sneaking glances at me just like I am at him every other second, the ding of the changing floors only making the charged energy between us more palpable the closer we get to his. I keep waiting for him to say something, but we’ve both been quiet on the way over, neither of us in a hurry to break the electric silence that hums between us.
So it’s a bit of a surprise when his hand curls around mine again just as the doors open to his floor—a good surprise, a fucking fantastic surprise even—tugging me out into the hall and practically pulling me down it as he stomps toward his apartment. He doesn’t let go as he fishes his keys from his pocket, as he uses them to let us inside, still holding tight when he closes the door behind us and locking it.
And then he does absolutely nothing.
He just continues to hold my hand, staring at it with his lip between his teeth.
Fuck, he isn’t changing his mind, is he?
“Ian?”
He peeks up at me, brow knit together. “Is this a bad idea?”
“What?” I try not to let the way that question punches me in the gut show. “What do you mean?”
“It’s just…we’ve been friends for so long, Lila. I know we drifted apart there for a while, but you and Jack and Bea were always home to me growing up. I would never want to risk messing that up somehow.”
“Oh.” I avert my eyes to the floor, hoping he can’t see how crushed I am. “I understand. If you don’t want this anymore, I totally get it.”
“No.”
The force of his tone takes me by surprise, and by the time I pull my head up to meet his eyes again, his free hand has darted out to let his fingers cup my chin. His expression is serious, his gray eyes boring into mine with an intensity I’ve never seen from him. At least not directed at me.
“No?”
“Let me be clear,” he says firmly. “I have been thinking about this for a lot longer than I probably should have. Fuck, since the moment you waltzed back into my life. Do you know how shocked I was that day in the studio? That the girl I cared for so much growing up turned into this gorgeous woman I suddenly couldn’t stop thinking about? Because I haven’t, Lila. I don’t know what it means, and I don’t know if it’s a good idea, but I haven’t stopped thinking about you for weeks now. And I can’t think of a single fucking thing I want more than to know what your mouth tastes like.”
The air got trapped in my lungs somewhere around: gorgeous woman—and even when it’s clear that he’s done speaking, it takes me several seconds to remember to let it out. I exhale shakily, feeling my pulse pounding in my ears as the warmth of his fingers leaves a wake of fire along my skin.
“Do you think this is a bad idea, Ian?”
His eyes roam over my face, settling on my mouth. “Probably,” he says quietly. “You should probably say no.”
