“Bet you had one hell of an interesting childhood,” he mused.
“Yeah, it was anything but boring, that’s for sure. My mom homeschooled us, but occasionally we were in places where we could attend classes with other kids our age. My father is smart. I mean he’s a doctor too, but my mom is a genius. She’s positively brilliant. Even my dad admits that she’s way smarter than he is.”
“You must take after her,” he said.
Her cheeks warmed at the compliment but she shook her head. “My brother is the smart one. He has a photographic memory. He can recall even the smallest bit of trivia. He absorbs everything and retains it. I’m absentminded. A trait I inherited from my father, I’m afraid. I’m a bit of a klutz—okay, not just a bit. I’m a total klutz. I space out sometimes because I’m in my head and forget where I am or what I’m doing. And I tend to blurt out whatever’s on my mind, no matter how inappropriate it may be.”
He smiled. “Yeah, I’ve witnessed that part.”
“It gets worse,” she muttered. “I’ve actually been pretty good around you only because you leave me tongue-tied most of the time.”
His eyes flickered in surprise.
“That can’t come as a surprise to you,” she said dryly. “At least not now that you know how attracted I was to you.”
“I knew how I felt about you,” he pointed out. “Not necessarily that you reciprocated my preoccupation. For all I knew, I was just an opportunity for some hot monkey sex, as you put it.”
She laughed and then she leaned forward, leaving one hand in Steele’s grasp and propping her other elbow on the table so she could rest her chin in her upturned palm.
“So what are we doing here, exactly, Steele? I’m not good at coy little games. I suck at flirting or pretending to not want something I desperately want.”
“And what do you want?” he asked quietly.
She shook her head. “Oh no, I asked you first. I may blurt out shit but I’m not that much of a glutton for punishment.”
His chest rose and fell as he expelled a quick breath. “I don’t know, Maren. I haven’t figured it out yet. That’s probably not an answer that’ll win me any brownie points, but the fact is, you’ve knocked me completely off balance.”
“How long are you planning to stay?” she asked, silently holding her breath as she waited for his response.
He looked uncertain for the first time. Almost as if he were nervous, though she couldn’t fathom anything making this man nervous.
“I have a few days,” he hedged. “But if you need me out of your hair before then, just say the word and I’ll take off.”
“I don’t believe I said anything about wanting you to leave,” she said lightly. “But I don’t want to make an ass of myself and ask you to stay if you had no intention of spending more than a night with me. Not fond of humiliating myself in front of a guy I’ve been lusting over.”
His hand tightened over hers, his thumb pressed to her knuckles. “Ask me to stay, Maren. If that’s what you want, say it.”
“Stay,” she whispered. “For as long as you have the time off.”
He lifted her hand, turning it so his lips pressed the inside of her palm. “I’ll stay,” he murmured against her skin. “But only if I get to stay in your bed with you in it and I’m inside you. And tonight? Those glasses stay on while I f**k you.”
CHAPTER 12
AS Maren prepared for bed, she ruefully acknowledged how strange it was for her and Steele to be acting almost like they were a permanent couple. Cozy dinner. Nice conversation. And now he was in the shower and she was climbing into bed to wait for him. It was a given that they’d make love and even though they’d had sex twice now, she was still nervous as she propped herself up against pillows, keeping an eye on the bathroom door for him to make his appearance.
She fidgeted with the sheets and then glanced down at her pajamas. It was pointless to have worn anything, but it seemed a bit much to be naked when he got out. Which was ridiculous because he’d made it clear they were having sex. But she wasn’t quite brazen enough to act like a siren temptress. Though she had left her glasses on. It gave her a tiny—okay, maybe a huge—thrill that he had a thing about her wearing her glasses.
A moment later, the door opened and Steele walked out with just a towel wrapped around his hips. His hair was damp and moisture still clung to the light smattering of chest hair. He paused when he caught her staring at him, and for a minute they simply stared at one another.
God, but the man was gorgeous. Not in a pretty, polished way. Not at all. He was rugged. He bore scars. He wasn’t what she’d consider a truly handsome man with perfect features. His face was hard and when he wasn’t smiling he looked absolutely intimidating. But when he smiled and those ice blue eyes warmed? He had a devastating effect on her. She couldn’t imagine a woman alive who could resist that smile.
“You checking me out?” he asked in amusement.
She nodded, not at all abashed.
“Too bad I can’t return the favor. Can’t see much of you in those pajamas with the sheet pulled up around you.”
“I can fix that,” she said huskily.
Her inner temptress was coming out. Forgotten were any inhibitions about waiting naked for him. She grabbed on to the temptress and embraced her full-on. Between the two of them they were going to seduce this mouthwateringly gorgeous man.