When her feet touched the step, she looked at him, her cheeks pink with embarrassment.
His fingers caressed her cheek and her lips parted. He’d never wanted to kiss someone as badly as he wanted to kiss Grace in this moment. Slowly he dipped his head. Her eyes never left his.
She was soft and warm and he immediately wanted more, but knew he had to take things slow. He’d seen enough women who’d been hurt to know that someone had destroyed Grace’s trust in men. And when he learned the guy’s name, he was going to hunt the bastard down and make him pay.
Right now, all he wanted to do was make her feel safe with him. If that meant reining in his lust, then so be it.
Sloan moved his lips over hers in a slow sweet dance. When she didn’t pull away, he deepened the kiss. Ever so slowly, he let his tongue tease until she was digging her fingers into his arms and pulling him closer.
Her fingers slid up his shoulders and wound in his hair.
She tasted sexy and sweet and he thought he would die from the pleasure of kissing her. His heart thudded in his chest with each stroke of her tongue, as his blood heated a thousand degrees.
His hands slid down to her tight ass and he pulled her closer. She arched against him, pressing her amazing body into his. His fingers threaded through her silky hair as the kiss turned urgent.
Her breathing increased. She loosened her grip and pushed against him. When he pulled away, her eyes took on the look of an animal cornered.
“What’s wrong, Grace” He cupped her cheek. She flinched.
She placed her hands on his chest and took a step back, sucking in deep breaths. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to do that.”
“Didn’t mean to do what? Kiss me? Or flinch?”
She looked away and pressed her hand over her heart. “Both.”
“Grace . . .” He took a step forward.
She held out her hand and backed away, stopping him from coming closer. “I think I gave you the wrong impression.”
“The only impression I got was that you liked me kissing you. Was I wrong?”
She blushed. She liked it as much as he did.
“Okay, so what’s the problem?”
She shook her head and looked away. “I didn’t come here looking for a relationship.”
“Neither did I.”
“You don’t understand. I am not in a place in my life right now to be in a relationship.”
“Kissing doesn’t a relationship make.”
She narrowed her eyes. “I’m not that girl either. I don’t jump into bed with every guy I meet.”
“I didn’t say you were. I just . . .” He ran his hand through his hair, frustrated that he couldn’t find the right words.
“I’m sorry. It’s late and I’m tired.” She climbed the steps and turned. “I really do appreciate everything you did today. Thank you.”
He opened his mouth to speak, but she hurried into the house and slammed the door. Guess that was his cue to leave.
Running his hand across the back of his neck, he cursed as he walked back to the truck. What the hell was wrong with him? He’d known from the start that Grace wasn’t interested in getting too close to people. She was a woman who’d been hurt and needed time to heal. A relationship was the last thing he wanted to jump into. He was busy enough with work. That was the reason Felicia said she’d cheated on him, because he was never there for her.
“Fuck it.” He cranked the truck and slammed it into reverse. Backing out of the driveway, he kept his eyes on the upstairs window of the house. Her silhouette appeared, outlining her curves as she reached over her head and pulled off her shirt.
Sloan slammed on the brakes. He couldn’t tear his eyes away from the view as she bent, shoving her jeans down her long legs. His cocked twitched.
His hand eased between his legs and then he froze.
What the fuck was he doing?
Grace had such a hold on him, he was willing to masturbate while watching her undress and break the law in the process. He wouldn’t have hesitated to arrest someone for being a peeping tom.
He slammed his foot on the gas and peeled out away from the house.
Chapter Five
Grace stifled her yawn with the back of her hand as she drove to the bank. Her lack of sleep over the weekend was showing and she blamed it all on Sloan Jackson. When she slept, she dreamed of Sloan. When she was awake, Sloan was on her mind.
She’d liked kissing Michael until he’d turned in a monster. She’d been too quick to fall in love and she couldn’t afford to repeat her mistake.
She grimaced every time she thought about Sloan. She’d messed up big time. She let herself fall into that scorching kiss, and it threatened to burn her alive.
It probably didn’t help matters that she’d wrapped her legs around his waist when that damn snake charged her. She nodded. It was that snake’s fault that kiss had even happened in the first place.
She pulled her car into the first available parking space at First National of Cloverton.