Her lips twitched. Damn him. She didn’t want to cave on this. She wanted to remain firm and distant. But his impish green eyes and his hair falling across his brow were melting her, not to mention the warmth of his hands squeezing her shoulders.
She’d missed him over the past few weeks, more than she wanted to admit. Her body missed his touch. She missed looking at him and sleeping next to him. And despite her resolve to shove him back in the “client only” corner, they’d crossed the bridge into something else, and she wasn’t going to be able to shove him back into where he had been before.
Shit.
“I might have overreacted.”
“Just a little. And so did I. Admittedly, I was pissed off when I came back to the house and you were gone. I should have called you again. And again. Instead, I let the radio silence continue because I was hurt you up and left me.”
“You were?”
“Hell yeah. I liked having you in Florida with me. A warm body to share my bed at night, a sexy, independent woman who has her own career and doesn’t look to me to see to her every need? It’s every man’s dream.”
Her heart did flip-flops. “I hardly qualify as every man’s dream, Gavin. You said it yourself. I’m a pain in the ass.”
“Yeah, you are. But for some reason I like you, Lizzie. Despite your attempts to piss me off.”
He pushed her jacket off her shoulders. It was warm in the room now, and she was comfortable in her sleeveless top. He skimmed his hands down her arms, and he drew her against him.
“I missed holding you.”
“I’m sure you haven’t been lonely without me.”
He stopped and pulled her back. “There hasn’t been anyone since I was with you. Believe that. All I did after you left was play ball and brood a lot.”
She stared at him, unable to believe the bad boy of baseball would go almost a month without a woman. She wanted to believe him, but the men in her life had never been honest with her.
Gavin, however, had never lied to her. Why would he now?
“The brooding part I can definitely believe.”
He smiled and grazed his knuckles across her cheek, then leaned in and brushed his lips across hers. “Hey, I’ve been busy. It’s not like I go out and randomly pick up women.”
She craved more of his mouth on hers. “Neither do I.”
His lips lifted. “You don’t randomly pick up women?”
She laughed. “No. That’s not what I meant. I don’t randomly pick up men.”
“Not even Ty Anderson?”
She laid her palms on his bare chest, loving the feel of his skin. “He’s a new client and nothing more. Wanted to see a game tonight.”
“He seemed to want to see more of you.”
She lifted her gaze to his. “Jealous?”
His gaze narrowed. “Hell yes.”
When he kissed her this time, his lips were firm and possessive. He wrapped his arms around her and crushed her to him. His tongue slid inside her mouth and sucked on hers, demanding she surrender.
No problem there. She’d missed him so damn much. Being in his arms still felt like a dream to her. Being with Gavin felt forbidden, as if he was something she wasn’t supposed to have. And no matter how many sweet things he said to her about how he missed her and how it felt right between them, she knew what they had was always going to be temporary, for so many different reasons. So every moment they had together felt stolen, and she was going to enjoy every second.
He swept his arms down her back and cupped her ass, bringing her closer to his erection. She whimpered, needing him inside her right now, feeling a burst of primal hunger and a desperate need to be satisfied.
He backed her up against the wall next to the windows and tore her top from the waistband of her skirt. She kicked off her shoes and held up her arms while he lifted her blouse over her head.
Lightning flashed outside. She felt the electricity inside, too, when Gavin swept his hands over the bare flesh of her belly, then around her back as he unzipped her skirt and pushed it to the floor. She brushed the skirt to the side and reached for his sweats, pushing them down his hips. He stepped out of them, and she couldn’t help but look down and admire the power of his body.
His eyes were heavy lidded with passion, which fed her own need. She thrust her fingers into his hair and pulled him toward her for a kiss that blazed as hot and furious as the growing storm outside. Thunder rolled outside and rain lashed the windows. Lightning lit up the living room like daylight and the power flickered.
Gavin pulled back only long enough to sweep his hand over her bra-clad breasts while she was illuminated by the lightning.
Elizabeth took a few moments to catch her breath, to watch Gavin’s face as the lightning bathed it in on-and-off shadow. She gasped when he released her bra clasp and held on to the cups to pull her to him, then bent and sucked a taut bud between his lips.