She lifted her chin. “I didn’t ask you anything about her.”
“You didn’t have to. I know you were wondering. I told you before I’ll answer any question you have. Just ask me.” He hated that guarded look in her dark brown eyes. He knew the reason for it was that he’d hurt her, and she associated him with pain. He’d been miserable the past week and a half without any contact between them, but how did she feel? “I missed you.”
Her gaze lowered, her long lashes shielding her eyes and hiding whatever she didn’t want him to see.
She moistened her lips with her tongue and his groin tightened at the slow movement.
“Shawna,” he groaned, stepping closer.
She moved backward as he heard the outer door swing open. Someone else was about to enter, and he still hadn’t gotten the answer to the question uppermost in his mind: did she want to be with him or not?
Quickly, he looped his arm around her waist and pulled her behind the louvered door of the first bathroom stall. The narrow space didn’t afford much room to maneuver.
The laughter and conversation of two females filled the bathroom. He didn’t let Shawna go, holding her close. The heat of her body seeped through the jacket and shirt and warmed his skin underneath. His breathing quickened as she pressed her palms against his chest.
“What are you doing?” she whispered.
“Holding you,” he replied.
They listened as both women used the facilities. Ryan kept his eyes trained on her, but she avoided his gaze, looking at everything except him as an erection slowly hardened in his pants.
Minutes later, two toilets flushed and then he could hear the voices of the women again. Unable to withstand it any longer, he lowered his head to Shawna’s temptingly bare neck and took a slow drag. The scent of some floral bouquet swirled up his nostrils and almost made him groan. With his free hand he caressed the bare skin of one shoulder and trailed it up to the back of her neck. He thumbed the silky strands at the edge of her hairline.
Shawna inhaled sharply and the sound urged him to kiss the corner of her mouth.
She shivered in his arms. “Ryan, stop.” The voices faded as the women left them alone. “What do you want?”
“You know what I want.” He reached one hand up to cup her face, but she knocked it down and pushed him away.
“Don’t touch me. I don’t even want to see you.”
He gave her a measured look. “Who’s the liar now, Shawna?”
“You’re pretty confident. How do you know—” His fingertip brushed her lips, and she broke off her tirade with a gasp.
“That’s how I know,” Ryan said.
Shawna blinked rapidly and swallowed. “I hate the way you make me feel. Hate it.”
“You think I like this?” Ryan asked. “You think I like being obsessed with you? I hate it, too. I hate this power you have over me. The only thing I hate more is being without you.”
Her bottom lip quivered. “You hate being without me so much that you left.” She pushed him hard. Her shove did little to move him, but he stepped back anyway and braced his back against the wall.
“I did that for you. To give you time to think.”
“You left me.” She pounded his chest with her fists.
He didn’t stop her because he understood she needed to get it out. He took the blows, standing there, looking down at her. “No.”
“Yes.” She stopped punching him and stepped back, chest heaving.
“No.”
“Yes.” She came at him again, but this time, instead of attacking him, she grabbed his head and slammed her mouth over his.
It startled him at first and he froze, but it didn’t take him long to recover. When his senses returned, he wrapped his arms around her and drew her up on her toes with a firm hold. He pushed her into the opposite wall, holding on tight and devouring her mouth, dragging groans of pleasure from her.