“Thank you,” she said softly. Her lips always seemed to be smiling, but now they were slightly parted, and she was looking at him like she was trying to decide if she should lean in a little closer, the same way he was trying to decide if he should take the initiative and press his lips to hers.
“Lizzie.” Her name came out as a whisper, surprising him, but standing there beneath the stars, with moonlight dancing on the water and Lizzie’s sweet perfume surrounding them, there was nothing he could do to rein in the emotions he’d been trying to temper for more than a year. Being in a group made it easier to distract himself from all the ways he was drawn to her, but now, as Lizzie’s hair blew across her cheek, he couldn’t resist tucking the wayward strands behind her ear. She had the silkiest, shiniest hair, and he’d dreamed of tangling his fingers in it as he ravaged her mouth and kissed her breathless. That simple touch, the brushing of his fingers over her skin, heightened the desire that rushed through him.
She licked her lips, and hell if it didn’t feel like an invitation, but Blue didn’t want to mess this up. He fought to shift his brain off of the fast track to her lips and focus on something else. Anything else.
He reached for the two sides of the blanket and placed them in her hand. “Here. This will keep the wind off your back.”
She watched him tuck the blanket into her hands, confusion riddling her brow and desire lingering in her eyes. “Okay. Thank you.”
They started walking down the beach again, and he knew he was on his last shred of self-control. “We should probably head back to your place and fix your oven before”—I take you in my arms and kiss you—“it gets too late.”
“Right.”
Way to go, jackass. Now things are even more confusing.
By the time they made their way back down the beach, their friends were gone and the fire was out. Blue hadn’t realized how long they’d been walking. On the way back to Lizzie’s house, Blue silently cursed himself. He was a fool for not backing off before they got that close—and an even worse fool for not kissing her when he’d had the chance, but she’d made it clear that she didn’t want to date him, which meant he had to have misread her signals.
Back at her house, he followed her down to the basement and knelt beside the oven to fish through his tools. Lizzie leaned against the counter, looking sexy as hell in those skimpy white shorts and fidgeting with the edge of his sweatshirt, which she still wore. She smiled, and he rose to talk to her. Christ, that didn’t help. She was only a few inches away, and when she lifted her eyes to look at him, he swore they darkened seductively. As if his legs had minds of their own, he stepped closer. The air between them thickened with desire, and he couldn’t resist caressing her cheek.
“I’ve been wanting to do that for so long.” Was there truth serum in the drink Hunter had given him? What the hell was he doing?
“Blue…”
It wasn’t a warning, and he was pretty sure she wasn’t telling him to stop, but he needed to be sure.
“I can’t help it, Lizzie. This is the closest you’ve let me get to you since we met. I won’t take it further. I just…” Want to kiss you.
“I’m not good for you,” she said so softly he almost didn’t hear her.
He searched her eyes, but she wasn’t giving anything away. “What does that mean?”
She held his gaze. “It means that we shouldn’t get close.”
“Lizzie—”
She pressed her finger to his lips. “This isn’t easy for me. I had a nice time with you tonight. It was wonderful to spend an evening out and to get to know you better and to…feel so much.”
He heard a but coming and was terrified of losing their connection. He slid his hand to the nape of her neck and stepped in closer. “I don’t understand.”
She dropped her eyes and closed them for a breath, and when she opened them, she said, “I’m sorry.”
“You don’t feel what I feel? Like there’s a force pulling us together?”
“I feel…” She swallowed hard, as if she could swallow whatever it was that she felt. “I feel like if you kiss me, I’m going to tumble into you.”
Thank the fucking Lord for little favors. He couldn’t suppress his smile.
“And…?”
She trapped her lower lip between her teeth. “And that’s not good. For you. Trust me. I’ll only let you down.”
“Lizzie Barber, you are a smart, beautiful woman, but please let me be the judge of that.”