so why not?”
Damn it, one little invitation from her and his heart pounded as if he’d been jogging up three flights of stairs. Not waiting for her to change her mind, Quinton tunneled his fingers into the cool weight of her hair, tipped up her chin, and sealed his mouth over hers.
Being so close to her rioted his senses.
He loved the feel of her hair against his palms, the warm scent of her skin, the way her heartbeat matched his. With only the touch of his tongue, her lips opened under his, so soft and sweet.
Just as he remembered, she intoxicated him.
They were in the building’s basement, not exactly a place conducive to seduction.
She had to start work.
He needed to head home.
He knew all that—but at that moment, he didn’t care.
Her hands on his shoulders, she snuggled into him, pelvis to pelvis, her breath coming fast and hard, her mouth moving with his.
Her breasts were small, but he could feel her stiffened nipples rasping against his chest and it made him nuts because he knew she was braless, that only a thin T-shirt kept her from him. Lost to the here and now, he ran his hand down her back all the way to her rounded bottom, spread his fingers wide over the softened, worn denim of her jeans, and pressed her tight against his erection.
With him every step of the way, she made a purring sound of excitement and dug her fingers hard into his shoulders. Her response pushed him over the edge and he started considering the possibility of taking her in the darkened hallway, against the wall, her long legs wrapped around his waist…
She freed her mouth. Breathing hard, her forehead to his chest, she half laughed, half moaned.
His own breathing was ragged. He felt primed, more than ready to strip off her jeans and sink into her. But he had enough sense not to press her. Instead, he rubbed his hands over her back, soothing her, enjoying the feel of her in his arms. “God almighty, woman.”
“Yeah.” Her fingers fisted in his dress shirt. She swallowed twice, let out a long breath. “And now you see why you have to leave me alone.”
He stiffened from his hairline to his toes. “You must be joking.” She had to be. He couldn’t remember the last time a mere kiss had affected him so strongly. And she wasn’t immune either. He could feel her trembling.
“Sorry, no joke.” Her forehead pressed hard into his sternum and her voice lowered in near desperation. “You have to stop waiting for me—”
He forgot his lie about work and said, “I’ve only waited twice, damn it.”
“—and you definitely have to stop kissing me.”
Quinton caught her shoulders and held her back far enough to see her face. A pulse thrummed wildly in her throat. Her swollen and damp lips were open to accommodate her uneven breaths. Heat flushed her cheeks and lust shone in her big dark eyes.
She felt everything he felt.
Determined to understand her, he demanded quietly, “Tell me why.”
Her long hair trailed over his wrists as she shook her head. “We both know you were waiting for me tonight because, for whatever reason, you’ve decided you want to take a turn in the sack with me.”
“Take a…” The way she put things forever boggled his mind. He gently shook her shoulders. “I want to make love to you. We’d both enjoy it.” Hell, he’d love it. “But I also like you.” He was close to being obsessed with her.
“You barely know me.” With shaking fingers she tucked her hair behind her ears, straightened her T-shirt, and moved back to put space between them.
His hands fell to his sides. “True enough. I don’t know you as I want to.” He managed a strained smile. “But I’m trying to correct that.”
“Why bother? Our schedules conflict. We don’t work the same hours.”
“I’ll manage.” Given how badly he wanted her, he didn’t sleep much anyway.
“We don’t even work for the same company.”
“But we do work in the same building.” They’d met only by chance when he’d had to stop by his office late and she’d been leaving work early. Among other things, he was CEO of a consulting firm. Ashley cleaned the office building where he leased space. “Though it’s a good thing we don’t officially work together, given most company policies would forbid coworker dating.”
Still refusing him, she shook her head. “We’re not dating. It’d be a waste of time.”
Did she deliberately insult him?
He scowled, but she shook her head and said, “I mean because we have nothing in common.”
He touched her mouth with one fingertip. “Oh, I think we have a few things in common.” He looked into her eyes and his lust ratcheted up to the max again. He wanted to devour her.
“Yeah, okay.” She drew a quick breath. “It’s a first for me, but I’ll admit we’ve got the whole sexual chemistry thing going.”
“Thank you,” he said with dry humor.
“But,” she continued, once again on the move, “I’ve got too much on my plate to be messing around with you right now.”
Messing around with him? She made him sound like an inconvenience. Easily keeping pace with her on her path through the building to the locker room, Quinton asked, “So what’s on your plate? Anything I can help with?”
“Nope.” She kept her head down and her gait long.
She said that too fast, and with too much conviction. The take-charge part of his personality didn’t like it. “I’m not without means, you know.”
She stopped long enough to roll her eyes at him. “Yeah, I know. You have ‘means’ coming out the ying-yang. Thanks but no thanks.”
On their first meeting, which also accounted for his first rejected invitation to her, he’d learned that Ashley had a spirited way of putting things. He liked it. As he said, he liked her.
He already knew that she attended college classes in addition to working the third-shift job. Busy, but not so busy that she couldn’t fit in a date with him.
Unless something, or someone else, was keeping her away.
From two feet behind her, he asked, “Do you find me unattractive?”
“Oh please.” She laughed without looking back at him. “As if.”
Well…That was nice. At least he knew his appearance didn’t repel. “So is it that you dislike men with ‘means coming out the ying-yang’?”
“Your means don’t matter to me one way or the other.” Now she sounded irritated. “I’m sure you work hard for what you have.”
“I
