The doors closed and his arm brushed against hers.
Heat rushed across her skin and her breath caught.
That was all it took.
A simple touch.
The brush of his arm.
When they’d driven here from London the car had felt spacious and roomy, but now it felt small.
And it shouldn’t. She’d promised him a night of simple sex. No complications. No hidden anything.
Things shouldn’t feel different.
That wasn’t supposed to happen.
But for some reason last
night had brought a new intimacy, a heavy awareness that thickened the air and altered the dynamic between them.
And suddenly she didn’t want the visit to end.
She wanted to stay here with him. She wanted to go for long walks with the dogs, talk to him and make love in front of the fire and she felt a rush of panic because she wasn’t supposed to want any of those things.
He glanced toward her. “Are we going to talk about it?” His low, rich tone was thickened by words that hadn’t been spoken.
“No. Last night was all about action, not words.”
There was nothing she could say that wouldn’t freak him out.
She stared straight ahead, trying to get her thoughts under control, telling herself that her feelings were natural. Alec had helped her at the lowest point in her life. Over the past few days she’d escaped from the real world, taken time out, and now she was going to have to face it all again. Richard, her parents—
It was hardly surprising she felt this way.
It didn’t mean anything.
They had nothing in common except sexual chemistry, and that would die a death soon enough.
“I know that’s what we said.” His voice was quiet. Patient. Kind. “But are you sure you’re all right?”
She felt her heart expand in her chest.
She was 100 percent sure the last thing he wanted was to talk about what had happened, but being Alec he would still ask.
And there was no way she would take advantage of that.
It was important, no, crucial, that he didn’t know how she was feeling.
“I’m tired. I’m wondering if your mother put two and two together and got sixty-nine.” The joke came easily and she saw him shake his head.
“You’re shameless. How did I not know that about you?” But he was smiling and she was smiling, too, because being with him felt so good even if it wasn’t supposed to.
There was an easy intimacy that hadn’t been there before.
Maybe that was what having sex in a multitude of different positions did for you.
“Your mom wants happy-ever-after for you badly. I don’t want to make things worse for you by giving her false hope. I don’t want to break her heart by telling her I’m just using her little boy for sex.”