Say You're Mine (Shillings Agency 5)

“Well.” Swallowing so hard his Adam’s apple bobbed, he straightened. “This isn’t awkward or anything,” he said drily.

“Y-You… I…” She finally covered her face. “Oh my God. Seriously? On my couch? I just bought it!”

The rustling of fabric as he tucked his erection away was the only sound.

She peeked through her fingers. He didn’t look any less hard. As far as she could tell, if anything, he seemed even harder than before she’d walked in. “It was either that, or in your bed. I figured you’d prefer the former.”

“You obviously did.” And just like that, the embarrassment and shock gave way to anger. A couple of hours ago, she offered herself up to him, and he refused. Made her feel like he didn’t want her, or find her attractive, when he obviously did. And now he took what could have been—no, should have been—hers. “Was that supposed to…to…hurt me?”

“I’m sorry, I don’t follow.” He blinked, standing up unsteadily. He set down his glass, sloshing it over the side and onto her table. “How the hell is me jerking off a direct insult to you, when you weren’t even supposed to see it, or find out it happened at all?”

He stood there like some sort of untamed sex god, with his pants undone, his cock hard, and his shirt open. All mussed hair and sex. And it wasn’t fair. None of this was fair. “You let me think you didn’t want me. Let me go to bed alone, ashamed that I threw myself at you, when you clearly weren’t attracted to me. And the whole time, you’re out here…doing that.”

“I assure you I wasn’t jacking off for hours.” A muscle in his jaw ticked, and he drove his hand through his hair. “I was just trying to sleep, and I couldn’t. I couldn’t stop thinking about earlier. So I decided to ease a need that wouldn’t shut the hell up so I could finally get some shut-eye. That’s it.”

She stomped up to him and smacked his shoulder. He didn’t even flinch. It, of course, didn’t hurt him. The man had the pain tolerance of a cement post and was just as hard…in more ways than one. “You shouldn’t have been doing that at all. It should have been me doing that. It should have been mine.”

He caught her wrist, his warm hand closing around it easily. The same hand that had been on his erection moments before. Her stomach tightened in response. “You were drunk, and if we fucked, you’d regret it in the morning. You’re not just some girl in a bar, Lauren. I refuse to treat you like one for an orgasm. Is that so damn wrong?”

No. It wasn’t wrong at all.

It was one of the things that made him such a good guy.

But her cheeks were red hot with embarrassment, and her stomach was twisting with desire, and screw being reasonable. She’d rather be naked and screaming his name. “I wasn’t that drunk.”

He snorted. “The hell you weren’t. You’re a damn lightweight. Let’s not pretend otherwise. You were wasted off your ass, feeling horny, and you kissed me because I was the only guy there.”

If only that was true. “It wasn’t like that.”

He snorted. “Funny. We’ve been friends for over twenty years, and you never acted like you thought about more than that until you pounded back some shots to prove a point.”

“Neither have you, yet here you are. Masturbating on my couch while…what? Imagining me naked? Or were you fantasizing about someone else completely? Someone more your type than your lame little cupcake?”

His grip on her wrist tightened, and his gaze spit fire at her. “Lauren.”

“Steven,” she snarled back at him, breathing heavily. She yanked on her wrist, and this time he let her go. She backed up a step, toward her bedroom, rubbing her wrist. Not because it hurt. She could still feel him holding on to her, even though he wasn’t. Finally, she said, “Let’s just do what you said all along, and forget this ever happened. As far as I’m concerned, none of this did happen.”

He curled his hands into fists at his sides. “The hell it didn’t.”

Oh my freaking God. The man made no sense. “You just told me a little while ago we had to pretend it never happened.”

“That was before,” he said, a muscle in his jaw ticking.

“Before what?” She wrung her hands in front of her. “You’re obviously mad at me for kissing you, so I don’t understand what your goal is here.”

“I’m not mad at you for kissing me.” He gritted his teeth together so hard it was a miracle they didn’t crack. “I’m mad at how you did it.”

She

blinked at him. “What? That doesn’t even make any—”

“That’s not how our first kiss should have been. It’s not the way it was supposed to go down. It should have—” He broke off and muttered a curse. “It should’ve gone like this.”

And then she was in his arms.

His mouth was on hers, and his hands were everywhere, and all she could think was…finally. He swept her into his arms and carried her into her room, his mouth moving over hers without any hint of hesitation this time.

Earlier when he kissed her, it had been amazing.