"I'm not." His grin twitched.
His ever-ready smile pushed her over the edge. That damn gorgeous Barbie house hadn't helped, bringing up memories and dreams best left dormant. Why couldn't he be serious for once?
As if that wasn't enough, she'd circled right back around to a discussion of the past, remembering all the hopes she'd once pinned on Gray. Seeing those sexy hands sticking racing stripes all over a Big Wheel had been too explosive.
She'd be damned if she would cry herself to sleep tonight like some pitiful sap. She had better plans for finding forgetfulness.
Gray had known they couldn't spend two minutes together without stirring emotions too deep to bear, yet he'd insisted they spend the day together. Well, now he could suffer the consequences. And she looked forward to making him pay—for hours, naked, on her sofa just like old times.
Lori broke free. "You do want me. At least give me that much."
"Damn straight. I said just that in your guest room not three hours ago."
"Fine," she snapped the word out like a bullet. "Then let's do it, pal." Lori yanked her shirt out of her pants and whipped it over her head before giving herself time to change her mind. "Me and you, on the sofa, let's tangle it up right now for honest, steamy, screaming sex."
Gray looked as if that gut shot might be leveling him. His eyes glowed to life, warming over every patch of revealed skin. Her hair tickled along her back, and she imagined his hands there, soon.
He closed his eyes, swallowed heavily. Lori waited, hope and an odd fear curling through her like tendrils of smoke. He opened his eyes, resolution radiating in waves.
For or against? She couldn't decide what scared her more, his staying or leaving. Lori's br**sts tightened in anticipation beneath her ivory silk bra. Her stomach twisted like a wrung-out sponge reminding her what a hollow victory this would be. "Gray?"
"Negative."
Devastation crashed over her, chilling every inch of her bared body. "What?"
Slowly, he shook his head. "No. You deserve more than this, and you know it. I should go."
Should go? Not going to leave.
Should go.
She aimed straight for that tiny chink in his defenses. "Let me decide what I deserve. I'm not asking for anything beyond right now. What's holding you back, Major, if you really do want me?"
She grabbed his wrist and flattened his hand to her waist. On contact they both flinched. Had lightning sparked through the room? Her toes tingled. Even the roots of her hair seemed to crackle.
His palm trailed from her waist to her belly, halting on the vulnerable place just below her rib cage. Skin to skin, they yearned. She didn't have to ask or wonder. His need transmitted through that simple caress in a communication she hadn't forgotten in a year apart.
Her eyes slid closed as she savored his touch, the heat, familiar warmth. The backs of his fingers trailed up, slowly, between her breasts, along the tender curve of her neck, sliding into less fiery terrain to cup her face.
Then his hand fell away.
Lori swayed forward before regaining her balance. Her eyes fluttered open to find him watching her, intently, too aware of what he was doing to her.
"Why?" she demanded.
He grazed his knuckles over her cheek. "I like you."
The tingling changed to an icy shower, painful, like water on an electrified body. "What?"
"Yeah, I want you. But I like you, too. How's that for honest? I like you too much to do something I know will hurt you." His fingers curved to cup her face again with a tenderness that scared her more than passion. "You want me to be the bad guy here so it's easier for you when we say goodbye. I can't do it, Lori. Not again. You're going to have to do it on your own this time."
He dropped a kiss onto her forehead, once, twice, and stepped back. "I'll see you in two days when Magda's ready to be discharged from the hospital."
Gray turned toward the door. Lori watched him walk away and knew nothing would stop him this time.
As if to taunt her with the possibility she might be wrong, he paused. "And, Lori?"
"What?"