I hadn’t lifted a finger for days except to do some work on my computer.
In short, he’d been nothing short of amazing.
Of course, I’d probably egged him on, since I hadn’t admitted that I’d gotten over his leap to judgment.
“Am I forgiven yet?” he asked from his desk at his home office.
I was kicking back in a recliner across the room, trying to catch up on some work. “I’ll think about it,” I replied for about the millionth time since I’d gotten out of the hospital.
Skye hadn’t exaggerated about the Sinclair men being incredibly contrite when they made a mistake.
He’d been getting the same answer for days, but it didn’t seem to faze him. Really, it was more like a joke for us now, since I’d already decided to cut him some slack.
“I’ll keep trying,” he said lightly.
“For how long?” I asked, my heart tripping.
He shrugged. “For as long as it takes.”
His eyes were still on his laptop, and I took the opportunity to study the man I certainly didn’t understand, but absolutely adored.
I wasn’t trying to kid myself that he was just an experiment anymore. Although, at the moment, I had no idea exactly what we were to each other.
I cared about him a lot, and I was starting to wonder if I could ever manage to just walk away in a month, once our contracted time was over.
I noticed that he looked a lot more relaxed than he had when he’d come to the hospital. Working at home, he didn’t bother with a suit, so he was dressed in jeans and a navy-blue polo shirt that made his eyes stand out every time he looked at me.
He was gorgeous, but still rough around the edges at times, something I actually loved about Seth.
Okay, maybe I could do without some of the stubbornness, like his mulish refusal to let me go home alone. We’d argued about that, but I’d eventually given in. Not because he’d bullied me, but due to the fact that I could see the deep concern in his compelling silver eyes.
Usually, we worked in silence, comfortable with each other’s company. But my mind was wandering today.
I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath, savoring the hint of his scent that always seemed to linger in the air here in his office, which was kind of closed off at the end of the house.
When I opened them, he was staring right at me as he asked, “What are you doing?”
Caught!
“Nothing,” I answered shortly and directed my gaze back at my laptop.
Did he have any idea how difficult it was to work when I was surrounded by the sexy pheromones he exuded, even when he wasn’t really trying to catch my attention?
Now that I was recovered, it was getting harder and harder to ignore the unrelenting pull, the powerful chemistry between the two of us.
“I’m thinking it might be good if I could get back home to my own office.” I lifted my eyes to look at him again.
“Why?” He lifted a brow.
“I could work better there.”
“You’re not comfortable?” He looked concerned.
“I am. But I can’t keep working here forever, Seth.”
“You’re staying,” he said gutturally.
He sounded very much like a caveman who would absolutely drag me back to his cave by my hair if I tried to step outside the house.
That should probably be terrifying, but it wasn’t. I was getting used to Seth’s unreasonable demands because he was worried about me.
I wasn’t about to tell him directly, but the way he’d treated me over the last several days had made it considerably easier to get past the fact that he’d wavered in his trust for a short time.
I took a deep breath. “I forgive you,” I told him. “You really don’t need to watch over me anymore. I’ve been fine since the day you brought me home. I’m not used to anybody taking care of me, Seth.”
“Get used to it,” he grumbled. “Since you wouldn’t let me kill Easton, the only solution is to keep you in sight—even if you do forgive me, which I’m grateful for, by the way.”
I sighed in exasperation. “You can’t watch me forever.”
He stood up and walked over to my chair. He moved my laptop to the floor. I squeaked as he lifted me up, sat down, and pulled me into his lap. “I can’t let you be alone, either. What if he comes back?”
He stroked my hair, and I melted into his strong, muscular body. Seth felt so good that I couldn’t resist. And really, I’d wanted to be close to him like this for days. Without thinking about it, I wrapped my arms around his neck and stroked his nape, luxuriating in the feel of his coarse hair on my fingertips.
“He’s not coming back,” I said, trying to placate him. “He ran into Penny and me by chance. Him being here in Citrus Beach wasn’t a plot to find us. But I have to admit that I enjoyed the chance to kick the crap out of him, even if I did bump my head.”
“You didn’t bump your head,” he said tightly. “The bastard bashed it against a brick wall.”
My heart squeezed. Seth was pissed off . . . still. “I’m not used to anybody taking care of me. Nobody ever really has. I’ve been alone for a long time. I was self-sufficient even as a child.”
I shivered as Seth tightened his arms around me, and one of his big hands stroked up and down my back.
“Let me care about you, Riley. I already do, but I want you to accept it as your right, as something you deserve. I can’t go back to not touching you and pretending we’re friends. I’ll lose my fucking mind.” His voice was husky and persuasive.
And damned if I could bring myself to say no. “What’s going to happen if we do change everything?” I was so damn tempted, but scared at the same time.
“Whatever we want to happen, baby,” he answered. “We don’t have to plan things. We just have to find out where it will go. In my case, I know what I want. I’ve wanted you ever since you sat down at my table in the Coffee Shack for the first time.”
I felt myself giving in. Maybe I was still afraid, but I couldn’t deny that Seth and I had been building to this exact moment for weeks.
I’d felt it.
He’d felt it.
And going back to the way we’d been would be excruciatingly painful.
“I felt the same way,” I confessed as I threaded my hands through his hair. “But I didn’t want to be consorting with the enemy,” I teased.
He took my head between his hands, encouraging me to look at him.
I did.
And I was completely lost.
The grimness in his expression and the heat in his eyes were so damn real that I felt a flood of warmth between my thighs. My nipples tightened painfully as our eyes locked and held for so long that I lost track of time.
Finally, he said huskily, “You will never be my enemy, sweetheart. Never going to happen.”
I shuddered. I could feel his hard erection underneath my ass, and see a gut-wrenching hunger in his stormy gaze.
Me. This beautiful man wanted me.
“What do you want?” I asked in a mesmerized whisper.
“I want you to fucking kiss me before I lose it,” he growled.
And because I couldn’t wait any longer, I did.
He put a hand behind the back of my head, and I lowered my mouth to his.