against his chest right over his heart.
Her lips parted softly, and the wolf he was in name and in behavior grinned in triumph. The good girl wanted the bad boy, and he’d eventually get his way just like he always did when it came to women.
Yet, instead of minding his own business, he jumped in the middle of this mess with his next words. “Is it important to you that I be there?”
“Please?” She sucked her lower lip between her teeth, drawing his gaze to her luscious mouth, the one he’d dreamed about all night, along with her other luscious parts.
“Yeah, I’ll go with you.” And just like that she obliterated his pledge to never get deeply involved with anyone, especially her. Hell, even the hospitals he visited regularly were just for show and to assuage his guilty conscience that maybe he wasn’t a good person worthy of anyone’s admiration or respect. He’d perpetuated this false perception that he cared, and now she’d roped him into this. Of course, it didn’t help that he wanted in her pants in the worst way.
Her face lit up and the creases in her brow eased. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Let me take a shower and get dressed.” He still held her hand to his chest. Her fingers curled into his chest hair, and she drew in a sharp breath. “You could join me if you’d like,” he added with a hopeful grin.
“Oh, no. No, I couldn’t.” She yanked her hand away from his chest, but her gaze locked somewhere in the vicinity of his nipples.
He moved a step closer, expecting her to back off. She didn’t.
“My agent says we should pretend to be dating. It’d be good for my rep to be seen with a nice girl.” Once he’d spoken the words, he found he liked the idea.
She stared up at him. Her mouth formed an “O.” “That would be dishonest.”
“Not if we really date.”
“I won’t sleep with you.”
“We’ll see about that. I’m damned irresistible.”
“And incorrigible.”
“That too, baby. That too.” He stepped into her space, caught her around the waist, and lowered his head. She didn’t struggle in his arms, but she did stiffen. He knew how to relax a woman, even one as uptight as this one. He nibbled and licked his way from her earlobe down to her collarbone, while she sighed and sank against him. His dick ached at her closeness, as her hot female body pressed against his hard male one.
She lifted her head and met his gaze. Her eyes darkened with desire, and he had her where he wanted her. He tilted his head and brushed his lips across hers. Her mouth parted, and he slid his tongue along her plump lower lip. She made one of those adorably hot whimpers he’d gotten too used to hearing in a very short time. Her hands slid up his forearms, along his biceps, and rested on his shoulders.
“Emmie, sweet, sweet Emmie,” he whispered into her mouth. “You want me. I want you. It’s inevitable.” He cupped her gorgeous ass in his big hands and pulled her hard against him, sliding her up and down his body. Every nerve tingled with anticipation. Every slide against his cock aroused him until he ached all over with the most exquisite pain. He imagined her hot, wet body tight around his dick, taking him to heights he’d never scaled in sex or life.
“No,” she begged, as he wore down her resistance with deep, searing kisses, branding her mouth as his and wanting to mark her body as well. The urge to ruin her for any other man hit him hard, because if he ruined her, she would surely ruin him as well.
It wouldn’t take much to convince her to shower with him or get vertical. He had supreme confidence in his talents. Yet, a long buried, decent part of him held back. Emma was different. She was special. She deserved her fairy tale, even if he couldn’t be her prince.
Pulling away, even though it killed him, Tanner held her at arm’s length. She gazed at him through heavily lidded eyes, and he read the confusion there.
“I’d better take a shower,” he said