Free Applewild by Heather Lin Page B

flushed; her hair was falling down. He couldn’t wait. He reached down with one hand and skillfully unbuttoned her jeans. She lifted her hips to let him bare her lower half. He unzipped and pulled his hard length through the opening.
    He was there. Nothing stood between them. A finger dipped between Monroe’s wet folds told him she was ready.
    But a warning fought its way through his torrid haze of emotion, making Alton pause. Nothing stood between them. He had to remember who he was and where he was and why this couldn’t happen. He closed his eyes and sighed, using all of his willpower to readjust and zip up his pants.
    “What?” Monroe asked, half in a panic as he drew away from her riled body.
    “I don’t have a condom.”
    “It’s okay.”
    Alton rested a knee on the step below her and ran his hands through his hair. “It’s not okay. The pill isn’t 100% effective.”
    “Neither is a condom. And I’m not on the pill.” He stared at her. She seemed to consider elaborating, but words failed her or she decided better of it. She was desperate. It was his fault. “Just trust me.”
    Alton hesitated, and the flush that rose in her cheeks this time didn’t stem from passion. She pulled up her pants and stood. Anger flashed in her green eyes. “Or don’t.”
    He grabbed her hand, begging without words for her to stop and listen to him. “I just can’t risk it. I’m sorry. This is my fault. I wasn’t thinking.”
    “Oh, I know you weren’t thinking. And I know it’s your fault. What I don’t know is why . What the hell happened?”
    “Sophie’s engaged.”
    Monroe pursed her lips. “I’m sorry. I really am. But I don’t appreciate being used as a stand-in for alcohol or Xanax or whatever the hell it is you need.”
    “You’re not a stand-in.” He knew the words were what he was supposed to say, but they seemed insincere even to his own ears.
    That was exactly why he’d come to her—to take his mind off things, to make himself feel better. To use her.
    “Bullshit, Alton. I don’t even care. We both know what this is. All I ask is that you don’t waste my goddamn time. Come to me because you want me. Not because you want something .”
    “You’re right. But you have to understand where I’m coming from—”
    “You’re coming from a world of greedy, shallow women who would probably scoop your sperm out of the condom if it gave them half a chance at getting a piece of your action.”
    “That’s the gist of it.”
    “Well, I am not one of them. I had a hysterectomy when I was fifteen. There is no way in hell I’m getting pregnant. Ever. This is supposed to be the one situation where that horrible fucking physical trauma comes in handy.”
    “You didn’t tell me that.”
    “You’re right. I should have just slipped it in during foreplay.”
    Alton was at a loss for words. She seemed perfectly fine on the outside. Fucking fit on the outside. But what kind of hell had she been through to have all these problems? Was it a car accident? Cancer?
    “What the hell happened to you?” he asked.             
    Monroe’s frown deepened and pain he hadn’t expected her to show replaced the fire in her eyes.
    “I don’t like talking about it.”
    Alton let out a frustrated groan and kicked the stairs. He wasn’t supposed to care. He wasn’t supposed to want to solve her mystery. But he did. And at times like these, when his curiosity was most piqued, he could barely remember who Sophie was. There was only Monroe, even without a physical connection. What the hell was he supposed to do with that? He should have known better than to try and get over Sophie by using another woman. He’d somehow expected them to cancel each other out so he could start over with a clean slate, an unbroken heart. Instead, he was hurting from one and becoming invested in another.
    “What do I have to do to know you?”
    “I don’t know. No one’s gotten that far yet.”
    Alton shook his head,