“What?” I blink at him, stunned.
Cash gets up and strides closer to me, abandoning his half-drunk beer. He closes the distance between us, leaning down into my personal space. “I couldn’t sleep knowing you were out with Leo. I couldn’t stop thinking about what might happen.”
I frown a little at that. “What did you think he was going to do?”
“I don’t know. But I couldn’t rest until I knew you were home safe. Until you were back where you belong.”
My pulse picks up, thrumming fast in my chest. “Why does it matter so much?”
“Your safety?”
“No. The fact that I went out with someone else. Why do you care?”
His quiet snort is the only answer for a while, then he takes a breath. “You haven’t figured it out yet?”
“I guess not. Enlighten me?”
“I couldn’t stand thinking of you with another guy because I want it to beme.I want to be the one taking you out. I want to be the one buying you dinner and treating you the way you deserve to be treated.”
There’s pure honesty in his voice, and it makes something flutter in my belly. I take a small step toward him, just a tiny gesture of invitation, but it’s enough.
Cash’s eyes flare and heat, and just like that, all the tension in the room snaps.
It’s a rush that I can feel, and Cash looks just as surprised by it as I do, for a split second. Then he’s closing the last scant inches of distance between us, and our lips collide.
Cash’s mouth is on mine, hot and insistent, and I give in to it. I match my movements to his, letting him kiss me the way he’s apparently wanted to for who knows how long. His hands cup up, grasping at my hips, my shoulders, my waist—roaming over me like he’s restless and doesn’t know what he wants to touch first.
It doesn’t matter where his hands land though. Each touch is electric with sensation, and I shiver against him, pressing even closer to seek out more touch and more of his heat.
He tastes like honey and beer, and just now, it’s an intoxicating flavor. I melt into him with a soft whimper, which he answers with a low, tempting growl that I can feel all the way through me.
“Fuck,” he groans against my lips.
I swallow hard, wondering if this is going to be the extent of it. Maybe we’re both about to come to our senses and not do this in the middle of the kitchen in the middle of the night.
But Cash’s eyes are still dark with want, and he grabs my hips again, this time to lift me up so I’m sitting on the kitchen counter.
Another time, I might have protested that. Another time, I might have said something about doing this where we eat or how it’s not a good idea to do it at all. But right now, there’s too much need coursing through my veins.
It’s the disappointment from my date going badly and the realization I had afterwards. It’s the culmination of Cash being so nice to me since I fucking got here. It’s the ignition of all the little sparks of want that have flared between us since we met. All of it presses down on me, making me hungry for whatever he wants to give me right now.
His mouth finds mine again, pressing a soft, needy kiss there. Then he moves lower, lips trailing down my neck. He finds a spot where I’m sensitive, and I shiver, arching against him just a bit.
That gets a low, pleased noise from him, and he keeps going, kissing down to my collarbone, where he sets his teeth against the jut of bone there.
“Cash,” I groan, shuddering in place. “Fuck.”
His eyes slide up to look at me, and I look back, feeling off balance. All I see in his face is desire, hot and pure, and it keeps stoking the fire of my own wants.
“You taste so fucking good,” Cash says. His voice is lower than usual, and it does something to me, making my gut tighten. “I want to taste more of you. Can I do that? Can I taste you until I’ve had my fill?”
My heart stutters and then pounds, but my body pulses at his words. I open my mouth, but I seem to have run out of things tosay. So I settle on nodding permission and then feeling another beat of pure need at the look on Cash’s face.
His mouth trails even lower, finding all the bare skin revealed by the neckline of my shirt, pressing kisses and little nipping bites there. He mouths at my breasts under my shirt, and somehow through the layers of fabric, I can still feel him.
I swallow hard, trying to keep as much of my composure as possible, but it’s a losing battle. Every inch Cash goes down just takes away more and more of my control. My thighs tremble, and my pussy aches for him already.
It would be a little pathetic if this wasn’t so hot.