That was pure Graham. Pushy, but only when he knew you could handle it.I’m a patient man, he’d told me once. I knew now, from firsthand experience, that he wasn’t lying. Just as I knew his twin brothers were in good hands whenever their big brother decided they were ready for a push out of the darkness, into the light.
I smiled at him as that warm, fuzzy feeling inside me expanded exponentially. His eyes watched my lips as they curled up at the corners, like he was memorizing the sight. And the expression on his face…
I gulped.
Boy, was I ever in trouble.
“Much as it pains me,” he murmured. “I really do have to go.”
“I know you do.”
He didn’t move. Only his eyes shifted up to mine, and they were suddenly very serious. “Stay here. Doors locked at all times. Don’t open them for anyone. Don’t go on a run.”
“I wasn’t planning on it, bossy,” I informed him, rolling my eyes. “In fact, I burned so many calories with you in the past twenty-four hours, I may never run again.”
His lips twitched. “I’ll be back tonight. You need something urgently in the meantime, you’ve got my number. If I don’t answer, call the office. Brianne will track me down.”
Oh, I bet she will.
“I’ll bring dinner if I finish up early enough. You want takeout from Ledger?”
“Yes,” I said instantly, all sour, secretarial-related feelings vanishing. I freakinglovedLedger. We’d all gone there last winter for Desmond’s birthday dinner, and again in the spring for Florence’s. “I want—”
“The mushroom campanelle,” he finished for me. “I remember.”
Hewouldremember.
He remembered everything.
My throat felt tight, too tight to speak, so I just leaned forward and pressed my lips to his instead, letting my kiss say everything I couldn’t find the words for. Graham kissed me back, his hands in my hair and his tongue in my mouth, until I was more than a little hot and bothered, digging my thighs into his hips, squirming against his chest, reaching for the zipper of his jeans.
He stepped deftly out of reach, earning my darkest glower in return.
“Sorry, babe.” He grinned, the smug jerk. “Not starting something I can’t finish.”
With playful tap to the tip of my nose, he was gone, rushing upstairs to get in the shower, then heading out into the world of alpha male badassery to handle goddess only knew what. I sipped my coffee, which had long since gone cold, and tried to regulate my breathing — a process that took the full duration of his shower, seeing as every time I thought about him up there, naked and dripping wet, my airway closed up again.
Hellfire.
I was in trouble, all right.
Deep.
* * *
I was antsy all day,brimming with nervous energy I couldn’t seem to dispel no matter how I tried. The clock ticked with painful slowness, minutes dragging by like hours, hours slogging by like days. I told myself I wasn’t waiting for Graham to come back, but my lies weren’t very convincing.
I’d spent several hours cleaning up the mess in the living room, shoving sections of discarded wallpaper into trash bags and hauling them into the bins in the garage, then sweeping the hardwood floors clean of dust and grime. When I was finished, I looked around at the bare walls, a blank canvas ready for me to bring to life, and was hit with an almost uncontrollable urge to drive to the nearest hardware store to purchase paint samples. (A deep blue shade would look stunning against the warm wood of the fireplace mantle… but something in the green family might work too…) Since I’d promised Graham I wouldn’t leave the house, I suppressed this urge.
Flo called to check in on me during her lunch hour. She wasn’t able to talk long, seeing as she was in a staff break room surrounded by fellow elementary school teachers, but I gave her the general gist of what had happened after she left the night before. She shrieked her joy into the phone so loud, it was a miracle my eardrum didn’t rupture.
“This calls for celebratory drinks at The Witches Brew,” she told me. “The four of us, tomorrow night. Our first official double date!”
“Flo—” I’d started to protest.
“See you both at eight!”
She disconnected before I could get another word in. Typical Flo. I wondered if Graham would ease my house arrest long enough for a few rounds with friends. Somehow, I doubted it. He was taking thiskeep-Gwen-safebusiness seriously.