Page 25 of Dare to Love
When she didn’t move, he debated only briefly, then reached out and swatted her ass with his palm.
“Hey!” She raised her head and glared at him, but there wasn’t anger in her blue eyes, only heat and sudden awareness and arousal.
He filed the knowledge away for another time.
“Come on.” He scooped her into his arms and headed for the steam-filled bathroom.
Needless to say, the shower took longer than it would have if they’d just washed up and was one of the more memorable mornings he’d spent in a good, long while.
***
Riley normally avoided thewalk of shame. It was easy when her boyfriends were few and far between, and one-night stands didn’t happen in her life. Now she had to put on last night’s clothes and ask Ian to take her to the stadium to get her car. All she wanted to do was escape the rest of the morning without undue embarrassment.
In the light of day, everything they’d done came back to her in vivid detail, and she didn’t know how she’d face him. Where was the bravery she’d woken up with? Gone, now that his arms were no longer wrapped securely around her, and she didn’t know where they stood.
She stepped out of the bathroom to an empty bedroom. Ian had excused himself to take a business call, and apparently he still hadn’t returned. She’d check her own cell, but she’d left it, along with her purse, in Ian’s car.
Ignoring her rumbling stomach, she picked up her panties from the floor and turned them inside out, pulling them on. She folded her arms across her bare chest and groaned. Her shirt and bra were on the floor somewhere in the front hall, and no way would she parade through his big apartment naked. She’d have to find a dry towel to wrap around herself, she thought.
She glanced at the bed, surprised to find he’d left a folded T-shirt for her to wear, and she gratefully pulled the oversized garment on. It fell below her knees. She folded her skirt, tucking it beneath her arm.
She walked through the hallway, passing two closed doors—extra bedrooms, she assumed—and entered the main great room area. She walked toward the sound of Ian’s muffled voice and found him by the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the ocean.
He stood with one hand high on the window. Navy track pants rode low on his waist, and no shirt covered his incredible body, giving her a good look at his muscular back and arms.
She bit back a sigh at the sight.
Or maybe she didn’t suppress it so well, because he turned around, and his steely gaze locked on hers. “Just take care of it,” he bit out to whoever was on the other end and disconnected the call.
When he faced her, his expression softened. “Hungry?” he asked.
She swallowed hard. “You don’t have to feed me. But I do need you to take me back to my car. It’s at the stadium, remember?”
Ian remembered. He also recognized a retreat when he saw one. Normally that was his job. He didn’t like that she was so eager to escape.
Not when reality would give her reasons soon enough. Before that happened, he needed to lure her back from wherever she’d gone to emotionally protect herself.
“That’s not an answer,” he said. “I asked if you were hungry.”
Her stomach answered for her, and a rosy flush stained her cheeks.
He laughed. “I thought so.”
He wrapped an arm around her waist and led her to the kitchen, all the while aware of her curves beneath his shirt and the fact that she wasn’t wearing a bra. He knew because he’d placed her clothes in a bag for her to take home later.
“Come. Breakfast is waiting.”
She eyed him warily, as if she suddenly didn’t know what to make of him.
He felt the same way. Most women he slept with clung to him, hoping he’d find something about them that would make him interested longer. He often suspected it was his money that had them so enthralled, because he certainly didn’t treat them to his charming personality the morning after, or feed them breakfast.
With subtle pressure on her back, he led her to the kitchen, where breakfast had been delivered while she finished in the bathroom. “Sit.”
She chose a chair and settled into a seat, studying the spread of food laid out before them.
“I wasn’t sure what you liked,” he said. “I figured since one of the benefits of living here involves full room service, you might as well take your pick.”
“Thank you.” She picked up a bagel and spread cream cheese over it, ignoring the fruit.