Page 36 of Angel Eyes

I grunted, a streak of jealousy spearing through me at the idea of anyone helping her get dressed. I had no right to be possessive, but the thought of it made my pulse climb all the same.

If I was being honest, it had been the sight of Simone dancing with Juliet that had stirred me into action earlier. Marlena had looked thunderstruck when I excused myself, and under different circumstances, I might have tried to let her down easy. But seeing Simone with Juliet, twirling her around and making her laugh, had me ready to turn over the table in my desperation to get to her.

“It’s fine.” I plucked up the red garment. “This yours?” No sooner did she glance up to see what I was holding than her cheeks filled with color.

“Yeah, Simone gave it to me, though I can’t imagine where I’d wear something like that.”

I had several ideas of where she could wear it and all of them involved me being the only spectator.

She flitted over to me, relieving me of the item in question before darting down the hallway. I tossed my jacket over the back of a chair and sat down across from the fireplace, expelling a breath as I adjusted myself in my jeans.

Get it together, man.

I’d given Juliet my word about taking things slow, and I meant to keep it.

How quickly my resolve was tested.

Not a full minute later, she reappeared in the living room in an oversized T-shirt, the words Camp Law School printed across the top, and a pair of fuzzy socks.

But her legs were completely bare.

“Would you like a drink?” she asked as I tried to unstick my tongue from the roof of my mouth at the sight of her sun-kissed thighs. “I just bought a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon.” She padded over to the kitchen, returning with two glasses and handing one to me. Settling onto the other end of the sofa, she eyed me over the rim of her glass. “Did you have fun tonight?”

“Mm-hmm,” I said, watching as she tucked her smooth legs beneath her.

God, please let her have something on beneath that shirt. As much as I prided myself on having a fair amount of self-control, I was sure as fuck at my limit.

“Good. I was worried I might have put a damper on the evening with that awful display in the bathroom.”

I frowned. “That wasn’t your fault, Juliet. Your boyfriend is a real piece of work.”

She lowered her eyes. “Ex-boyfriend.”

Something notched in my throat at the reminder that she was newly single and available for the taking. “Well, your ex is a jerk and doesn’t deserve you.” I took a sip of wine.

“What about you?” she said, watching me beneath hooded eyes. “Do you deserve me?”

I choked, eyes watering as I fought for air. “What?”

She set her glass down and crawled across the sofa toward me. My airway closed up completely when she slid onto my lap, straddling me. I fisted my hands at my sides, fighting the urge to touch her, to feel her warm skin beneath my palms. But I knew better. My restraint was dangling by a thread, and if I put my hands on her, all bets would be off.

“Juliet, you’re making it damn near impossible for me to behave like a gentleman right now.”

“Who says I want you to behave like a gentleman?”

My eyes shuttered as her lips coasted over my ear, and her hands disappeared beneath my shirt, her touch as soft as crushed velvet. I pushed out a heavy breath, my vision swimming as she raked her fingers down my abdomen, arching against me and grinding her perfect ass on my lap.

On instinct, my hands flew to her hips, her skin smooth beneath my rough fingertips as I traced them down the back of her thighs. “You’re about to make a liar out of me, you know that?”

My hips rose to meet the apex of her legs as she rocked down on me, and my grip tightened as my lips moved to the slender column of her throat. She sucked in a breath, her breasts grazing my chest through our clothes and setting off a countdown in my head.

Five seconds. That was all the time I had left before I dragged her beneath me on this sofa.

“Juliet, look at me.” She raised her eyes to mine, and I swallowed roughly. My dick would be petitioning for a new owner by morning, but I had to know she wasn’t doing this for the wrong reasons. She had just broken up with that asshole and then drowned herself at the bottom of a champagne bottle. The last thing I wanted was to take advantage of her. And even if she wanted this, she needed to make that decision with a clear head.

“We don’t need to rush into anything, okay?”

She stared at me for a beat, then pressed her eyelids closed, letting her head drop onto my shoulder. “I’m making a fool of myself, aren’t I?”

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