Page 107 of The Other Guy

I growled her name in warning but she didn’t get the hint — or, rather, she didn’t care. She kept on doing what she was doing and I wasn’t hating it, even though it was distracting and I really needed to concentrate on driving, especially with the snowstorm.

But all the minutes she spent touching me were like foreplay, setting a spark to a dry field. The flame built and built until we were panting. When the windows fogged up, I scolded her, though I don’t think she really fell for my bullshit.

I don’t take the time to turn on light switches and neither does Sierra. Instead, we fly down the hallway, dropping our coats along the way. I push through my bedroom door, the knob hitting the wall with a loud thwack but it could punch a hole in my sheetrock for all I care. I can fix it later. Right now I have better things to worry about. She flips on the light as she follows and murmurs, “I wanna see.”

“Good. Because I plan on staring at you for a while.”

“A while?”

“Hours.”

“Oh my,” she breathes and starts stripping off her clothes. I stop her, wanting to do it myself but she bats my hands away, ripping her cardigan off and tossing it behind her. She shakes her head, her long dark hair swishing around her. “You do you. I’ll do me. This time. I don’t have the patience to wait longer.”

I grin and whip my shirt off as she undoes the button on her jeans, watching in amusement as she tries to simultaneously remove her shoes and skintight pants at the same time. She falls on the floor with a thud but it doesn’t stop her mission. She quickly unzips the side of her boots, kicks them off then wiggles out of her jeans while I finish undressing as well.

She works off her tank top and is standing before me, chest heaving in only a bra and underwear. There’s nothing particularly sexy about them. A black cotton bra and pink panties with black polka dots. For some reason, the simple combo does things to me. Way more than if she were in some skimpy lingerie that didn’t match who she is. I like the fact that top to toe, Sierra is who she is and she doesn’t feel the need to change that in front of me.

“You’re gorgeous.”

“You’ve seen me in less,” she reminds me.

“Yeah, but that was different.”

“How so?” she asks, walking to me. She lays soft hands on the bare skin of my waist and I swear I feel a zip of electricity shoot up my spine.

She presses her lips to my chest and I let my forefingers slide under her bra straps. “Because then, we were friends.”

“We aren’t friends now?”

I can tell she’s both teasing and nervous when she asks. She wants me to admit to liking her more than friends just like I want to admit it.

“I’m not a one and done guy, Sierra. This? It’s real for me.” I tug her close, our chests brushing against each other. “I’m not going to go out tomorrow and date someone else. If we spend the night together, it means something.”

“It means something to me, too.”

“Are you ready, though? I know it’s only been a few weeks since we met. A week since you left your ex. I don’t want to freak you out here and expect too much but I do want you to understand that I’m more than good with moving forward. But if you’re not, I can be patient. One date doesn’t mean… I’m talking in circles, aren’t I? Basically, I just want you to tell me if we need to step back.”

“No.”

“That simple?”

“That simple,” she agrees. “It’s not as if I’m ready to move in together or declare love but I like what we have. You make me happy, Jack. And, you seem to get me and accept me for who I am. I like who I am when I’m hanging out with you. I don’t see a reason to step back or slow down but I like that you’re willing to wait. I like that you’re not expecting the world. It might sound strange, but I enjoy living with Kyle, too.”

“I can’t tell you what it does to me to hear you say that I make you happy.”

She smiles brightly and my stomach clenches.

When she snuggles in closer, she kisses my chest again and brushes her cheek against my skin. “I didn’t feel for him the way I feel for you, Jack. I’m not saying that to make you feel better, or to downplay what he and I had. But we weren’t like this. I didn’t want to tear his clothes off or claim him in the middle of the bar so everyone would know he was taken. I didn’t really even care when I found out he was cheating on me. Until I met you, I never wanted to feel this way.”

I know what she means but I still want to hear her say it. I trail a finger down her cheek and under her chin, lifting it so she’s looking me in the eye. “What way is that?”

“This all-consuming, don’t want to put the person out of my head, can’t stop thinking about… guh, I don’t know. I don’t know how to explain it. It’s just in me. I like you differently than I’ve liked anyone before. It’s scary and exhilarating all at once.”

“Remember when I said that maybe we’ve never felt it before because it only takes that one person?”

She nods. “Yeah.”

“I believe that. It wouldn’t feel, special, I guess, if it wasn’t unique. And it is. The way I think of you is unique to anyone else. That doesn’t mean we have to run blindly toward the finish line immediately. I like taking it slow.”

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