Page 26 of Should've Been Us
“We were due at the ballroom ten minutesago.”
“So go down withoutme!”
“Not a chance. We’re buddies this week,remember?”
Lulu flipped the bathroom door open with a hiss and stomped out to face him, all trace of her earlier good mood gone as she glared at him, “Stop saying that. We are not buddies, Connor. I figured it out, you know? It took me a while but I figured out that you’re watching over me so let me put you at ease. I’m not going to fuck things up for the happy couple so you can back off and go mess with someone else’s head for the rest of theweek.”
He wanted to say something. He knew he should have a response to her newest little tirade against him and why she didn’t want him around. But when he got a glimpse of her, his mind shorted out because once again she was wearing nothing but a bra and panties only this set was like nothing he’d ever seenbefore.
“Are those Star Wars?” Is what came out of his mouth and Lulu faltered, her anger seeming to fade as she looked down at herself and realized what she was wearingtoo.
The red and white undies were cut to look like little boy shorts. They covered more than the bikini had and more than the sexy lacy lingerie had. But he still felt himself growing hard behind his fly and his fingers flexed, wanting to strangle her for being sooblivious.
“Yeah.” Lulu shrugged, a slight blush lighting up her pretty face as she shook her hips playfully, “Chewbacca.Rawr!”
Connor didn’t laugh. He couldn’t. There wasn’t anything funny about Lulu in that moment. She was beautiful. Sexy as hell. She had a fire and a spirit about her that called to him. And yeah, she had a weird sense of personal boundaries and a little bit of a nerdy sci-fi streak but dammit why did she also have to be so damnstupid?
She wasn’t. That was the thing. He knew she wasn’t stupid. She was a smart girl. But she was completely ignorant to what should have been as obvious as the nose on herface.
He wasn’t watching over her for Derek. He wanted her as far away from Derek as possible. He didn’t even want her thinking about Derek. Connor was the one that wanted her and she either didn’t know or didn’t care that she was teasing the hell out of him with these brief flashes of skin andvulnerability.
He grit his teeth. His cock was hard. His patience was gone. His fingers itched. His throat was tight and he knew if he said something, anything, that she was going to take it the wrong way so he didn’t say aword.
Still, her smile fell as silence buzzed through the room, “Jeez, Connor, did you lose your sense of humor in the last fiveminutes?”
“Yeah, I lost it, apparently in the same place you keep losing your fuckingclothes.”
Her eyes flashed wide at his rough voice and she stepped back from him as hurt crossed her pretty face, “Wow, ok. I didn’t realize you were such a prude. You’ve seen me dance a hundred times and I barely wear more than this on stage so I don’t understand your problem, but I’m sorry. You came into my room not the other way around so if you have a problem with what I’m wearing, maybe don’t come in hereuninvited.”
“I’m not a goddamnprude.”
“Could’ve fooledme.”
“I came over here because we were supposed to go to dinner together and now I can see you’re still not dressed.” He growled, his own anger rising as she continued to play dumb, or be dumb, he couldn’t decide. “What I don’t see is why you think it’s okay to parade around in front of me in your underwear all the damn time! Do you think I want to be picturing you naked? Do you think that’s a good thing forme?”
“I wasn’t aware you were picturing me naked but since I can see the thought makes you physically ill, I’ll be sure to put some clothes on.” Lulu’s voice cracked on the words as she spun towards the dresser to grab up a shirt laying on top and Connor cursed somemore.
He hadn’t wanted to fight with her. Not tonight. Not anymore. But damn if he could help himself now that they’d started. He couldn’t let it go now, especially not when she had the completely wrong idea about why he couldn’t be picturing her naked all the damntime.
It wasn’t that he didn’t want to but considering she was oblivious to how much he wanted her it didn’t exactly make his life easy when he had to walk around with an erection every time he thought of her naked and in hisarms.
“Dammit, that’s not what I said! Stop twisting mywords.”
“No problem. No more twisting because I don’t want you to talk to me ever again.” She snapped at him over her shoulder but he had snappedtoo.
He was sick of waiting for her to figure it out. He was sick of pretending this spark between them wasn’t real. He was sick of her taking everything he said and did as an insult when he never, ever, really meant it thatway.
“You only ever hear what you want to but you’re going to hear me. Now.” He grabbed her by the arm and spun her to face him, forcing her to meet his gaze, “Imagining you naked makes me the opposite of ill. You make me hard all the damn time. You, naked, wrapped around me is pretty much the only fantasy I ever have. You’re gorgeous and you’re sexy and you drive me fucking crazy. I don’t know if you really just don’t get that or if you’re playing dumb because you don’t want to get it, but I’m done playing games with you, Lulu. Stop walking around half-naked in front of me unless you want me to take it as an invitation to touch you and kiss you and fuck you until you don’t know which way is up or how you ever existed without me inside you. You gotthat?”
His words were harsh. Dirty. A rough threat threaded with promise. They were all true though and he couldn’t keep them to himself anymore. But did they garner the reaction that he’d hoped for? No. Instead of responding, instead of saying something, anything, or even just pulling him closer, Lulu simply stared up at him with a dumbfounded look on her face as if she’d truly never expected him to utter anything along those lines toher.
“You… want me?” The confusion in her pretty dark eyes nearly gutted him and he groaned at the self-doubt that Derek had put inside of her over theyears.
A woman as beautiful as Lulu, as smart and strong and fierce as Lulu, should have known that she was wanted. She should have thought every man in the world wanted her because to Connor, they did. Only he wanted her more. He always had and his biggest regret in that moment was not telling her so before now when he saw the doubt in hereyes.
He softened his voice, “I’m not immune to you. I’m not him, Lu. I see you. I’ve always seen you. He never did but Ido.”
“Don’t.” Her confusion turned to wariness and she shook herhead.
