Page 48 of Love Me Carefully
Chapter Ten
“Tell me about your girlfriend,” Leah said suddenly. They’d been lying on the blankets trying not to think of the situation at hand. The quiet was driving her crazy. How could they not think about what was going on? They were trapped in a basement!
After their meager dinner, they’d talked more about her relationship with Leon, causing her to rethink that whole situation. Why was her four-step method so baffling to him? Did he really think that dating was all about marriage? Of course he did, he’d said as much. But who cared what Terrell thought?
Reluctantly, she forced herself to admit that she did.
“I don’t have a girlfriend.” Quietly, he said the words that remained a sore spot in his mind.
She’d known that already but didn’t want him to know that she knew. Instead, she hoped he would confide in her on this topic the way he had about his mother. And she wanted to see if he still had feelings for the woman. “Why not?” she persisted. “I mean, youarelooking for a wife, aren’t you? According to your little theory you won’t ever find that wife if you don’t date and pursue a meaningful relationship.”
She lay on her back with her hands tucked behind her head and with the soles of her feet planted solidly on the pad of the blankets, which elevated her knees. She’d taken off her boots earlier because they’d been wreaking havoc on her tired feet. Terrell hadn’t seemed to mind; in fact, just a few minutes ago, he’d discarded his own shoes as well. They both seemed to accept the fact that they were stuck here, at least for the night.
Terrell hadn’t talked about what happened between him and Tanya since telling his mother, and even then he hadn’t gone into great detail. He and Leah seemed to be getting closer and he didn’t want to alienate her now—not when he was feverishly thinking of a way to make her want him as much as he wanted her.
And oh, how he wanted her. The thing was, at first it had seemed to be only sexual. She’d told him he wasn’t her type, and he’d been bound and determined to find out why so he could change her mind. Now, after spending time with her, after talking to her, she seemed to be everything he wanted in a woman, despite the contrasts to his little criteria list. Leah was definitely beautiful; there was no question she’d passed the cute stage in his book. And she was successful. He’d done his homework. In the four years she’d been in business she’d seen major profits and had a good reputation. She was outgoing and courageous, compared to his more introverted personality, which made them an obvious mismatch. Yet there was a connection, he could feel it.
“I had a girlfriend. Her name was Tanya,” he began. After the first few words, he found it was surprisingly easy to finally get it all out. Leah listened patiently, just like his mother had when he was younger and he’d gone to her with a problem. Another plus in Leah’s corner—she reminded him of Rosie.
“So she was a ho?” Leah surmised after Terrell’s recitation of how his relationship had gone bad.
“I wouldn’t say that.” He chuckled at her tone. “Well, okay, I would. But I played a significant part in the relationship’s end too. I know that now, even though I couldn’t see it at first.”
“Okay, admit your faults so I can tell you how they don’t compare to her being a ho.”
He wanted to laugh, but thought it wise not to; Leah wasn’t smiling. In fact, she looked more than a little irritated. “I didn’t pay a lot of attention to Tanya’s needs. I was so focused on working and making sure she had everything she wanted naturally, I guess I never thought she might only want me.”
Leah chewed on his words for a moment. “And sleeping with another man in your house, in your bed, made up for your neglect? Hmmm. I don’t think so. She could’ve handled that differently.”
Curious now, he propped himself up on an elbow and looked down at her. “Really? How would you have handled it?”
Leah mimicked his movements and they were face to face, on their sides. “I love my job and I tend to work really weird hours as well, so I probably wouldn’t have much more time than you did. But when I did have time I would expect to spend it with you. Keeping in mind that you’re a workaholic as well, I would make allowances for that, occasionally. But as you said earlier, I’m kind of bossy, so that means I’m used to getting my way.”
Terrell smiled. “You would’ve demanded I spend time with you?” He could almost picture her doing just that.
“Not demand. I would’ve persuasively suggested that you spend time with me. Then I would’ve tortured you until you did.”
He raised a brow. “Tortured? In what way?”
Leah’s grin was slow, seductive. “A woman’s most lethal weapon.”
Terrell groaned and fell back on the blankets. “Ahhhggg. I would’ve given you whatever you wanted.”
His words left a hush in the air as Leah looked down at him. His glasses were crooked again and she reached out to straighten them.
Terrell took her hand before she could finish the task, turned her palm and planted a soft kiss in the center.
She sucked in a ragged breath as his lips moved to her wrist. He pushed up her shirt sleeve and proceeded up her arm until the shirt would reveal no more skin. She was hovering over him now and, with his free hand, he removed his glasses and set them gently to the side before pulling her down.
“Terrell,” she whispered just as his lips brushed across hers.
Greedily he took her mouth, pouring all the pent up desire he felt for her into that one kiss. She matched his fervor and he moaned.My God, Leah, where have you been all my life?
Leah shifted so that she was completely straddling him now. She’d think about what she was doing later. Right now, right at this very moment, she was taking everything Terrell Pierce offered her. His hands moved to her butt, pulling her against his now rigid erection. She sucked his tongue and undulated her hips to match his rhythm.
Having her on top of him, moving over his erection so sinuously he could scream, just wasn’t enough. Terrell’s hands moved swiftly beneath the ribbing of her sweatshirt, tracing a heated path up her bare stomach until he found her heaving breasts. He cupped them both in each of his hands and she nipped his bottom lip before moaning.
“I want to see you. Now!” he growled.
