Taking little geisha steps, she held on to her tightly wrapped sheet and swallowed hard. "I think I'll just go home afterward. I'm going to be tired."
Tired of pretending she didn't love him.
"So? I'll let you get some sleep. In the morning."
Evan's voice was coaxing, seductive. Halley fought the urge to look at him. Frantic, she darted her eyes around the room, then gave a cry of triumph when she spotted her Capri pants bunched up by the closet.
"No, not tonight." Or any other night, if she wanted to keep her sanity.
The teasing tone left his voice. "But we need to talk, Halley."
"There's nothing to talk about." She headed toward the closet. "We had a fun day and now it's over. End of story."
That was not the end of the story as far as Evan was concerned. He watched Halley wiggle her way around the room like a giant fruit roll-up, her hair frizzy and lopsided and her breasts doing an enticing little jump with each jerk forward.
Did she really consider what they had shared nothing more than a fun day? Damn, that hurt. But Halley was a busy woman and he knew she didn't date much. Maybe he had been nothing more than a sexual diversion. An oversized stress ball.
She bent over carefully, trying to grab her pants off the floor while still holding on to the sheet. A painful lump formed in his chest.
"Halley."
"What?" Halley was hopping on one foot as she tried to step into her pants, all while keeping the sheet wrapped around her.
Exasperation rose in him. "Jesus, drop the sheet. You're going to fall and knock your teeth out." It wasn't as if he hadn't seen every inch of her body. And tasted it.
"I'm fine." She continued her one-footed dance.
He stood up and stalked over to her. He held her arms so she wouldn't wind up in a heap on the floor. "No, you're not. Why are you running out on me and acting like you don't want me to see a flash of your ass?"
She blew her hair out of her eyes and stopped struggling with her pants. "Because now we have to go back to being friends and that's not what friends do."
"Friends don't show friends body parts, huh?"
Wiggling her pants up her calves, she said, "Yes."
"What if I want to be more than friends?" He started to caress her arms with his thumbs, and leaned forward to place a kiss on her warm shoulder.
She stiffened. "Knock it off. You can't change the rules now. If we do this again, then what happens eventually when the lust burns out? I don't want to lose you, Evan."
If that's what was bothering her, then maybe there was hope for him after all.
He nibbled on her ear, noticing the way she drew in her breath. "Do you love me?"
She sighed. "We've been over this. Yes. But there's love. And then there's love."
"Well, do you love me?"
Hot fingers shoved on his chest. He stayed firmly next to her.
"I've got to go."
"Answer the question, then I'll let you go."
Halley looked over his shoulder and rolled her eyes. "I plead the fifth."
That was promising. He teased his tongue into her ear. She gasped.
Evan wanted it all, and he wanted it now. Halley was the woman for him and he wanted to spend a lifetime loving her. "I love you, you know. Always have, always will. I want you to marry me."
"What?" Halley squawked, wondering if she was hallucinating. "What are you talking about? This was supposed to be about sex, remember?"
Her heart was beating like a hummingbird's wings and she was so hopeful she was sick. He couldn't mean it… but if he did, she was going to be really excited. She couldn't kid herself anymore that she just wanted Evan's body. She wanted everything.
His heart.
He whispered in her ear, "This whole day was about love, not sex."
Oh, damn, that was romantic. Her knees gave out, she loosened her grip on the sheet, and her Capri pants puddled to her ankles.
He kissed her jaw, his hands cupping the sides of her face. "Marry me."
Who was she to say no? "Yes. Yes, yes, and yes."
Leaping into his arms, she almost fell down as the sheet trapped her legs. Evan caught her and smiled down at her.
"I'm so glad you said yes. Because I was going to have to hurt you if you said no."
She laughed, feeling a little punch drunk on happiness. She tried to force herself to back up, but her body wasn't having it. Neither was Evan. He still held her tight.
"Now let me go, I've got to leave!"
He kissed her full on the mouth, a deep, possessive kiss that had her sighing with pleasure. Oh, yeah. Waking up to this every day would be a dream come true.
"So let's just clarify. That's a yes, you'll marry me?"
"Yes." Every day with her favorite person. She couldn't ask for anything better.
Evan squeezed her hard enough to collapse a lung. "Now tell me that you love me and I'll let you go."
"I do." Halley sniffed a happy sniff and let go of her sheet altogether.
"Keep saying those words, sweet stuff, because you'll be needing them soon." He grinned at her.
A shiver went through her. When she had spotted that angel between her legs, she could never have imagined this would be the result.
"Hey, I forgot to tell you, the Three Commandos sent me an e-mail apologizing."
"You're kidding." Evan moved to the computer.
Wearing nothing but a smile suited him. She said, "No, I'm definitely not kidding."
Evan started clicking on the computer. "Well, we'll have to e-mail them back."
"I don't want to hack their site anymore, Evan. And I don't want to send them a nasty e-mail. Let's just forget about it." Her conscience wouldn't let her torment them in return and she had no desire to start an online feud with the Three Cs. Besides, she didn't want anyone but Evan to see those pictures they had taken with his camera.
He glanced back at her, tossing his light hair out of his eyes. "I wasn't going to send them a nasty e-mail. I was going to thank them. After all, they're semiresponsible for us getting together."
She stepped out of the clinging bits of the sheet and went to stand behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist. Her thighs rubbed against his and she dropped a kiss onto his back. "I have to leave now."
"Promise you'll be back tonight?" Evan abandoned the computer and stood up.
"Yes." As soon as the last slice of raspberry cheesecake was served, she was out of there.
Evan turned around and Halley found herself pulled into his arms. Before she could blink, her tank top was gone, tossed over his shoulder and lying crumpled on the keyboard.
"How long until you have to leave?"
"I needed to leave a half an hour ago."
Halley moaned as his hand moved between her thighs.
"I'll be quick."
Halley tried to dredge up the strength to say no. "How quick?" she asked, breathless.
"Just long enough to do a quick Cupid imitation."
All kinds of perverted analogies involving Cupid and arrows ran through Halley's mind.
"As long as it doesn't involve any hacking."
What Evan whispered to her made her laugh, before the sound was swallowed by a very friendly kiss.
Erin McCarthy
Erin McCarthy sold her first book to Kensington Brava through author Lori Foster's website contest in 2002, and has since sold an additional nineteen contemporary romances and novellas to Brava and Berkley Publishing. Her debut, BAD BOYS ONLINE, was a Romantic Times Top Pick, and BAD BOYS IN BLACK TIE was a USA Today bestseller. Erin lives in Northeast Ohio with her husband, two kids, and two cats.
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Bad Boys Online Page 22