She noticed that she had a message from Micah, and she flipped the text open curiously. They’d exchanged numbers in case they had to cancel a meet up at the rink or for their runs, but had never communicated that way. There had never been a reason.
Micah: I’m hungry. I think you ruined me by making me meals every day.
Tessa snorted, nearly choking on her chocolate. Then she smiled. The complaint was so typical of Micah that it was funny. And she found it amusing that food was the reason he’d contacted her.
Right now, she was relieved that he was trying to breach the gulf that had come between them at the arena earlier in the day.
She typed a quick message back with one finger as she finished the Snickers, tossing the wrapper in the trash under the sink.
Tessa: You have to fend for yourself occasionally. BTW . . . I’m eating your chocolate.
She knew he was near his phone when he answered immediately.
Micah: It better not be the Snickers. It’s my favorite.
She licked her fingers with an evil grin before rinsing and drying them at the sink.
Tessa: It was. It was delicious. My favorite, too.
Micah: I’m confiscating them all tomorrow if you can’t control yourself.
She picked up her phone and carried it back to the bedroom, typing a response as she sat cross-legged on the bed.
Tessa: I’m sorry about earlier. I wasn’t very nice and I know you were just trying to help.
It took him a few minutes to answer.
Micah: I get it. It was obviously a bad experience.
Of course he understood. He always did. Before she could answer, he sent more.
Micah: Just don’t deprive me of the chance for dinner again. I get cranky.
She rolled her eyes.
Tessa: Is that all you ever think about?
Micah: No. When I’m around you I think about banging you most of the time.
His reply was blunt, but she laughed anyway.
Tessa: That can’t happen again.
Micah: Ok. I’d rather use my mouth anyway.
She sucked in a breath, the image of Micah’s head between her thighs enough to make her squirm.
Tessa: That’s not what I meant. I was trying to say we can’t be intimate in any way. I don’t do casual sex. What happened was amazing, and I got caught up in the moment. It was an emotional day. But I don’t think I’d like myself very much if something else happened.
Micah: I’d make sure you loved it.
She sighed, wondering if she could have a fling with him. Maybe it would never go anywhere, but she needed to sate the aching need she had for him to bury himself inside her, for him to claim her body. She tried to reason with him again.
Tessa: I don’t do casual sex.
Micah: Sex with you would never be casual.
She knew what he meant. Even if something happened, it would never just be a screw for her.
Tessa: What would it be?
Micah: Intense.
His one-word answer made her heart flutter. She knew he was right.
Tessa: Why do you even want me? No other single woman on Earth would turn you down.
He was smart, insanely gorgeous, and a billionaire Sinclair. She was pretty sure women were practically throwing themselves at him.
Micah: I don’t want anyone else. I want you.
Her breath caught, her body on fire and Micah wasn’t even physically near her.
Tessa: You can’t have me. I can’t do it. I’m sorry.
Even as she sent the message, she knew her body wouldn’t be able to resist him if he pushed. Please, please. For once . . . don’t push.
Micah: Friends?
She wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or saddened by his question.
Tessa: Yes.
Micah: I don’t think I’ve ever had a female friend.
Tessa: Stop dating supermodels and maybe you wouldn’t feel the need to do them all.
Micah: I don’t really date. Haven’t for a long time.
Tessa: You’re always being pictured with beautiful women.
Micah: Acquaintances who want to go to a party or event. I don’t fuck them.
Tessa: You don’t?
Micah: Nope. You jealous?
She stopped to think before answering.
Tessa: I have no right to be jealous. I’m just a friend.
Micah: You’re not just a friend, Tessa. But if that’s what you want, I’ll do my best to be that for you.
She knew she would never regard him as just a friend after the intimate moments they’d had together that afternoon, even though that’s exactly how it needed to be.
Tessa: I’m going to bed now.
She needed to stop the conversation before she begged him to come over and fuck her up against the wall or over the table. Anything to stop the frustrated desire pounding at her right now.
Micah: Wish I was going with you. I’ll see you in the morning. Dream about me.
She chuckled at his arrogance as she put the phone on the table beside her discarded book and flopped back onto the pillow, then tugged the cord on the bedside lamp to shut off the light.
Tessa had a hard time falling asleep, and when she did, Micah got his wish.
Her dreams were vivid and erotic.
Carnal.
Breathtaking.
And every one of her dreams featured Micah Sinclair as the man who broke through her outer shell of fear and forced her to yield to their passion.
Dammit!
CHAPTER 6
“So what’s the deal with your ex-fiancé?” Micah asked right before he took a huge slug of water.
Tessa tensed. She and Micah had taken a different route on their run today, a path through the woods that had ended in a clearing by the ocean. He’d wanted to stop since the route had been longer than their usual run. Her eyes were drawn to him, his head turned toward her as he stretched out on the grass beneath them, a ragged T-shirt clinging to his damp, powerful chest and muscular biceps.
“What do you mean? He was my fiancé, and then we broke up,” she replied uncomfortably. She didn’t like to talk about Rick to anyone. He was history, a part of her life that she didn’t want to discuss.
“Why?” he asked casually.
Tessa messed with her hair, re-securing it after some of her curls had come loose during her run. Micah irked her when he got this insistent. He was obviously going to wring the answer from her, no matter how long it took. She was looking at his face now, and she recognized his determined expression.
She sighed as she let her hands drop, her hair confined once more. “Do you really want to know?” she asked warily, hoping he’d say he didn’t, but knowing it wasn’t going to happen.