Bewitching You (19 page)

She backed away and clapped her hands, still excited, and Gray instantly missed her warmth. “Todd Beltman can eat his heart out,” she said. “I bet he can’t do the splits anymore. I bet he’s fat and bald now. I ought to look him up.”

“Who’s Todd Beltman?”

“Freshman year in high school, I tried out for the cheerleading squad and made it. Everything was going great until we started doing lifts. Coach Perry paired me with Todd, and Todd said right there in front of everyone in the squad that he didn’t think he could lift me. He thought I was too fat to be a cheerleader.”

“
What
?
Were you a big girl back then?”

“Roughly the same as I am now, only about two inches shorter, five pounds lighter.” She looked like she was about to burst into tears at the mere memory. “I was so embarrassed, I quit and never tried out again.”

“Sugar,” he said, thinking the endearment suited her, “the guy was probably afraid to touch a hot girl.”

“No, he was right. I was too big. I would’ve crushed him. He was a tiny little guy, and I was this—” She blew up her cheeks and spread her arms out.

“You’re out of your mind.” Gray grabbed her hand and gathered her close. “And so was that fucker, Todd. We really should look him up. I’ll lift
him
up and throw him across the country for hurting your feelings.”

“I don’t know. I’ve always been a little overweight.”

The woman was insane. He let his gaze fall over her lush body. Curves in all the right places. No way in hell was she too heavy to pick up. To prove his point, he grabbed her by the waist and lifted her with ease.

She gasped slightly, grabbing at his shirt. “What are you doing?”

“Showing you that Todd what’s-his-face was a lying little bastard.” He lifted her until her head brushed the ceiling. Then, slowly, he lowered her, letting her slide against his body.

When he didn’t put her down right away, she wrapped her legs around him and held on tight. She clasped onto his neck, bringing them face-to-face.

Gray shifted his arms. One cradled her bottom, keeping her up, while the other curved around her back, crushing her soft breasts into his chest.

“You can put me down now,” she said, breathless. Her lips were within licking distance.

“Not until you kiss me.” He grinned at her.

“You have no idea how tempted I am. But I can’t. I—”

Gray covered her lips with his to shut her up. He didn’t want to hear any excuses. He wanted to be the man in her dreams, the one who could touch her anywhere and everywhere. Make love to her any way he wanted.

To keep her from shying away, he backed her into the wall. Then he slid his tongue into her mouth and flicked it across hers. Luckily, she accepted it eagerly, moaning softly and raking her fingers into his hair.

The heat from her sex pressed against him. Closer. He wanted to be closer.

Feel every part of her.

His free hand found the hem of her tank top and slipped up underneath until he found her breast. He pushed her lace bra up and massaged the plump and supple flesh. Her nipple budded at his touch.

She squirmed against him and began to slip down the wall. Gray lifted her back up, supporting her bottom. This couldn’t end yet. There was so much more he wanted to do with her.

He paused from kissing her to whisper, “Can I take you upstairs?”

Don’t ask, just do it, you fool
. This had been his downfall with many girlfriends in the past. He never pushed them, never wanted to take advantage of them. In the end, they’d moved on to guys who did push them.

Sure, he didn’t have a condom, but he could think of about thousand other ways to please them both without protection.

“I’m not ready for that yet,” she whispered back and dropped her legs from his waist to the ground, fixing her bra and top in the process.

Damn it
. “Right.” He fisted his hands at his sides, trying to ignore how his body burned with unspent desire and how his cock ached for release. But it was damned difficult, considering he’d gotten so close.

She stared up at him, the blue of her eyes only a thin ringlet around her pupil. “Thank you for making me feel better about the Todd incident.”

Ah hell. The woman was after his heart.

“Thank
you
for reminding me there are memories of Hayes that I love and cherish. Those have been kind of hard to come by lately.”

Her eyes welled up. “Oh my gosh. You must still be grieving over losing him. I’m so sorry. Were you two pretty close?”

“Yeah. He’s been my best friend since birth…and my worst enemy at times as well.”

She stood up on the tips of her toes and pressed a kiss to his lips. “It’ll get better, I promise.”

“I think it just did.”

~ * ~

Sofia finished showering and changing into her favorite light green nightgown. It had spaghetti straps and was silky and sleek against her skin. She ran her hands over her hips and felt truly sexy for the first time in her life. The change probably had to do with there being a hot guy downstairs who made her feel like she was something more than a short, overweight wannabe cheerleader.
So
much more. He was sweet for sticking up for her against her worst high school memory. It made her wish she’d met him back then.

Sighing, she pulled her sketchbook from her duffle bag and sifted through the pages. Her own personal homage to Gray. How humiliating would it be if he found it? Even worse, if he were to see the numerous paintings that filled her bedroom at home. Sofia Good: Dream stalker extraordinaire.
Why, yes, Gray, I did spend hours upon hours sketching and painting you, even before I laid eyes on you
.

Not good. She stuffed the sketchbook back in the bottom of the bag and scrounged for a new pair of panties. All that was left were her high-cut cotton briefs. Comfortable, but not sexy at all. She really needed to do laundry, but how embarrassing would it be to hang out your underwear for the world and Gray to see on a clothesline?

No way.

She opted to wear none for tonight. Nothing was going to happen, but it was fun to feel a little naughty. To know that with one slip of his hand, he would realize she was completely bare underneath this lightweight nightgown.

He’d only have to hike it up and straddle her on his lap…
Stop it, Sofe
.
Stop
.
It
.

Twenty-four years without knowing the touch of a man was starting to warp her mind. Sure, she could’ve given into a man’s advances on one of the several dates she’d been on, but when she had visions of the men falling in love with someone else, the idea always lost its flavor. Of course, she didn’t have that problem with Gray. In her dreams of him, he loved
her
, and no one else.

She let out a breath and put a brush through her damp hair.

“Sofia.” Gray’s voice jolted her, his low tone resonating deep in her belly.

She resumed normal breathing, then swerved to see him standing at the door with his hands braced against the doorframe. She really needed to remember to start closing and locking the door.

Or not.

His shirt was off again and he was wearing jeans that hung low on his hips, revealing muscles that trailed to places she’d yet to see in real life.

“Hi,” she managed to squeak.

“Am I interrupting?”

“No. Not at all.” She dropped the brush on the dresser and watched as he sat on the edge of the bed.

“So.” He rubbed his palms on his jeans, looking like he might be as nervous as she felt.

Sofia licked her lips and pressed her hand to her belly, the area that wouldn’t stop quivering. Her silky nightgown suddenly seemed weightless.

“Sofia,” he said again, but she didn’t mind the repetition. She loved how he said her name.

“Yeah?”

He reached out and grabbed hold of her wrist. His dark eyes coaxed her toward him as he gently tugged her over until she stood in between his thighs.

“I wanted to say goodnight.” His hand settled on her hips, drawing her against him. Heat permeated from his body…or maybe it was the warmth rushing up her chest to her cheeks that caused her to feel feverish.

“Okay.” Oh, boy.

“
And
because sometimes words escape me, I wanted to make a point to tell you how beautiful I think you are. Inside and out.”

She gulped. “I, um…thanks.”

His hands, broad against her hips, slid to the outside of her thighs and back up again. He must have noticed her lack of underwear, because he bit into his bottom lip and repeated the action.

Sofia was pretty sure her heart stopped beating. Not since Leo Wendle pinched her ass in the hallway in the seventh grade had someone acted like they appreciated God’s big, old, huge gift to her backside. And Leo Wendle had been an acne-faced pervert with premature facial hair.

This was
so
much better.

“I think,” she managed to say, “that you’re beautiful too. I mean, handsome, not beautiful. Cause you’re a guy. A man, really.”
Just stop talking
.

“I hope you can forgive me for treating you badly when we first met. It might sound like a cop-out but after Hayes died, my life tilted off balance, and I went a little crazy trying to get back in control. Then the dreams happened, and as you know, I had zero control over those.”

“But you didn’t have one last night. Maybe they’re gone now, so you don’t have to worry about that any longer.”

“I don’t worry. Not now anyway.” He teased her lips with a soft kiss. “I’m ready for the future.”

Before Sofia could ask
exactly
what he meant by that—because sometimes she thought she needed a sledgehammer over her head to understand men—he stood up and said, “Goodnight, Sofia.”

Really
? No more kisses? No more touching? She watched him walk to the door, but couldn’t stand letting him leave without…
something
.

“Wait.” With a leap and a small sprint, she reached him and stood on her tiptoes to kiss him one more time. “Goodnight, Gray.”

~ * ~

Gray tossed and turned in his bed.
Go to her
. The words played over and over in his head. She was only down the hall, lying in bed, wearing that silky little nightgown with no panties.

God help him.

He wanted her like no other woman he’d ever laid eyes on. The urge to slide into bed with her, lie on top of her, wedge himself between those thighs and enter her—hell, his erection pulsed at the mere idea. Why hadn’t he been more assertive in her bedroom? He could be lying with her right now, naked, having already made love to her.

Making her his.

But he just couldn’t hurt her. No protection, no sex. And honestly, Gray didn’t think he had enough sense in him to stop at a little harmless fondling. Sofia had been smart to turn him down earlier.

Not that Gray wasn’t safe. He knew he was free of any STDs, but he couldn’t risk getting her pregnant. She was too good a girl. She deserved more. More than an unemployed asshole could give her.

Go to her
.

Fuck.
He threw the sheet off his naked body and hurried downstairs to get some ice-cold water to drink, or pour over his head. When he reached the kitchen, Sam hissed at him from on top of the butcher block, causing Gray to jump back. What was wrong with that cat?

She leaped down and raced up the stairs.

After Gray’s heart started beating again, he searched the refrigerator for a bottle of water but couldn’t find any. Tap water would have to do. He opened the cupboard for a glass…and noticed a large box of condoms?

What the hell? He picked them up and saw that a sticky note attached.
For Sofia
, it read with a heart drawn next to it.