Channel 20 Something (18 page)

I felt my face flush at his low tone and utter sincerity. “I
am
sorry about running away last night. I know I acted awful. So… what now? Should I go?”

Aric stroked my hair back from my face, lightly grazing my cheek with his thumb. “I’d rather you stayed. If you want to. We don’t have to do anything. You could just sleep here tonight, let me hold you?”

I held his gaze for a long moment. He meant it. He wouldn’t push me to do anything I wasn’t ready for, although that in itself was kind of a turn-on. One thing I knew—I couldn’t imagine leaving him right now.

“Yes. I’d like to stay.”

Aric smiled and stood, taking my hand and pulling me off the sofa with him. He led me into the bedroom and went to his dresser. “Here,” he said, holding out a soft t-shirt. “You can sleep in this. And just use my toothbrush. The bathroom’s through there.” He pointed at a door on the other side of the room.

A few minutes later I emerged from the bathroom to see him sitting up in bed, shirtless, smiling, the covers folded down around his waist. And
sugar
, what a picture. He looked warm and rumpled like a little boy, but that’s where the childlike comparison had to end, because he was all man. That firm chest, that defined abdomen—God, he even had those V lines, those muscles on the sides that cut in just above a guy’s hips—and I had walked away from this last night? I’d never been more turned on by the sight of someone.

“Looks good on you.” His deep voice rolled across the room and washed over me.

I looked down at myself. His t-shirt was huge, hanging almost to my knees. I’d removed my makeup, and I felt more naked than if I’d stripped bare.

“You look like a little girl.” He smiled.

I padded across the carpet to the bed and climbed in. As soon as I got within reach, Aric pulled me against him, guiding my head to his chest. He reached over and switched off the lamp on the bedside table, leaving the room dark, but not pitch-black thanks to the moonlight filtering through the open shutters. I rubbed my palm over his solid chest, enjoying the various textures of his body, so different from my own.

One of his hands came up to hold mine. We laced our fingers together. “You ready to sleep?” he asked.

“Pretty soon, I think. I actually feel exhausted.”

“I’m not surprised. Lillemor says emotional experiences can do that to you.” He paused. “I’m glad to know what happened. It helps me understand you.”

“Thanks for telling me about your past, too, last night. I’m sorry I made assumptions.” I was quiet for a few minutes. There was a thought I couldn’t get out of my head. Finally, I had to ask. “So then … you haven’t called any of those numbers?”

“Numbers?” His other hand brushed my hair away from my face and petted it again and again.

“You said it happened all the time—girls giving you their numbers?” I hated the needy sound of my question, but I wanted the answer. It wasn’t really my business, but I couldn’t help but wonder.

“No. I haven’t called a one of them. Not since I’ve been in the fair state of Mississippi.” Aric laughed softly. “Want to know why?”

I nodded against his chest.

“Because I didn’t have the only number I really wanted to call. Can I get that from you, by the way? Do you think I’ve earned it yet?”

My cheek pressed into the warm, smooth skin of his shoulder as I smiled. “Hmmm, I’m not sure.”

Aric tickled me then rolled us to the side, pulling me back against him in a tight spoon. His voice was low and suggestive in my ear. “What will it take? Just tell me, and I’ll be happy to give you anything and everything you want.”

I giggled. “I thought you said we weren’t going to do anything tonight.” In complete opposition to my words, I pressed my hips back into him, gratified to feel a hardness growing against my bottom.

Aric sucked in a breath and pulled his lower body away. His hand went to the side of my hip, holding me in place. “And I meant that.” He snuggled his chin over my shoulder, his shadow beard scratching lightly against my face. “Seriously, are you ever going to give me your number? So many times I’ve wanted to call you—I guess I would’ve had to make up some stupid work-related reason. I just… I’ve been thinking about you. A lot. You wouldn’t believe how many times I’ve driven by that crappy little apartment building of yours.”

I lifted my head. “Hey.”

“Sorry. I mean that charming little dollhouse you live in.”

I laughed. “You’ve driven by? More than once?”

“Mmm hmm. Multiple times. See what you’ve done to me? You’ve reduced me to stalking. Some ladies’ man, huh?”

“Okay. You can have my number,” I said in my most generous tone. “And, not only that, but I’ll even give you my apartment number, so the next time you’re driving by my crappy little building, you can stop and come in.”

“Ooh. This
is
my lucky day.” He laughed, his breath warm and soothing against my ear. “Heidi?”

“Yes?”

He put on a stalker-ish voice. “Are we
fraternizing
now?”

I giggled and rolled to face him. “Oh my. What would Mr. Aubrey say?” I hitched one leg up over his hip, bringing our lower bodies into intimate alignment.

Aric’s breath hissed as he inhaled quickly. His arm automatically went around my back to draw me more tightly against him. His voice sounded pained, “Mr. Who?” Then the pressure eased. “Heidi, I don’t know if this is—”

I kissed him, and just like that, the irresistible urge to be close to him, to touch him and feel his touch, returned full-force.

My hands went to Aric’s face, sank into his hair, glided down over his shoulders to his back, relishing the heat and incredible texture of his skin.

He kept his hands in safe territory, caressing my hair, my back, my upper arm. He kissed me slowly, with deep absorption, as if he was trying to read my thoughts. They shouldn’t have been too hard to figure out.

As we kissed with increasing hunger, I slid my hands down to his sides, finding that intriguing belt of muscle, exploring with every cell of my mind and body focused only on him. He felt so good. I couldn’t get enough.

When my fingers glided across his lower abdomen, he inhaled quickly, his breath hissing through his teeth. He grabbed my hand, pressing it flat against his hot skin. “Hold on. I need to slow down,” he said in a gritty voice on the edge of pain.

“I don’t want to slow down.” I pressed a wet kiss to his neck, working my way down to his collarbone.

He gave a little laugh-groan, loosening his grip on my fingers when I squirmed to be free. “I don’t think this is a good idea after what you told me. I made you a promise about tonight. And I don’t think you’re quite ready.”

“I think I should be the judge of that.” I kissed him in a way I hoped expressed just how ready I was.

Aric pulled away from my mouth again with some apparent difficulty. “I don’t want you to sleep with me so you can exorcise your demons or because you want to get it over with or something. We should only be together if you want me—
me
.”

“I do want you.” I swirled my tongue against his neck, speaking to him between kisses. “And if you reject me now, it’s going to be very bad for my fragile self-esteem,” I teased. I pressed my lower body against his, finding the evidence of his willingness to give me anything and everything I wanted, as he’d said earlier.

His eyes squeezed shut. “Heidi—
what
are you doing?”

I kissed his throat, the underside of his chin. “I’m doing what I should have done last night. I want you. I’ve wanted you since the night we met. You know that’s true, don’t you?” My mouth moved to the hollow of his throat.

Aric’s fingers delved under my hair and gripped my scalp. “If you felt anything like I did that night—then yes.”

“Then stop psychoanalyzing me and make love to me.”

Aric lifted my face and looked down at me as if he wanted to devour my flesh bite by bite. I saw the moment his self-control snapped. His mouth took mine again, and this time his kisses were harder, deeper. His hands roamed over me in a slow seduction as his mouth worked over mine hungrily.

Sensation sparked all over my body, everywhere he touched me, in a pleasure so acute I could hardly stand it. Stealing a line from the world’s worst ex, it had
never
been like this before. I pulled at my own t-shirt, trying to get free of it, desperate to feel him fully.

Aric stopped kissing me and helped me, pulling the shirt over my head and arms. His gaze roamed over my figure, and he shook his head. “Look at you. You are killing me.”

Seeing the undistilled desire in his eyes, I felt truly beautiful. I knew my body wasn’t perfect, but it seemed to be working for him, and it occurred to me this was the first time I’d let someone see me like this since Josh. Yes, Hale and I had fooled around. Early on, anyway. Gently, quietly, mostly clothed. And always stopping before it went very far.

After the first few months, we’d actually made out less and less often because we both knew it couldn’t go any further and it was easier to not even get started. We’d basically turned into friends who occasionally swapped saliva. Now that I thought about it, Hale must have been the nicest guy in the world to have put up with my spiritless approach to sex and my cautious attitude toward him in general. Poor guy—he deserved better.

But Aric. He made me forget myself. He took me out of my mind and into my body until all I could think of was
his
body and how much I wanted him. It was just… different. In every way.

His head dipped, and he kissed me slow and soft and hot. My hands went to his abdomen, sliding to the sides of his waist and then stealing downward toward the top of his boxers. Aric’s grip on me tightened. He pulled away from my mouth and groaned softly into my hair. “Heidi. We don’t have to—” My fingers continued making progress, and his words broke off into winded breathing. His whole body began to tremble. “Are you really sure?”

I pressed my lips to his chest, rubbing them against his hot skin in kisses from the bottom of his throat to his solidly muscled shoulder. I pushed at his waistband, impatient for what was to come next. It had been so long since I’d felt passionate about someone. And if I was being honest, I
was
kind of eager to get it over with. Maybe this act would relieve the ridiculous longing for Aric that had built up over the past few months, and I could put our relationship back into proper perspective.

“Hurry,” I whispered.

Breathing heavily, he lifted and quickly stripped off his underwear while I removed my panties. Then he hovered over my body and settled his gratifying weight back on top of me.

This was it, the moment my screwed-up bad associations with sex would be replaced with something new, something positive, hopefully something wonderful. I wiggled beneath him. “Hurry,” I repeated.

But Aric didn’t move. His body stayed tensed above mine as he stared down into my face, his eyes full of emotion. “You’re so beautiful, Heidi. So tiny and perfect,” he whispered.

In this intimate position I wouldn’t have thought myself capable of blushing from mere words, but my face heated instantly. I fought to keep from looking away, forcing myself to hold his gaze. “So are you.”

His chest moved against me in a quiet, rumbling laugh. “What?”

“Not tiny. Just beautiful. And perfect.”

He smiled. “Better. Guys don’t exactly love being labeled ‘tiny.’”

“Egomaniac.” I slapped at his shoulder softly. “You don’t need me to tell you. I’m sure you’re well aware of the magnificence of your ‘manly attributes.’”

“
Magnificent.
See, now this is the kind of adjective I’m looking for. Now we’re talking.”

It was a surreal moment, the two of us so close we were nearly joined, his skin pressing against mine along the full length of our bodies… having a conversation. I nudged my pelvis up against him in a not-so-subtle hint.
What are you waiting for?
I wasn’t an expert, but this didn’t seem like a situation in which a guy would normally get chatty. Aric seemed to be stalling.

I watched the amusement on his face dissolve. His hands stilled in my hair. His eyes searched mine. His tone was quiet and… humble, for lack of a better word. “Magnificent enough for you to want to be my girlfriend?”

My intake of air was audible in the silent room. Sugar.
Now, really?
The last thing I wanted to do right now was talk. We hadn’t discussed anything regarding a relationship, and I really preferred to keep it that way.

I lifted my head, trying to kiss him, hoping distraction would work, but he pulled his face back. Apparently, he wasn’t going to let it go. And I literally couldn’t run away this time with his weight pinning me to the bed.

I sighed.
Fine.
“Aric—you’re so talented.”

He rolled off of me abruptly and lifted onto one elbow, looking down at me in the moonlit room. “Wait—this is starting off really bad.”

I dragged the sheet up to cover myself, feeling chilled without his warmth over me. “What do you mean? I said you were talented.”

“Yes. Right after I asked you to be my girlfriend. Sounds like you’re warming up for a Dear Aric speech.”

“No,” I assured him. “Not at all. Let me finish.”

The tension of his body lessened slightly, and he stayed quiet.

“As I was saying, you’re very talented. And you’re ambitious. I’m sure you’re going to finish your one-year contract here and move on. How many months do you have left now?”

“Ten.”

“Ten. Right. I’ve got two. And you’ve been encouraging me to send for other jobs since the minute you met me.”

“Because you’re good, not because I want to get rid of you,” he said.

“Thank you. And I don’t want to get rid of you, either. What I’m saying is, whether I actually do end up finding another job or staying here and signing a new contract, we… well, our time together is going to be short.”

“Not necessarily. We could get jobs in the same market.”

I pulled up to a sitting position and rested my back against the headboard, sighing. Clearly the moment was over. “Really? What are the odds of that? Math was never my subject, I’m a word girl. But they’re not good. You know that. There are only three stations in each market, four tops, and they consider candidates from all over the country for every opening. Even if you still
wanted
to pursue it ten months from now, it’s not likely we’d wind up in the same city.”