Hector (19 page)

She turned to see him loosening his tie and
unbuttoning the top buttons of his shirt. Her eyes flew open, and she nearly
stopped breathing when he began to unbutton the vest.

Hector stopped midway through taking the vest
off and gave her that same bedroom-eyed gaze along with the sexy smile that had
left her breathless earlier. “Don’t worry. I’ll stop at the vest. I just feel a
little stuffy.”

Gulping hard as he continued to remove the
vest then pull off the tie altogether, she nodded, knowing full well if she
attempted to talk, there likely be no sound. Good Lord, she’d have to dig deep
for any poise if he dared remove even one more piece of clothing.

Chapter 11

What the hell was wrong with him?
Hector should’ve just let her go when he saw her walk out of the party. Charlee
was not the type of girl he should be messing with. He saw this in her eyes
yesterday when he’d nearly kissed her—felt it earlier when he held her on the
dance floor. Keeping her at a necessary distance was easier when he thought she
was just another brainy girl with better, more important things to think about
than the new guy on the chess team: the unimpressive winner of the speed
tournament—speed chess something apparently beneath her. But he’d been wrong.
She had taken time to think of him and his game—lots of time. And he saw it in
her eyes yesterday then over and over again tonight that she had been
impressed.

So what? This wouldn’t be the first time
Hector had impressed a pretty girl or even a highly skilled chess player. What
was it about her? Why did he care so much? Why was he so damn fascinated with
her?
Fascinated enough to come chasing after her when he knew
it was a bad idea.

She was an enigma, one he had no business
trying to figure out. He knew this already. He’d gone through the list of whys
so many times, and the conclusion was always the same. Forget about it. Yet
he’d gone after her, and now here he was dangerously alone with her.

When he left the party to see if he might
catch her, even though she’d been gone for a few minutes, he had no idea what
he would do or say if he did. But he did know exactly what he shouldn’t do—the
very thing that was already clouding his senses. Seeing those big blue eyes go
even bigger when he realized she’d been watching him strip the layers of stuffy
clothes off had done it.

Pushing away the all too fresh memories of
holding her soft warm body against his, how good it felt to hold her hand and
wrap his arms around her, he smiled, tilting his head. “So why are you and Drew
leaving so early?”

“We have somewhere to be early tomorrow
morning.”

“Early on a Saturday
morning?
Where you going?” he asked, trying
to sound more curious than prying.

“A marathon in Long Beach.”

Hector raised his brows a bit surprised.
“Really?
So you’re a chess genius
and
a runner?”

She shook her head, smiling. Even though her
face tinged a little with color, Hector was glad she seemed to be calming. He
could tell after catching her off guard she seemed more than unnerved.

“I’d hardly call myself any kind of genius.”
She tucked a red strand of hair behind her ear with a timid smile. “And no, I’m
not a runner. I volunteer for the Special Olympics. They’re having a marathon
tomorrow.”

“Oh, yeah, yeah, my partner, Gio, was just
talking about that. He runs the youth program here at the gym and a few of them
are special needs. He mentioned a couple of them running in that this weekend.”
He peered at her as she looked around the room at the photos on the wall. “So
you and Drew are giving up your Saturday morning for this, huh?”

She turned back to him and nodded with that
little timid smile he was becoming so fond of now. “It’s not a sacrifice at
all. I’ve been doing it for years back home. Drew didn’t start until just last
year, but after volunteering just one time, she was hooked. She’s been doing it
with me ever since.”

Hector liked hearing her talk. There was
something so soothing about her sweet voice. He hadn’t really noticed that
about her until earlier in the party.
“And where is back
home?”

“Maryland.”

“Really?
Wow. You’re a long way from home.”

She walked around now, taking in the photos
on the wall again. “Tell me about it.”

Hector liked how the longer he was around her
the more relaxed she became. He liked how fast and easily she went from all
tensed up to relaxed. Just like earlier on the dance floor when he first put
his arms around her, she’d frozen up. But within minutes, he felt her giving
into the moment, and damn, what a moment that had been.

“So who do you stay with out here?”

He’d come in here a little worried that he
might do something he’d regret, but all he could think about was he wanted to
know more about her.

She turned to him with that tiny smile again.
It was almost as if she were afraid to smile too big. Though she’d come around
a little, the evidence of her shy demeanor was still very much there.
“With Drew and her dad.
Though her dad is
rarely around.
He’s a commercial pilot, so we pretty much have the house
to ourselves most of the time.”

He nodded. Good to know, but he wanted more
now. He took a few steps toward her, aware that he’d invited her in the room to
show her the “cool stuff” in there and he was yet to show her any of it. Still,
he knew his time alone with her would be brief, and he still had so many more
questions.

“Why’d you decide to go to school so far from
home?”

Her brows pinched for a second, and she
glanced back at him again, only this time minus the smile. “It was Drew’s idea
actually. She had to coax me into the idea.” Now she smiled. “She does that a
lot.” She bobbed her head a little, but it was nothing like when Walter’s dumb ass
did it. Charlee looked cute doing it. “If it weren’t for Drew, there’d be a lot
of things in my life I wouldn’t have done.”

“She must be pretty persuasive. Moving from
Maryland to California, that’s huge.”

For the first time, he heard her laugh. And,
of course, it had to be the sweetest laugh ever. “Oh, you’d be surprised. The
girl could talk an atheist into believing with little effort. But it wasn’t
just that. The chess scholarship I was offered to ESU was a big incentive. So
when Drew said she’d apply to ESU and got in, that sealed the deal.”

That reminded Hector of something. Getting
back to her earlier comment about not being a genius, he felt almost stupid now
about being so pissed over what she’d done yesterday.
“A
chess scholarship?
Impressive.
Not that I’m
surprised. I’d say only a chess genius could come up with what you did to me
yesterday.”
Her timid smile
flatlined
immediately.
“I’m not mad, okay? I mean I’ll admit I did feel a little
stupid—”

“I wasn’t trying to make you feel stupid,”
she said quickly then added in a lower voice, shaking her head softly,
“
I swear.”

He smiled even bigger, hoping to reassure
her. “I know that now, Charlotte.” He saw it yesterday when he called her that:
a flicker in her eyes he didn’t know what to make of then and still didn’t now.
“Do you not like being called Charlotte?”

Those big blue eyes looked up at him as she
shook her head. “No, I don’t mind. I just . . . I’m just a little surprised you
remember.”

Going against everything he’d been telling
himself since he walked into that party tonight, he took a step closer to her.
“Yeah, I remember,” he said, taking yet another step closer to her. “I also
remember you having more freckles. You cover them up?”

She nodded, staring at him the same way she
had yesterday, the very way she had on the dance floor. As if she wanted to say
more but wouldn’t—couldn’t. “Why?” Unable to hold back anymore, he touched the
soft flesh of her cheek with the back of his hand gently. It felt as soft as
he’d imagined, and the fact that she didn’t protest or even move away from him
made his heart pound like it had when he held her earlier. “You don’t like
them?”

Clearing her throat but not looking away, she
stared right at him. “No, I don’t.”

“I like them.” Feeling intoxicated by the
touch of her skin against his, he continued to caress the few freckles that
weren’t concealed around her lips with the tips of his knuckles.

He knew he should stop, but he couldn’t now.
The tips of his knuckles moved over her lips, and she closed her eyes, her
lashes fluttering along with the very subtle but undeniable tremble of her
body. She breathed in deeply and so did he. He had to. He was beginning to lose
it. Staring at her lips for a moment, he tried one last time to convince
himself he shouldn’t. Nothing in him, not his pounding heart, not his hungry
lips, not his aching, growing need—none of it was cooperating here.

Leaning in slowly, he brought his hand around
the back of her neck, touching his lips to hers and waited. Waited—his
breathing growing heavier with anticipation—the need to taste her mouth
insatiable now. He kissed her once, waiting again for a reaction. Then she
parted her lips, and it was all he needed. Cradling her head with both hands
now, he kissed her deeply, toying with her tongue, stopping only to suck her
bottom lip before ravenously going back in for more.

Feeling her arms come around his back now, he
took a few steps until they were leaning against the wall. A bit surprised that
not only did she not object but she kissed him back eagerly, he wondered how
far he should let this go. Sliding his mouth off her lips, he traced kisses
down her jaw line to her soft neck. She smelled so damn good it made him feel
crazed, and he sucked a bit harder than he anticipated. Then hearing her moan
in response only made him suck harder. Pulling away when he remembered just how
fair her skin was, he examined the area. He’d already left a mark. Luckily it
was far back enough her hair would cover it. But not wanting to make it any
darker, he kissed the spot one last time and went back to her lips.

To hell with Walter.
He’d had his chance more than once, and he chose grubbing over dancing
with Charlee. The guy had to be out of his fucking mind.

Pressing his body onto hers, feeling her soft
breasts push up against his chest, Hector pulled back. As much as that drove
him crazy, something in him wanted to make this very clear to her. This wasn’t
just about sex. Sure he had the biggest throbbing painful erection he could
remember ever having, but that’s not what this was about. A part of him would
love nothing more than to pull her dress up and fuck her right there if she’d
let him. The way her body was responding to his, something told him she just
might. There was a bigger part of him making him hold back: the same part of
him that had him tossing and turning the whole damn night last night.

Finally there was a sign of restraint on
Charlee’s
part. She brought her hand to his chest and
placed her open palm against it, pulling her lips away from his for the first
time since he’d begun kissing her. Breathing heavily, Hector searched her eyes.

“Those girls,” she said, breathlessly then
licked her lips. “The ones you were dancing with . . .”

Hector shook his head. He had a feeling
that’s why she’d left. “They’re just friends.”

“They came here with you.”

Still trying to catch his breath, he shook
his head again. “No, they walked in just as I was done my last interview, and
we just so happened to walk in together.”

“I’m not like them.”

“I know,” he agreed quickly. God, did he
know. She was completely different in every way.

She frowned. “I know that must sound really
stupid too because I’m here with you now, but—”

“Trust me, Charlotte,” he said, gently
lifting her chin with his finger. “I know you’re different.” He kissed the
small crease that had formed between her eyes from her frowning then kissed her
lips softly again. “So different,” he whispered then kissed her again.
“So sweet.”
He felt her exhale softly then smile against his
lips.

Dropping her hand from his chest and then
bringing it around his neck, she kissed him and gave into him completely again.
Groaning, he kissed her as deeply as he had the very first time, feeling
utterly crazed again. Every time they stopped for air, they were both panting
now as if they’d both just had a very long drink of water—an incredibly
delicious taste of water after days of going without. Coming up again, he had
to laugh a little. This was insane. She laughed too, biting her lower lip.

“You’re beautiful.” The words flew out of his
mouth before he could catch himself.

Her big blue eyes opened wide, confirming
what he’d just said like they had when he said her eyes were beautiful earlier.
She was beautiful.

“Thank you,” she said with that same
apprehensive smile that had caught his attention that very first day she
thanked him for knocking out the asshole beating on Walter.