“It’s your phone,” she said softly. Her emotions were confused, she was torn between running away and diving into his arms; part of her willing to risk the heartache however much her mind screamed that she would hurt over this man if she let this go any further. And what was the truth? Was Whitney telling the truth? Was he cold and unemotional? Even Alex had said so himself. Tonight certainly indicated otherwise, but maybe he was just playing games. She was scared because when she was with him, she was weak.
She had to get away before she lost herself even more.
7
Sweet and Savory
Angel tiptoed into her apartment, careful not to wake Jillian or Becca. She was completely shaken by the events of the evening. So much for her resolve to keep control of the situation, her theory that sex with Alex Avery would quell the ache was screwed. It only made her hungry for more. He was sexier than any man she’d ever seen. So hot, so practiced, so confident, and so vocal about what he wanted.
Angel was physically quaking and mentally rattled. She didn’t even remember the short cab ride home after she’d bolted down the stairs, threw on her dress, and gathered up her shoes. She was out the door and racing down the stairs well before Alex could follow.
His voice still echoed in her head. “Angel! Stop!”
She sucked in a deep breath, filling her lungs to capacity as she tiptoed down the hall to her room. His scent was all over her—on her clothes, on her skin—and her heart felt heavy when her bedroom door clicked shut behind her. She dropped her shoes and threw her purse on the bed. With trembling hands, she undid the clasp on her dress, the same one she’d so boldly let loose two hours earlier in front of Alex’s huge window in the great room of his apartment.
“What the fuck are you playing at, Angel?” she said with a ragged breath. “He will eat you alive.” How in the hell could I think I’d be immune to all that blatant masculinity and smoldering sex appeal? Her dress fell in a pool on the floor and she left it where it landed, pulling back the covers, crawling beneath them and folding her body in on itself. She should take a shower, but she was unwilling to wash his essence from her body just yet. Her throat ached, her mind raced, her eyes burned, and her body… felt empty. The physical imprint of Alex was still there, holding her open, aching. Never before had she been left wanting like this, with her mind refusing to shut off. Her breath came hard and deep as she struggled to get her heart and pulse under control.
The phone in her purse started playing S.E.X. by Nickleback and Angel started in the bed. Of course, it was Alex calling the phone he’d sent with the flowers. Her brow creased. She should run and keep on running, but she craved the sound of his voice. She wanted him to prove Whitney’s accusations wrong and to believe he was so much more than that… wanted it so much that her heart squeezed and iron bands tightened around her chest, making breathing difficult. She gasped as she finally reached for the phone and the music stopped.
“Uhhhh…” Will he leave a message? she wondered, angry at herself because she wanted to answer, but conversely that she’d been too slow about it. Seconds ticked by and the beep of the message being recorded never came. Her heart sank. The screen on the phone blurred before it went black.
Shit.
Angel clenched her teeth and rolled onto her back, confusion left her off-balance. Did she want to see him or run as far from him as possible? Did she want to fuck him or make love to him? She stopped dead and pulled in another deep breath, her fist slamming hard against the mattress. Those thoughts had no place in the same space as Alexander Avery.
She started violently when the phone in her hand rang again. The words of the song he’d picked for his ringtone burned into her cognizance. How in the hell did he know how she felt? How did he connect with her like he did? Was he some sort of superhuman that got off on screwing with her perfectly organized, safe life?
“Is sex always the answer for you?” she breathed into the phone, repeating words used in the song.
Nothing but silence followed.
“Is it?” she asked again softly. The sound of his breathing washed over her, making her body quicken as if he was right there next to her. She closed her eyes. She could feel his breath—the heat; the passion—rushing like a physical caress over her skin.
“I used to think so. Until tonight,” he said honestly. His voice was low and velvety smooth. “But I don’t know anymore.”
It was her turn to be silent as she rolled onto her side and pulled her knees up to her chest. The safest thing… the smartest thing, was to hang up the phone, but she just couldn’t.
“Don’t say things like that just because you think it’s what I need to hear.”
He sighed heavily; slightly sad she would have that thought after the magical evening they’d just shared. “I’m not. I wanted to make sure you arrived home safely. Have you?” He was lying on his bed in the dark, moved beyond words by the woman who rocked his fucking world and then evaporated like a ghost in the night.
“Yes.”
Neither of them was willing to end the call, each searching for words, reliving the amazing evening they’d just spent together.
Finally. Alex sighed. “I wish you hadn’t left. I wasn’t ready to stop touching you.”
Angel bit her lip, shivers rocking through her body, sending bumps scattering along the skin of her back and limbs, making her nipples hard and her clit throb. “Your voice… Alex, you’re giving me goose bumps without touching me.”
Alex ran a hand down his face, his heart pushing blood all around his body, his cock full and aching. “Christ, Angel. Tonight was momentous. I’ve never felt so… completely connected this fast.” Or ever, he thought.
“It scares me.”
“Is that why you ran away?”
“I didn’t run away.”
“Didn’t you?”
“It’s like I told you. That wasn’t me.”
“Which part? The smart, snarky part that mind fucks me at every turn, or the soft, so sexy part that drives me insane with desire? When you came for me… I’ve never felt so powerful. It was incredible.”
“No, Alex. The part that drops her dress on the first date.” She groaned, so softly it made his dick twitch. “I’ve never done that before.”
“That makes it even better. You know, this isn’t how I operate either. I usually take it for what it is and don’t think twice about it once it’s over.”
“Yes, like you said that first night on the phone. I remember.”
“I’ve never been left wanting more before it even ends, until you. Will you give this a chance, Angel?”
“I’m not like Whitney. That could never be me”
He replied sarcastically, clearly annoyed. “Like Whitney? Are you even listening to what I’m saying? You’re nothing like her. I didn’t give her a second thought. But you? You’re all I fucking think about! Everything I never knew I wanted.”
Angel gasped. They were only words, but they were so powerful. Pulling her heart, making her body ache in ways she never knew possible. This man, whom she barely knew, moved her more than anyone ever had. “Please, stop.”
“Stop what? Being honest? I thought that’s what you wanted and I have been. Completely.”
“I want to believe that.”
His voice, soft and warm just seconds before, turned angry and exasperated. “Why can’t you? Haven’t I treated you with respect? Didn’t I ask to see you again? Can you trust your instincts instead of the brief synopsis you got from that plastic bitch?”