"Why would you say that?"
"Because I can't believe that I could be lucky enough to have you as a friend and as a lover."
Halley didn't know what to say, and the myriad of emotions crashing through her were confused and jumbled. But she could show him how she felt. She moaned and gripped his back to show approval.
Then without warning he stopped moving.
She dropped to the balls of her feet, her calf muscles straining from standing on her toes for so long. She was no ballerina and ten seconds away from intense muscle cramping.
"Why are you stopping?" She pushed herself against him, giving a little whimper as he sank deeper into her.
He laughed softly. "To tease you."
It was working.
Then he started thrusting again, harder and faster this time, lifting her back up onto her toes and driving the air from her lungs.
"I love you, Halley."
A cry flew out of her mouth as an orgasm built inside her, her passion blending with confusion as their sweat-slick bodies touched each other.
"Evan." She wanted to believe him. There was nothing she had ever wanted quite as much.
But it wasn't that simple. Or maybe it could be.
"Do you love me?" he whispered into her ear, his hot breath tickling her.
There was no way to lie, nowhere to hide, not with him holding her in his arms and his body making her feel as if she could rip apart.
"Yes."
He swallowed the word as she spoke it, covering her mouth in a crushing kiss of possession.
There, she'd done it. Told him the truth, exposed herself to pain and loss if this didn't work out. But those thoughts were shoved resolutely to the back of her mind as she tasted Evan, slipped her tongue into his mouth and wrapped her arms around his smooth warm neck.
If this was a mistake, she was going to enjoy it while she could.
Evan urged, "Let me feel you come."
And so she did.
Chapter Seven
Halley left Evan in bed, making an adorable little snuffling snoring sound, and went over to his dresser. She pulled out a pair of his boxer shorts and stepped into them. After dragging one of his T-shirts on over her unruly hair, she went down the hall to the kitchen, walking softly so she wouldn't wake him.
There had been plenty of times in the past when she had worn his clothes for various reasons, but this was different. For one thing, she wasn't wearing any panties, since hers were beyond repair. But she'd also never made love to Evan before, and his scent was still on her skin, mixing with the clean softness of the clothes, making her feel practically delirious with happiness.
In a matter of minutes, she had found enough ingredients in Evan's refrigerator to have an omelet cooking on the stove as she hummed to herself. She caught herself and laughed. Geez, she was humming. Something she never did. While cooking for him.
How pathetic was that?
But it didn't feel pathetic. It felt… right.
Like this was where she was supposed to be. But she was terrified to tell Evan. Sure, he had said he loved her, but she had always known that, had heard him say it before. What she didn't know was what Evan wanted from her. Just a roll in the hay here and there, or a relationship.
If she asked, he might give her an answer that she didn't want to hear.
Working so hard to build her business, she had never had time to make a lot of friends. She had met Evan her first day at college, and had been friends with him ever since. She couldn't imagine him not being in her life.
Loading the dishwasher with what looked like a week's worth of dirty dishes, Halley knew she and Evan were going to have to talk sooner or later.
Just not today. Today she just wanted to enjoy him.
Glad to see he'd taken out his trash, she flipped the omelet, then squirted soap into the dishwasher and shut the door. She turned the machine on, then spun around to find Evan standing in the door yawning.
Naked.
He sniffed the air. "Mmm. Something smells good."
Halley backed up a foot as he strode into the kitchen, filling the room with his masculine presence. Her butt hit the counter, and the dishwasher buttons pressed into her.
"It's an omelet, no big deal." It felt ridiculous, all of a sudden, that she had cooked for him.
Which made no sense, since she had done that dozens of times before. She had known sleeping together would change their relationship for the worse, make it uncomfortable, and here it was, happening already.
"It is a big deal." He kissed her forehead. "Thanks."
Brushing him aside, she reached over and turned off the heat. "Shit, it's burning."
His finger snaked out and ripped off a piece. He tossed it in his mouth and said, "It tastes perfect."
Damn, why did that please her so much?
And why did she like that he was nuzzling into her neck?
"You look cute in my clothes."
"Well, I had to wear something." Halley tried not to be turned on, but she was failing miserably.
Evan was nibbling on her ear, his hands reaching up under the T-shirt to cup her breasts.
"You're naked under those boxer shorts, aren't you?"
Halley heard a roaring in her ear, then realized it was the dishwasher as the water started shooting through the clean cycle. "Yes."
"Good." Strong hands gripped her waist, tossing her onto the counter.
Halley sat down with a hard thump and stared at Evan in disbelief. "Geez, what are you doing?"
Actually, she had a pretty good idea what he was doing. "I just turned the dishwasher on, you know."
She was sitting right on top of it, and could feel the vibration through the countertop, jiggling her thighs where she was already starting to feel uncomfortably aroused.
"Even better." He moved between her legs, forcing them apart.
He gave her a long, slow kiss that left her breathless.
The slit in the boxer shorts she was wearing was yanked apart. "Are you okay to do this?" he asked. "Or are you getting sore?"
Okay was an understatement. She was dripping in pleasure. "I'm okay."
The T-shirt was tugged up and over her head. Evan bent over her breast and sucked lightly on her nipple, making her squirm in need.
"This tastes even better than the omelet."
The counter was still vibrating, and steam was floating out from around the dishwasher door, rushing between her legs and causing her nipples to tighten. Halley gripped the back-splash and arched her head, crying out as Evan drove a finger into her.
He stretched her with two, then before she could blink, had moved himself into place and thrust into her through the opening in the boxers. It was unexpected and rough, the urgency on Evan's face exciting her.
There was no slow buildup of rhythm, but just fast strokes and his hands on her hips urging her to meet him thrust for thrust. Still gripping the counter, she could do nothing but take and feel. His hard abdominal muscles bumped against her clitoris with each push into her, and she felt it all the way down to her toes.
Halley was burning hot from the steam and her own passion, and when Evan leaned forward and kissed her, his tongue pushing past hers, she broke on a long, slow, shivering orgasm.
As she grabbed the strength to push forward and meet him, stealing the last shudders of pleasure, Evan followed suit, calling her name out into her shoulder.
It was a sound she wanted to hear again and again.
"Damn, how do you do that?" he said a second later, rubbing his lips across her clavicle bone.
"Do what?" Halley dragged in a breath.
"Make me so hot so fast?" He shook his head. "It must be the years of repressed lust."
Halley jerked up. "Years?" What exactly did that mean?
He pulled back, out of her. "Listen, Halley, I think we need to talk."
Oh, geez, here it was. The weird, awkward conversation where they both fumbled for the right words. The talk where it was possible her heart just might break.