Page 47 of Burn With Me

She went to look away, but I moved to follow her gaze and dropped my head to kiss her again, but this time it was slow and soft—a tease of a kiss that promised so much more.

“Do you, Vi,” I asked again.

“Yes,” she whispered.

“Good, so do I.”

She watched me as I moved slowly and laid my lips against the pulse on her neck. The feel of her fast pulse under her skin increased the throbbing in my jeans.

“I think you should come over to my place tomorrow. Have all the cases sent to my house, and we can look through them together. I have an idea forming, but I want to be sure before I voice it,” I said, reluctantly stepping back from her body as a couple more cars pulled into the parking lot.

“There are a lot of boxes,” she said, her voice a little rough, and it brought me great joy to know that I’d caused that reaction in her.

“That’s fine. I’ll text you the address, and why don’t we make it a late lunch? Say two?”

Vi smoothed down the front of her shirt even though there wasn’t a wrinkle to be found. “Okay, I’ll be there, but only if I bring the lunch. Do you like Thai?”

“As a matter of fact, I love Thai. Get me anything sweet and a little spicy.” I smiled as she cleared her throat and stepped around me toward her car.

“Why do I feel like I’m going to be heading straight into a lion’s den,” she asked, making me laugh.

“Maybe because you are,” I said.

I waited until she was in her vehicle and driving away before I got into my truck. If I had my way, Ms. Violet Clarke would be tied down to my bed tomorrow while I ravished her body.

Violet

I hated this sensation. My hands were all sweaty and heart-pounding, while my neglected female parts ached and tingled every time I thought about Asher. Was this normal? And if it was, how did people enjoy this feeling?

“Pull yourself together, Vi. He’s just a guy,” I mumbled as I walked up the steps to his front door.

Not that the pep talk did me any good. He’d already managed to push all my buttons and tie me up inside. The way he looked at me was enough to make me all fluttery. I didn’t even know what the hell fluttery was, but it was the only way to describe what I felt around him.

I glanced around the large yard. Asher had a nice bungalow that looked to be sitting on a couple of acres that led down to a dock and a boat. Everything was perfectly manicured. The trees were neatly trimmed, the driveway didn’t have a speck of dirt on it, and the flowers were a vibrant rainbow of color and stood out even amongst the overcast sky.

Why had I agreed to this? Why had I demanded to bring over lunch…dinner…whatever this was? I reached out and pushed the doorbell, but as soon as I did, the last of my bravado stood up and ran away. The idea of being alone with him in his home had me turning the other way to bolt, but the door opened just as I spun around.

“Running away so soon,” Asher asked. His voice was dripping with arrogance and a hint of sarcasm. My back bristled at being called out. I hated being scared and didn’t like to admit it to a man.

Plastering on a smile, I turned to meet his gaze, and I would’ve sworn he was making me crazy. As soon as I looked at his expression and the calm way he was leaning against the door, I could only think about the kiss yesterday. Forget running. I was tempted to strip out of the stupid dress Beck made me put on and tell him just to take me already. I was sure that would’ve gotten a strange look from his neighbors.

“I forgot something in the car,” I lied. Like I was walking the plank, I took the three steps back up to where Asher stood. Each step felt like I was being reeled in by some invisible line. “Here, you take the food. I’ll be right back.”

“Are you sure?” He smirked. “I mean, I could be wrong, but you looked more like you were getting ready to take off down the street when I opened the door.”

I was really starting to hate how intuitive he was when it came to me. I didn’t like people seeing through me, not even Beck. “Oh, I’m sure it did to you, but that’s just because you don’t know me as well as you like to think you do.”

He laughed and took the large paper bag from my hands. “Who are you trying to convince, Vi? Me or yourself,” he said, a wicked smile pulling up the corner of his mouth. I wanted to smack that smile off his face. Whipping around and leaving the door open, Asher padded off into his house. He looked way too comfortable in surfer trunks and a T-shirt. My eyes were transfixed by the way his hard ass moved under the thin material.

Fuck it. Who was I fooling?

I closed the door and took off my sandals before following the same path Asher had taken a moment ago. My eyes were instantly drawn to his arms as they flexed, pulling the food containers out of the bag. He glanced at me out of the corner of his eye, and knots settled in my stomach.

“The files arrived right on time. You weren’t kidding when you said there were a lot of them.”

“Huh?” I said, shaking away the fogginess that had decided to descend upon my brain.

Asher looked at me like he knew all my secrets, and I forced myself not to squirm under his stare as he reached for plates.