Page 22 of Intersect

And I’m scared to learn what it is, because I’m pretty sure it was my fault.

7

QUINN

It’s dark when he pulls up to Caroline’s apartment on Sunday night. The streets are quiet and the air is balmy but not hot, and I wish we could just stay right here and not emerge from our bubble a little longer. He climbs out of the Jeep and grabs my bag for me.

“Don’t walk me in,” I tell him. “Just in case Jeff is in the lobby.”

He raises a brow. “You really think that would discourage me from walking you in?”

There’s no arguing with him, but my stomach doesn’t relax until we’ve reached the elevator. He wraps an arm around me as we ascend and I rest my head on his shoulder, wondering what comes next. He hasn’t brought up moving in together since this morning. Maybe he’s giving me space, or maybe he’s come to his senses. It would be best for both of us if he had, but it depresses me all the same.

When we reach Caroline’s door, sadness hits me hard, out of nowhere. I don’t want him to leave. He sweeps the hair that’s escaped my ponytail behind my ear, his fingers and his gaze lingering on my face. “What’s the matter?” he asks.

“Nothing.” My smile is forced, fleeting.

He presses his mouth to mine and in seconds I give into the pressure of his lips. Wanting more, as always. I arch against him and my bag falls to the floor as his hands grab my hips to pull me against him.

His mouth is on my jawline, my neck. I purr like a cat in heat.

“More,” I whisper, grabbing the neck of his T-shirt and pulling those perfect lips of his to my own.

I feel the groan of need rumbling in his chest, feel the moment something snaps inside both of us and we stop caring that we are in the hallway. His hands pull at my ass, so that he is pressed to the junction between my legs. My dress slides up and all that separates us are his shorts and my panties.

My leg wraps around his hip and my hand is on his zipper when the elevator dings and unloads a carful of laughing twenty-somethings. It’s the splash of cold water we need. In an instant my leg is back on the floor and he’s pulled my dress down, but by their suppressed laughter and raised brows as they pass, I intuit they got an eyeful of something.

He presses his forehead against mine. “Jesus Christ,” he whispers. “I’m sorry. I—”

“Stop apologizing,” I say, pressing my mouth to his. Within seconds his hands are sliding up my thighs again and almost as fast he pushes away, pinning me to the wall so I can’t chase him.

“I’m not going to ask you to move in again,” he says, pulling his lip between his teeth.

I nod, swallowing hard on my disappointment. “It’s probably for the best.” I stare at the floor to avoid his eye.

His index finger tips my chin up to meet his gaze. “I want to move in with you more than I have ever wanted anything. Okay, there’s one thing I probably want more.” His eyes flicker over me, a half-smile on his face. “But I’m not going to be Jeff. It was pretty easy to figure out what he was saying to you on the phone yesterday. I’m not going to be one more guy who tries to push you into doing what he wants. Just know that I hate that I’m going home without you.”

And then, pressing his lips to my forehead, he turns and walks away.

* * *

Inside the apartment, Caroline is lying on the couch with a huge smile on her face. “You look like you had a very satisfying weekend,” she says.

I sink into the chair across from hers. “Not entirely the way you’re thinking, but yes.”

Her mouth falls open. “You went away for the entire weekend and didn’t sleep with him?”

I would like to tell her everything, but it sounds too far-fetched, even for a best friend inclined to believe anything I say. “We’re just taking it slowly.”

“Oh my God,” she says, flinging herself dramatically across the couch, “a whole weekend with a gorgeous man and not a single orgasm? That’s terrible.”

I grin. “I didn’t say there were no orgasms. I just said we’re taking it slowly.”

She rolls toward me so fast she nearly falls right onto the floor. “I need details.”

I laugh to myself. She’s going to be so uninterested in the detail I’m about to share. “He wants me to move in with him.”

All the delight is sucked straight from her face. She sits upright. “Not what I was looking for. Tell me you’re not considering it?”