The gentle tugging sensations at her hair roots were activating all the right pleasure centers in her brain. The TV screen blurred in her vision just before her eyes fell closed. Brian’s fingertips circled her temple and moved down to explore the crease behind her ear, giving her a little shiver. She turned her face into the pillow a bit more and he was able to reach her nape, digging firmly into the column of her neck. She hadn’t realized how achy and stressed she’d been until all those wretched feelings dissolved into the sheer bliss of his touch. It was almost enough to make tears prick the back of her eyes.

“That…is…awwwesome,” she moaned. The man had magic in his hands. To feel them in other places… “Can you do this for me every day?”

He exhaled a soft laugh. “Anytime. Maybe now you’ll have a reason to call me.”

“Mmm. You might have to change your number after this.”

“Never.”

She smiled dreamily into the pillow. The last thing on earth she wanted was to fall asleep and miss any moment of this. But the weight of her eyelids was becoming too much for her to bear. Before long, she lost the battle. Her thoughts muddled, drifted…and finally darkened.

Brian leaned over to see that Candace’s eyes were closed, her breathing deep and steady. She practically looked boneless, and he had to smile. That was exactly what he’d been going for.

She had some incredible tension in her muscles, and he had to wonder what was stressing her out so. She had so much going for her. Parents who catered to her every need, from what he could tell. Friends who loved her. College work was probably draining, but he couldn’t imagine that was the only thing that had her drawn so tightly. He’d always envisioned it as one big party, and for him, it probably would have been.

Candace was different. She probably had a 4.0 average. Overachiever. Too damn good to even call her a friend of his.

She was…exquisite. Her hair was a silken slide between his fingers, and he couldn’t keep his hands out of it. The smooth skin of her neck had been just as enticing, not to mention the throaty moans that had made him glad he’d put the pillow on his lap. Everything, everything about her enthralled him, from the relaxed curl of her fingers beside her face to the tiny gold earring glinting in her earlobe to the mouth-watering curve of her hip.

He could imagine those fingers curled somewhere else. That little gold ball was inviting his tongue to circle it. Those hips…Jesus Christ, it didn’t bear thinking about. All the same, his c**k pulsed, pressing against his zipper as his hand ached to slide down her body and travel that delectable curve.

He’d never wanted to let his mind go there, but Candace was undeniably one of those girls a man took one look at and knew she would eat him alive and lick her fingers clean afterward. Strong and curvaceous and devastatingly feminine. He didn’t know why she played it down so much, but more often than not she hid that incredible body beneath baggy clothes, and stuffed that shimmering blond hair up in a cap. It had always driven Michelle nuts, too.

One thing was for certain: he was stuck. The movie was ending but there was no way in hell he was disturbing her. Careful not to make any big movements, he toed off one Nike and then the other, getting as comfortable as possible. If she slept in his lap until the sun came up, that was fine with him.

Chapter Six

She awoke to him shifting under her. Turning her head back toward him, she saw that he was asleep, but he had to be uncomfortable with his head rolled over on his shoulder like that.

“Brian?” she whispered, sitting up and rubbing his arm. He winced and straightened, his brows drawing together as his eyelids lifted. Those incredible eyes focused on her. “Sorry I fell asleep on you.”

“S’all right. I should get going,” he said, and the drowsy cadence of his voice started a delicious melting in her lower belly.

The clock on her bookshelf revealed in glowing green numbers that it was after three a.m. “It’s so late…”

He stood and stretched his tall, lean physique in a way that reminded her of a sleek black panther. “I shouldn’t have crashed on you. You should go on to bed.”

She scrambled up next to him. “No, I mean…it’s so late, and you’re sleepy, so, um…you don’t have to go.” She became lost in the flickering light from the TV reflected in his dark eyes. “I hate to think of you out driving right now. I would worry about you.”

“Trust me, I’ve been out later than this.”

He must think she was a naïve little kid. Maybe she was. She felt she was operating on auto-pilot here. “I’m sure you have, but…I’d like for you to stay.”

“I really shouldn’t.”

“Why not?”

He just looked at her, a puzzled line appearing between his eyebrows.

“I’m not asking for anything,” she said in a rush. “I—”

Her voice gave out. How in the hell could she think she was ready for this, any of this, when she didn’t even have the guts to tell him out loud what she wanted?

She was a colossal failure at playing the seductress, and the humiliation bit into her hard and deep. If she struck out now, she would never be able to face him again, the only guy she’d ever felt…this…for.

Maybe it was twisted that she was contemplating exploring territory her cousin had treaded well, but that had become nothing more than an unhappy circumstance in her mind. Michelle had only seen him first. Michelle would probably do the same thing, were their positions reversed. Michelle would certainly know what to do in this situation, with a man she desperately wanted standing in her living room in the middle of a lonely night. She’d take him, make him hers, make him crazy with desire for her.

“You’re not?” he asked darkly, and her heart kicked against her rib cage. The look in his eyes then terrified her far more than any movie ever could have, but it was a thrilling, exciting fear. Like the last heart-stopping second before the roller coaster plunged down a straight-down track.

“I…well, y-yes, I am, actually.”

He took a step closer, and another, until he was only inches away. So close she could’ve reached out and slipped her hand under his shirt. Or put her arms around his waist to pull him closer. Or…

She couldn’t look up at him after her confession, focusing instead on the splotchy patterns on his shirt, on trying to keep her breath steady and even. It was a losing battle.

When his hand came up and his fingers brushed her cheek, she couldn’t help closing her eyes at the exquisitely gentle touch and leaning into its warmth.

“Candace,” he said softly. “You’re incredibly beautiful, and I—” He gave up with a sigh. She opened her eyes to see him lean his head back in despair for a moment. “I would be a fool to leave.”

He thinks I’m beautiful. She trembled, searching his face for any emotions that might cross it. All she saw was that his jaw was visibly clenched and his own gaze was now locked on where his hand lay against her cheek. He gave her skin a light stroke with his thumb, sending tingles down her spine. “But this isn’t what I had planned when I came here. I promise you that,” he said.

“That’s okay. I didn’t have it planned, either.”

“But I don’t think you were opposed to the idea, were you?”