Alex follows me up my front porch and waits as I unlock the door. Flipping the lights on as we enter, I wait for him to come in and shut the door behind him. After I set my keys and purse down on one of the end tables, I ask, “Do you want something to drink?”

“No,” he says as he walks over and sits down on my couch.

“Do you want a tour of my house?” I ask, which seems ludicrously stupid.

“No. I want you to come sit down next to me,” he says as he pats the cushion. “I think I’d rather make out with you a little bit before I have to leave.”

There go my palms again, sweating up a storm; I wipe them on my jean-clad thighs. He, of course, notices that move and I feel like an idiot.

“Are you nervous?” he asks.

“A little,” I admit as I walk toward him slowly.

When I reach the couch, he lifts a hand out to me and I put mine hesitantly in his, praying to God I got all the moisture off. He clasps me warmly and says, “I don’t bite.”

Some of my nervousness melts away and I relax marginally, but then he gives a tug on my hand and I go falling toward him with a yelp. I land on his lap, and he expertly turns me to the side so my legs drape across the couch and his arm supports my back.

Alex is grinning at me, for some reason enjoying the tension that I’ve let build up because of my nerves. His other hand comes up, skimming his fingertips down my jaw. “You’re adorable when you’re nervous,” he says. “I like that.”

“I’m sorry,” I blurt, but before I can get another word out, he leans in and kisses me.

And even though this is the second time that his lips have been against mine this day, I realize that what he did to me before could not even be categorized as a kiss. In fact, I’m not sure that any other man’s lips touching mine—and there haven’t been that many—could have even been considered a kiss.

I’m not sure if it’s the softness with which he first touches me, or the way that my lips seem to follow his when he opens his mouth to let his tongue slide in, but every nerve, tendon and muscle in my body seems to fire hot with pleasure. The contact is so explosive, so richly captivating, that I immediately feel like I’m drowning in a sea of desire.

I’m completely embarrassed that at the first touch of his tongue to mine, I moan loudly into his mouth and my arms snake quickly around his neck to pull him closer. For a woman who just proclaimed not two minutes ago that I wasn’t ha**ng s*x with him tonight, I sure as hell want to strip na**d and climb on top of him right now.

Alex’s arms come around me tighter and our mouths move more insistently against each other’s. My fingers slide into his long hair and I marvel for a moment how soft and silky it is. Then Alex’s mouth breaks away from mine and he runs his lips across my jaw and down my neck, the stubble of his chin causing electrical sparks to fire across my skin.

I feel so hot and needy, and I want him to go further. To hell with what I just said down in Alex’s car, I want to have sex with Alex—right this very minute. Mentally urging his hands to move, to explore, to strip, I almost beg him out loud to do those things to me.

Almost, and I’m glad I don’t, because Alex ends up being the sane one of the two of us, and he pulls away from me with a frustrated sigh and a whole lot of heavy breathing.

Leaning his forehead against my temple, he says, “God, I could do that all night.”

“I couldn’t,” I grumble and he lifts his head to look at me in curiosity. “I mean…I couldn’t just kiss all night…I’d want to do other things,” I say quietly as I close my eyes in mortification.

“Hey,” Alex says softly as he grasps my chin with one hand. I open my eyes and look into his, noticing that he actually has a circle of dark gray right around his pupils. “Don’t be embarrassed by that. There’s nothing more that I want to do at this very moment than to—”

He breaks off quickly, and releases his hold on my face. Picking me up slightly, he moves me off his lap and sets me beside him. Turning toward me, he slings one arm across the back of my couch and runs the other through his hair.

“Sutton, I want you badly and had you not just told me a few minutes ago that we weren’t ha**ng s*x tonight, you’d better be damn straight I’d be f**king you right now. But I’m respecting that and we’ll get there when we get there.”

“You could have had me tonight,” I tell him cautiously, part of me hoping he’ll take that as an invitation and will start kissing me again. I’d capitulate in a heartbeat if he kissed me the same way.

“I know,” he growls low. “I felt it…that kiss was…”

“Yeah, it was, wasn’t it?”

“So f**king good,” he says and the way his words rumble out of his lips causes tremors to race up and down my spine.

“The best,” I murmur, embarrassed slightly to admit that, and I hope that’s not a turnoff in any way.

“The best,” he agrees and my heart melts a tiny bit because he actually sounds humbled by it.

We stare at each other a moment more and I can feel a buzz of energy actually start to build around us while we get lost in each other’s eyes. Alex can feel it too, and suddenly it feels dangerous to be this close to each other. He stands abruptly and says, “I probably should get going. I think we both know what’s going to happen if I stay.”

I stand up behind him and practically have to clamp my hand over my mouth to stop myself from saying, “Oh, to hell with it. Let’s have sex.”