Melt With You

3. Max

Chapter Three

Max

Later that night, I pulled up in front of Midnight Sun Lodges. Glancing over to Harlow, I found her sound asleep, and I took a moment to absorb her. Her hair was mussed from the evening of dancing and socializing. Her dark lashes curled against her cheeks, and her face was relaxed in sleep, the lines of tension gone.

Harlow was all kinds of temptation. Right now, I needed to get her to her room.

After parking the car in a space close to the front entrance, I rounded it and carefully lifted her into my arms. She didn’t even stiffen as I held her against my chest. She sighed softly, tucking her head against my shoulder, and my heart twisted sharply. I didn’t know why Harlow affected me this way.

There was desire, but there was more under the surface. I had a burning curiosity about her. She’d shocked the hell out of me when she announced she was a firefighter. Ordering my body to behave, I carried her inside.

I had to wake her up just long enough to find out her room number, which she mumbled against my shoulder, and was out like a light again by the time we got there. I laid her down on the bed, intending to make my exit, but then I looked back at her.

Big mistake.

Her dress had ridden up around her hips, a glimpse of blue silk teasing me between her thighs, and her hair fell in a tousle on the pillows. My eyes flicked to the valley between her breasts. Just as I brought my gaze back to her face, Harlow’s eyes opened and caught mine in the dim light of the hotel room.

“Don’t go,” she murmured.

She was tipsy, and I knew that. Yet, I couldn’t seem to refuse her. Not when her stare held mine, and she beckoned me with her hand.

Next thing I knew, I’d kicked off my shoes and shrugged out of my jacket, telling myself I would stay until she fell asleep. She started to try to take her dress off, fumbling with the sleeves.

Fuck me. This was some kind of penance I didn’t know I owed.

When she got it twisted around her waist, I shackled the l**t rampaging through me and helped her shimmy out of her dress. She was beyond tempting in a blue silk b*a and matching panties. Reminding myself she was intoxicated, I quickly yanked the covers over her.

Clinging to my restraint, I leaned against the headboard, on top of the covers, and listened as she mumbled something about hating hotels and sleeping alone. My heart gave another twist. Any kind of emotional baggage typically sent me running when it came to women, but sensing the vulnerability in Harlow only heightened my response to her. I’ll only stay until she falls asleep.

I meant to leave.

The following morning, I came awake slowly, startled to realize I’d fallen asleep. Harlow was curled up against me. My c**k was hard, my body very aware of the delectable woman right there for the taking. I took a deep breath, grasping onto my control.

There weren’t many situations where my control was tested, yet, just now, I nearly ached with need for her. The only problem was, Harlow was a close friend of Owen and Ivy’s, and I didn’t like things to be messy. Getting skin to skin with Harlow smacked of messy.

There was that, and the fact that I wanted her more fiercely than I’d wanted anyone for as long as I could remember. The only woman who’d ever called to me like this had illuminated just how shallow the idea of love could be. That woman was the reason I treated relationships almost as professional as work.

Sex was a transaction, but as much as I wanted Harlow, I couldn’t quite think of her like that. I carefully shifted, intending to roll out of bed and make my exit quietly. The moment I started to move, Harlow did as well, and I felt when she came awake. She bolted upright, her eyes flying wide open. She stared at me, her cheeks turning a delectable shade of pink.

Her hair was a tangled mess, falling down and partially masking her breasts behind the blue silk of her b*a. As I looked at her—because my eyes had a f*****g mind of their own—I saw her n*****s tighten, playing peekaboo with me through the dark locks of her hair.

Fuck me.

“Oh my God! What are you doing here?!” She gasped, snatching up the sheet and tucking it under her armpits.

I swung my legs off the bed, relieved I was almost fully dressed.

“Nothing happened, Harlow.”

My c**k strained against my fly. Down boy.

Harlow stood, turning with the sheet and wrapping it around her. I almost burst out laughing, but she looked so damn mad, I bit my tongue.

“Why are you here?” She stood before me, looking like a f*****g queen in a bed sheet, her gaze shooting daggers, and her cheeks rosy red.

“You fell asleep on the ride back. I carried you up, and you asked me to stay.”

I raked a hand through my hair, leaning my elbows on my knees, which also bought me a moment to get my body under control. I didn’t usually have this problem. But then, I didn’t make it a habit to spend the night with women. I had s*x, I went on dates, I even had a few long-term arrangements, but I never spent the night.

I’d broken my own rule, and I hadn’t even gotten anything out of it.

“I think you should go,” Harlow said, her voice tight.

I managed to get my c**k under control by keeping my mind firmly on the numbers on my latest balance sheet from a company we’d recently acquired. They’d done a piss-poor job of management, so the numbers were memorable.

I stood, on the heels of a deep breath, and turned to face her again. Holy hell, she was f*****g gorgeous. I’d noticed last night that she didn’t even bother with makeup, not even lipstick. Her plump, pink lips were twisted sideways as she worried the bottom corner with her teeth.

My eyes were drawn there like a bee to honey, and my c**k threatened to ignore my mind again. I shifted gears, keeping my eyes locked to hers and envisioning the lines of red numbers.

“I’m leaving now.”

Rounding the end of the bed, I slipped my shoes on, snagged my jacket off the back of a chair, and picked up my tie.

“Thank you for the ride,” she said, her voice stilted.

She seemed tense, and that only made matters worse. I would love to see all that tied-up energy let loose. I had a feeling Harlow would be wild in bed. Too bad she didn’t fit my requirements. First and foremost, I wanted her too much. She was also a friend of a friend, and I didn’t need the complications.

“How much longer will you be in Diamond Creek?” I asked, pausing by the door.

Harlow held my gaze. I was fairly certain she didn’t notice the sheet was pulled tight across her breasts, and that I could see the tight points of her n*****s. I didn’t think she would appreciate me filling her in on that tidbit, so I kept my mouth shut and my eyes on hers.

“Maybe a few days. You?”

“Same. I suppose I’ll see you at the lodge then.”

She nodded tightly. “I’ll be up later for the breakfast.”

I bit back the urge to ask her if she wanted a ride, and as I left the hotel, I decided it might be best if I steered clear of Harlow. She was much too tempting.