With the click of the latch, it hit her all at once.
She’d just made out with Graham. Her friend and roommate. Had let him—no, encouraged him to—hoist her onto a piece of furniture and grind his body against hers while her tongue tasted his mouth.
All with the door wide open.
Was Reagan home? What if she’d walked by?
Claire pushed him back and slid down, landing on unsteady legs, and swung the door open.
“No, we’re not about to do it,” she whisper-yelled. “Momentary lapse in judgment.”
Graham’s dark eyes held steady, still dancing with desire, but now with his usual hint of challenge. “It was pretty hot. Hotter than I expected. Don’t you want to see if the rest is that good?”
Hotter than he expected? Had he thought about this before?
She worked to keep her voice steady and strong. “Nope.”
“Liar.”
If he tried to kiss her again, odds were high she wouldn’t deny him. But despite the big talk and teasing, Graham wasn’t the type to force a woman to do anything.
Not that he’d ever need to. He’d probably gotten laid based off that smile alone.
Shaking the thought away, she directed her gaze over his shoulder, unsure what she’d do if she looked at his lips again.
Something occurred to her then, and she frowned. “Where’s your evil dog?” Usually when Claire came anywhere near Graham while they were home, Gertrude was never far, growling and making her disapproval well known.
He laughed lightly as if he knew why she’d asked. “She’s getting her hair done. I probably need to leave soon to go pick her up.”
He grinned and Claire’s stomach flipped.
She needed to get the hell out of there.
“Here’s the deal. We’re gonna forget what just happened. I’m glad you’re okay, but I’m pissed at you for making me worry. I get to control the thermostat tonight—” She held up a hand when he opened his mouth to protest. “It’s fair punishment so don’t even try to argue. Turn on your fan, sleep naked, whatever the hell you need to do. But it’s going to seventy-two and I don’t want to hear a peep.”
He arched a challenging brow. “I’ll definitely be sleeping naked. You know, if you change your mind about exploring this a little more…” He gestured between them with his index finger.
Clearing her throat, she smoothed out her scrub top and before spinning around to leave, made one parting comment—pact be damned.
“Believe me, Graham. What we just did? I can say with one hundred percent certainty, it will never, ever happen again.”
His laugh followed her out the door as she attempted to saunter away with confidence.
“We’ll see about that.”
4
Graham really wanted it to happen again.
He shifted between the sheets, wearing just a pair of boxer briefs. Yeah, part of him wanted to be prepared in case Claire changed her mind, but it was mostly because he was burning the fuck up.
Who could sleep in this inferno?
He’d even sent Gertrude to the dog bed in the corner of his room. Normally he didn’t mind her sleeping at the foot of the bed, but she was a mini–space heater he didn’t need right now.
It was possible thinking about kissing Claire was at least partly responsible for his elevated body temperature, but mostly it was the thermostat setting.
Probably.
Honestly, though. He couldn’t stop his brain from replaying the scene over and over in his mind. So many things had flashed in her eyes in those minutes, and for a woman who spoke her mind so freely, there sure was a lot she kept hidden.
Here he’d thought he was the only one with secrets.
Claire coming home in a mood was nothing out of the ordinary. The fact that her anger was directed toward him wasn’t even uncommon. But the source of it all being how much she cared about him? Had been worried about him?
That was a damn revelation.
As was the split second of heat that followed, then the shocking feel of her lips against his. It had only taken a moment for his body to catch up, and Claire was the last person he’d leave with a half-assed kiss.
After what he witnessed on the porch with Merlin or whatever his name was, it was basically his duty to redeem men everywhere. Even if he could only give her part of what she was looking for in a man, turned out he was very, very interested in assisting in that particular department.
He’d done a pretty good job, too. She’d tried to play it off, but she’d been into it. Maybe after sleeping on it she’d be willing to revisit the topic of their friends-with-benefits scenario. Why wait until forty if the chemistry was there now?