LILA

Lila was outside on the porch alone. Dane had gone upstairs to the shower and she'd told him to take his time, that she'd see him when he was done. She'd tried sitting in the living room, but the outside called to her. It was so quiet and fresh here—especially after being in the city. She'd taken a book, but she hadn't read any of it.

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Dane had been gone a long time, but she was kind of happy about it.

She was very, very busy breathing. Just breathing.

She was also very busy convincing herself that this was all real.

The Dane she'd met last year had been so… distant. Unattainable—not because of his status, but because he was so angry, so closed off. She'd found him attractive from the first moment. But this… yearning in her now. It had started very quickly. And she'd stifled it.

The Lila Farris who walked into Daniels Security that day would never have believed her if she'd said this was where they'd end up.

Not even close…

…she'd been walking up the hallway with Tish—who seemed so timid and tired—when the voices rose in the room up the hallway and she'd startled.

Suddenly a door swung open just ahead of them and two massive men stepped out. Tish squeaked. But Lila's breath caught as Dane Daniels, the man she'd seen on countless websites and news reports stormed into the hallway. He was so tall he almost had to duck coming out of the door. The movement made his black hair fall into his eyes. His broad shoulders cut a sharp line in the perfect gray suit, just tight enough to cling to his biceps and thighs when he moved. His long legs ate up the space between them as he stalked the hallway, eyes narrowed and chiseled jaw tight…

She'd thought of that moment so many times in those early weeks. The way her breath stopped. The way her body thrummed—like he was an electrical current that raised the hair on her arms. She'd been overwhelmed by him, but unwilling to let him know it.

He'd seemed like a force of nature back then. A storm to be corralled and controlled. Something impossible.

The door sounded behind her, creaking quietly. She turned her head to find Dane standing there, his hair still wet from the shower, his long limbs covered in soft, thin pants and shirt that were comfortable, but trim enough to hint at all his ripples and firm placed.

She swallowed and scanned him, the heat beginning low in her belly. But then she noticed his feet. She grinned. "Hey, look at you! You're barefoot!" she said.

Then she blinked and tumbled back through time to the first time she'd gone to his Penthouse…

…He stood in the massive doorway of his Penthouse in a pair of perfect gray athletic pants that looked softer than her pillow, and a cream colored sweater that hung off his shoulders like it had been knitted for him, while the high neck flipped up to brush his nape at the back. He'd pushed the sleeves up his forearms. His hair was mussed, falling across his eyes.

His feet were bare.

And huge.

Lila's mouth was open. She needed to close it. But he was…beautiful.

"Delilah?" he said. "Are you okay?" Something about his voice sounded a little off—a little too bright, but she didn't have the braincells left to figure it out.

He was gorgeous. She swallowed. Hard.

"Delilah?" He sounded worried now. She definitely needed to speak. Speak, dammit!

"You're barefoot," she blurted…

She blinked, her heart squeezing as Dane looked down at this feet, then one side of his mouth slid up in a half smile and Lila would have sworn her heart was going to pound out of her chest. "Is that bad?"

"No… not at all. Not even close," she said, aching to be near him, then tipped her head towards the couch.

To her delight, he insisted on sitting behind her, laying her head in his lap. And even though she wasn't going to read, just being in that position with him on a couch reminded her of that first time in the apartment together.

It was the hottest thing she'd ever done. Ever let anyone do to her…

…she'd been laying there, head on his thighs, her breath already faster than it should have been because just touching him made her heart speed up. He'd had that stupid phone call and she was pissed, but then… then… his fingers had trailed down to her hair, to her shoulder, down her side. Slowly, slowly, slowly.

She'd gone very still, afraid she'd scare him off. Still pretending to read the book. But she got goosebumps from the gentle touch.

Then he'd gotten brave, his fingers sliding along her collarbone, then down to circle her breast and she'd gone tense, waiting to see what he'd do. But he'd teased her, dragging his touch back up her side, then extended his long arm to let his fingers trail down, along first the outside of her thigh, then back up the inside.

She'd shivered with anticipation.

And he'd kept doing it. Stroking, trailing, raising the hairs on her skin, raising goosebumps, raising her heartrate.

At some point she gave up trying to read the book and let it drop, her arms at her sides, as she blew out a breath and tipped her head back a little when his fingers trailed up her side again. He took the invitation to let his fingertips slide up between her breasts this time, to the skin at her throat, then her neck, then through her hair.

Then he'd started again at her knee—

"Dane?" she said, her voice kind of strangled.

"Yes?"

"Remember the first time we went to the apartment. When you were still scared of me being a virgin? And we laid there, just like this?"

She tipped her head up to look at him, smiling. And his gorgeous smile grew.