Davis, Lexie - Tempted (Siren Publishing Classic) Read online

  “Can I tell you something?” she whispered softly.

  “Anything.”

  Her palm brushed against his nipple. He waited for her to speak, pulling her tighter.

  “I think I’m falling in love with you...I–I love you.”

  Sean swallowed, not knowing what to say. He pulled the covers over their bodies and opted to hold her instead. The truth was, he thought the same thing, and it scared him shitless.

  Chapter Six

  Day four of Ali’s vacation was spent entirely in bed with Sean. He fixed her breakfast like he’d promised. He also made her lie flat on her back and let him eat fruit off her body like he’d promised. They ordered lunch in and decided to watch the sunset in the evening on his back patio. She wanted romance, and on the fourth day, that’s exactly what she got.

  Sean lent her a robe, pulled one on for himself, and they settled outside on the lounge. He wrapped her in his arms and kissed her periodically.

  “How’s your vacation so far?” He brushed her hair from her face.

  “Wonderful.” She smiled. “I think it’s exactly what I needed.”

  She remembered vaguely that she’d told him she was falling in love with him. He hadn’t said anything about it, not that she expected him to. But the statement was the elephant in the room.

  “Have you thought about what you were going to do when you go back?” His finger lingered along her cheek.

  Miss you. “No. I’m not looking forward to it.”

  She turned to face the sunset. Sean’s life was here. Her life was in LA. She didn’t even want to picture calling things off with him and going back home. She didn’t want to think about seeing Chad every day and missing Sean. That was a cruel twist of fate. She’d come here wishing Chad would wise up and open his eyes to what was before him, and yet, now that he had, she didn’t care.

  “You know LA is only two hours away.” He brushed her arms.

  Her heart beat erratically. What was he saying? “Yes. I’m not looking forward to that drive either.”

  He paused. “What if I made the drive from time to time?”

  Ali turned completely and straddled his hips as she faced him. “You want to come to LA?”

  Sean stared at her, his face completely expressionless. “I thought maybe I would, you know, and we could see each other. Have dinner and what not.”

  She wanted to say yes. Ali thought about her schedule. She worked five days a week and every other weekend. She didn’t have time for a social life, and if Sean ever did come to LA to see her, she’d want to take him inside her bedroom and never leave. The thought of not being able to see him broke her heart.

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea.” She scrambled off the chair before he could see the tears forming in her eyes.

  Entering the house, she bumped the coffee table in passing as she headed toward the bedroom. Tears streamed down her face as she grabbed her little red dress. She wanted things to work out. She wanted to see him again.

  “Ali, wait a minute.” Sean came in the bedroom as she closed the bathroom door behind her.

  She flipped the shower on before he could say any more and tossed her robe to the side. She stepped into the steaming hot water and broke down. Her heart felt ripped into a thousand different pieces. She did her best to wash her body and hair, not really caring about actually getting clean. Afterward, she turned the water off and pulled a towel off the rack.

  “Ali,” Sean called, knocking on the door. “Come out and talk to me.”

  She quickly dried her hair with the towel and pulled her dress on. She didn’t know where she left her shoes and decided to do without them. She took a deep breath and opened the door, steeling herself against whatever measures Sean decided to pull.

  He stood to the side, arm propped on the doorframe, waiting. He’d changed from the robe to a pair of nylon shorts, and the scowl on his face made her cringe.

  “I’m leaving.” She pushed past him.

  He grabbed her arm. He didn’t say anything, but the look in his eyes spoke volumes. She wanted to cave, to ask him to run away and start life fresh somewhere. Tears welled in her eyes and she glanced away.

  “What you said last night…did you mean it?”

  Her jaw quivered. She bit her lower lip. “I was drunk. I don’t know what I said.”

  He let her go, moving away from her as if she’d told him she had the plague. He stared at the far wall, running his fingers through his hair. “You weren’t that drunk.”

  “I was wasted.” She moved to the end of the bed, finding her shoes and slipping them on.

  “So you didn’t mean it? You don’t…” He paused and turned to face her.

  “All we had was sex, Sean. It wasn’t love. People don’t fall in love within three days of meeting each other.” She bit her lower lip to keep it from quivering. “I’m going home.”

  She left him standing in the middle of his bedroom, obviously dumbfounded. She hoped and prayed to God she’d done the right thing because in that moment, she felt shitty for doing that to him.

  * * * *

  Sean tried not to take it personally. He wasn’t even sure how he felt about her himself. But she’d said she loved him. She hadn’t been that drunk, and she’d said it. He believed she’d meant it. He glanced at the clock. She’d been gone two hours. It felt like days. He closed his eyes and lay back on the sofa.

  What the hell are you going to do now that she’s gone?

  He wished she’d change her mind. Whatever spooked her hadn’t been there last night. She had issues with their age difference, but he didn’t think that was what had upset her. She’d been practically fine with everything until he’d mentioned going to see her in LA.

  “Fuck, Ali. What have you done to me?” He rubbed a hand over his face and picked up his phone. He found her number and hit “talk.” She didn’t answer.

  Sean sighed and hung up. She could run for all he cared, but she couldn’t hide. He grabbed his keys and headed out the door. The houses were close. It took him seconds before his fist pounded on her door.

  “Ali, open up. We need to talk.” Nothing. “Ali, whatever it is, we’ll work it out. Just open the damn door.” He pounded his fist against the wood. He was seconds away from losing it. Seconds away from breaking down and crying like a little baby. “Ali, please. I don’t think you meant what you said. I think you’re scared, and the truth is, I am, too. Please open the door.”

  The door cracked open and Ali appeared. Her eyes were red-rimmed in the light from the foyer. Her suitcase was beside her. She’d changed into a blue jogging suit and pulled her hair back in a ponytail.

  “You’re leaving tonight?” Sean asked.

  “My vacation is pretty much over.” She bit her lip. “There’s nothing to work out, Sean. We come from two different worlds. This week was a break from reality, but eventually the real world will come back, and unfortunately, we have to face it…alone.”

  “Is this about the age difference? I swear, Ali, I don’t care about that.”

  Tears streamed down her cheeks. “Stop, Sean.”

  “No.” He stepped closer. “You told me you loved me. I don’t believe you want to take it back, regardless if you were drunk or not. I don’t believe you want to walk away.”

  “It doesn’t matter if I meant it or not. It won’t work.”

  “Why not?” His voice rose. He didn’t mean to yell, but his own frustration got the best of him.

  She shrank back. Her eyes closed and big, fat tears rolled down her cheeks. He reached out to her, but she pulled away. “I need to go.”

  “Ali,” Sean pleaded.

  She flipped the lights off and stepped outside beside him then stopped to lock the place up. He reached out again, and she didn’t have anywhere to go. His hands lingered down her back, stopping at her waist. She lifted her head and met his eyes. His heart broke.

  He pulled her to him, wrapping his arms around her. Burying her face against his neck, Ali so
bbed openly.

  “Don’t go.” He kissed her cheek. “I promise we’ll work it out, but you can’t run away.”

  She didn’t respond. He lifted her in his arms and carried her to his house. He wanted to reassure her. He needed to convince her that she was wrong. They could make it if they gave it an honest effort. He carried her to his bedroom and laid her on the bed, crawling in beside her. For a while, he simply held her. Their conversation played in his mind like a broken record. He didn’t know what he’d said or done. He didn’t understand what had spooked her.

  “My luggage is outside,” she whispered.

  He kissed her. “Don’t go anywhere.”

  He left, only to return with her hot pink suitcase. Ali lay on her side, curled up in the covers on his bed. She hugged his pillow to her body, watching him as he came around the bed. He slid beneath the sheets and curled his body around hers.

  “I can’t see you after this, Sean.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because…I can’t.” Her fingers linked with his.

  There was so much she didn’t say. He didn’t even know where to begin to ask questions.

  She brought his hand to her lips and kissed him. “I’m sorry.”

  Sean sighed and pulled her on top of his body, getting her as close as he could. He brushed her lips with his. “Tell me why. That’s all I need to know. I want to know why you can’t see me, Ali.”

  She shook her head. “Life.”

  He frowned. “I can come see you on my days off. I have friends in LA and—”

  “I can’t see you even if you did come to LA. I work ten hours a day, five days a week, and rotate weekends on call. That’s why I haven’t even come close to being in a real relationship, because I don’t have time for it.” She laid her head on his chest. “The only way I have time to see you is if you are a patient, and I don’t want you to be a patient.”

  Sean ran his fingers through her wet hair. “So you can’t do dinner. I get that. Don’t you get a break? At least thirty minutes? I can stop by on your break, and we can get it on in the on-call room like the doctors on Grey’s Anatomy.”

  She lifted her head and smiled, though it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “My breaks are sporadic. If I called you to let you know I was free, it’d be over by the time you got there. Don’t make me want something I know I can’t have.”

  “I want us to work, Ali.”

  “Sometimes we don’t always get what we want.” She pushed up from his chest. She reached for the condom box and selected one. “We have the night. I love being in your arms, and I love the feel of you inside me. I plan on spending our time doing both.”

  Sean swallowed. If sex was all they would be, then he wouldn’t deny her. She undressed. Her eyes remained on him as she tossed her clothes to the floor. How had he gotten to this place in his life? Everything he wanted was within reach, and somehow so far away at the same time. She lowered her mouth to his and tugged his clothing off.

  “Sex is good, Sean.” She kissed her way down his neck. “Stop looking like I’m going to torture you.”

  Her hand wrapped around his dick and squeezed, pumping his shaft as she continued to kiss him. He couldn’t think anymore. Didn’t want to. Ali promised him the night. He intended to live it up.

  Sean flipped their positions and pushed her legs apart. He met her eyes and leaned down to kiss her stomach. It drove him crazy that she smelled like his soap. An animalistic urge roared inside him to claim her as his. He pushed her legs apart and hunched down. Her musky scent fueled his desire. He parted her folds and lapped at the cream gathering there.

  “Sean,” she moaned and lifted her hips against his mouth.

  His tongue stabbed into her. Ali melted beneath him, gripping the sheets while he pleasured her. He wanted to show her they were good together. That he’d give her everything she needed if she’d let him. God, he must be completely fucking insane. His tongue swirled around her clit before he drew it into his mouth and sucked. He slipped a finger inside her, searching and finding that one little spot that made her come like crazy. He pulled back to watch her, stimulating her clit with his thumb while his finger rubbed her G-spot. She was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.

  “Ali.” He withdrew his hand and licked his lips, tasting her. “I promise we’ll find a way to work it out if you’d consider it.”

  She held a finger against his lips. “No talking. Not tonight. Fucking and cuddling is all we’re doing.”

  She moved to straddle his hips. Before he had time to process it, his cock slipped inside her. They sat face to face, a bright flair of desire shone in her eyes. Ali combed her fingers through his hair and leaned in to kiss him. Her hips rocked against his, and Sean couldn’t hold back any longer. He gripped her hips and thrust hard.

  The room grew hot fast as sweat rolled down his spine. He lay back and pulled her forward, changing the angle of his movements. Her pussy clamped him tighter, gliding along his shaft with just the right amount of friction. Her eager response matched his. He closed his eyes as she moved over him, each motion pure ecstasy. Ali’s lips found his and he opened to her kiss, succumbing to the pleasure she gave him.

  Her hands slid along his sides as she urged him to touch her. He couldn’t deny. He reached between their bodies and found her clit. She fell apart in his arms, collapsing against his chest. He’d damn near give her anything and everything she asked him for.

  After two more rounds of intense fucking, Sean held her, surrounded her, while she slept. He watched her, knowing the moment he took his eyes off her, she’d be gone.

  And when he woke after sleep, his bed was empty, the sheets cold.

  Chapter Seven

  “You look terrible.” Nina sat across from Ali. She set her purse to the side and ignored her tray of food. “What happened? You’re supposed to come back from vacation happy. You don’t look too happy.”

  Ali felt tears gathering in her eyes and didn’t bother hiding them. The day had been hell. It was her first day back and it seemed every trauma case around the country chose her hospital. She’d had a bus crash incident and had treated over forty people with everything from head wounds to paper-cut scratches. She shouldn’t have had time to think about Sean, but her mind flooded with memories of him. It’d been three days since she’d left. It felt like an eternity.

  “Did you fall in love with my neighbor?” Nina stared at Ali, humor in her eyes. When Ali didn’t respond, Nina became serious. “You did. How on earth?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Call him up.”

  “It’s not that easy.”

  “Why not?” Nina asked, finally digging into her salad. “He travels to L.A. all the time, and you get every other weekend off. You could drive to Santa Barbra on those weekends. He could stay with you while in LA. Why isn’t it easy?”

  “You know my schedule isn’t that simple.” Ali glanced over at a couple kissing at another table. “I wish it was that simple.”

  “So cut back your hours.” Nina paused, waiting for Ali to meet her eyes. “You’ve been working your ass off at that hospital for how many years? And for what reason? I know you like your job, but you don’t have to work twenty-four seven. Especially since you have a man in your life now. Take time to be with him because Sean is a great guy.”

  Nina’s words lingered in Ali’s mind long after she spoke them. She had two more incidents that kept her busy until time to go home, but her mind roamed. Maybe she would talk to her superiors about cutting back her hours. She didn’t really need the extra money and one of the new doctors needed to pay off college loans. It would make sense to give the other doctor the overtime. It might work.

  Ali clocked out around six and sought out Dr. Mueller. “Can I talk with you a sec?”

  “Sure, Dr. Aames. What can I do for you?”

  “I wanted to see about cutting back my hours.”

  The other doctor smiled. “Nina told me you’d probably come see me.” />
  Ali frowned. “You know my friend, Nina?”

  His smiled widened. “I’m kind of her boyfriend.”

  Ali’s jaw dropped before she thought to conceal her reaction.

  “I see you’re surprised,” he said with a chuckle. “Look, I know about the guy, and yes, I’ll approve your schedule change. What kind of cutback are we talking about?”

  “I work over seventy hours a week now, but I’d like to cut it down to thirty-five.”

  He shifted the clipboard in his hand. “You probably still have to do weekends.”

  “That’s fine.”

  He nodded. “Good. I don’t see any preliminary problems with that. We, of course, will miss you being around here all the time.”

  She smiled. “Yeah, well, I think it’s time for a change.”

  A really big one, she added silently.

  * * * *

  “I have to say, I’m pretty impressed with your work.” Sean went over his friend’s concept from beginning to end. Maybe in a weird twist of fate, Trevor had finally grown up. “When are you prepared to launch the official game to the beta testers?”

  “After your comments and approval.”

  Sean went over the figures one last time. “It has my approval. Good work, Trevor.”

  His friend beamed at him. “It was sort of my baby from the get-go. I just had a few to help make it a reality. Hopefully, it’ll keep me off the streets and working a job I love.”

  That was the goal.

  They chatted a bit longer, catching up on family and friends. It was Sean’s first trip to LA since April, and all he could think about was Ali. He knew she didn’t want to see him. But he had to see her, if only from afar, just to settle his peace of mind. He wanted to know she was all right.