Cocktails in Chelsea by Nikki Moore

Now she felt silly. And doubly deflated as it could have been the perfect in for him to suggest they share his bed.
    'I'll get you some stuff,' he said, getting up and leaving the room.
    Once he was gone she dropped her head into her hands and groaned. What was she doing? And how was she going to cope with sleeping in the next room, only a few metres away from him?
    'I hope these are okay?'
    She glanced up and sucked in a breath. He'd quickly changed into loose grey jogging bottoms and a white t-shirt that hung off his broad shoulders and suited his tall, rangy body perfectly. Oh, wow.
    He looked sheepish as he came towards her with a bundle of things.
    'What is it? Why have you got that expression on your face?' she asked as he handed it all over. Trying to distract her hormones from his proximity, she studied the small pile of belongings. 'New toothbrush. Great, thanks. Towel. Check. T-shirt, Brazil, World Cup; I like your style. And- Oh.' A pair of tight jockey shorts. His underwear. That he usually wore against his-
    Gulp.
    'I thought you might prefer to borrow a pair rather than wander around in your- er, knickers.' He stated, voice rough as his eyes dropped and ran over her black-denim covered hips before lifting back to her face. A muscle in his jaw jumped while he waited for her answer.
    Something in her warmed, but she could be reading this all wrong.
'Yes, thanks.' She replied, setting everything down on the sofa and sitting next to it, deliberately crossing her legs and leaning over to take off the boots, aware he was staring. 'My feet are almost beyond repair after the last few nights,' she grumbled, fumbling with the straps.
    'Here, let me.' He cleared his throat and crouched in front of her, pulling her foot onto his taut thigh so he could deal with the tiny buckles.
    She squirmed as he bent his neck in concentration, his head practically in her lap, so close she could feel his hot breath through the fabric of her jeans. It would be so easy to lift his chin with her hand and kiss him.
    'Cheers,' she squeaked. Then tried to joke her way out of it. 'I could get used to guys kneeling at my feet.'
    'I'm sure they'd be more than happy to.' He bantered back, Bambi eyes gazing into hers as he slipped off the first boot and swapped her feet over.
    The breath stopped in her throat.
    He took off the second boot and set it aside, gazing at her. It took a huge effort, watching Nathan's pupils dilate, not to fantasise she was falling into them, and correspondingly
not
to lean forward and kiss him. To see if she could fall further. To avoid temptation and making an idiot of herself, she sat back. As if on connecting threads, Nathan followed, moving so he was kneeling up with his waist between her open knees.
    And he kissed her.
    She jerked, eyes drifting shut, arms wrapping around his broad shoulders as her mouth opened. She pulled him in tight, fingers moving up into his thick hair as he ran his hands up into hers, holding the back of her head as he kissed her passionately. When he nipped her bottom lip she moaned into his mouth. His chest rubbed against hers, his hips pressing against that sweet spot. It felt so incredibly good. Completely different to how it had been with her last boyfriend, who’d only ever gotten her lukewarm at best. Nathan already had her scorching hot, just with a kiss.
    'Mmm.' She arched her back, tugging him closer.
    And then he was pushing away. 'We don't have to do anything. I don't want you to think I'm taking advantage. I offered you somewhere to stay.'
    He seemed totally unaffected by the kiss, apart from a slightly reddened mouth and ruffled hair from where she’d clutched at it.
    'No. I mean, yes.' Her lack of experience swamped her. Maybe he'd only kissed her because she was there? He couldn't be that into her if he found it so easy to stay in control, while she was practically panting. 'I- I'll go to sleep then.' She faked a yawn. 'Night, Nathan. Thanks for everything.'
    'Oh, yeah. Night.'