“I’m not saying that to be an ass. It’s true, but I don’t want that. Obviously.” His jaw tightened. “If I just wanted that, I wouldn’t be here.”

I bit down on my lip. “So . . . what are you saying?”

“I’m saying that I want you,” he said. “That is what I want, and I don’t know what’s going to happen. I have no idea, but I’m sure as fuck not going to deny what I feel and want just because it may turn out to be shit.”

Except if it turned out to be shit, we had to face each other every day, and if it turned out to be shit, how would we really move past that a second time? How could I?

Taking a deep breath, Brock rose from my couch and approached me. I eyed him warily as he walked around the coffee table and stopped in front of me. Before I knew what he was doing, he cupped my cheeks in his large hands and tipped my head back.

“Walking out of this apartment is not what I want to be doing.” He lowered his mouth, stopping a hairsbreadth from mine. “What I want to be doing is taking you back to the bedroom, stripping you bare, and fucking every single doubt from your mind.”

Oh goodness.

“But I get it. You’ve got to wrap your head around the way things are now,” he went on. “I’m going to give you that time. All right?”

“Okay,” I whispered back, because what else was I supposed to say? His mouth was so close to mine, and I was absolutely thrown through a loop.

Then Brock kissed me.

Really kissed me.

His mouth came down and his lips moved against mine like he was committing the feel of them to memory. My arms unfolded and somehow my hands were back to his chest. He nipped slightly at my lower lip, startling me. I gasped, and then his tongue slipped through the seam of my mouth.

Now this was a kiss.

Hot. Hard. Wet. His tongue slipped over mine, and he didn’t so much kiss me as he did devour me. The scratch of his beard and the softness of his lips, the prick and satin, was such a heady mixture, dragging a throaty moan out of me.

“Fuck,” he groaned, lifting his mouth. “That sound.”

I couldn’t speak. I opened my eyes and gazed up at him dazedly. I was officially going to count that as our first kiss. Yep. Sounded good.

Brock held my gaze and then he let go of me. “Hardest thing I’m about to do is walk out of here,” he murmured. “Dream of me tonight.”