“Je-zuss.”

When she pulled back from him, he looked like he’d gone through the dryer. Rumpled and flushed and completely bemused. Embarrassment, stubborn asshole that it was, started to creep back into her.

He grabbed her chin, one arm still around her. “I feel like I just went to church,” he whispered against her lips, kissing her, warm and openmouthed.

She laughed, surprised. “What the hell does that mean?”

“I mean I feel like I just got absolved or prayed or saw heaven or something.”

“Seb.” She glowed with both pleasure and embarrassment. Until he leaned up and kissed away the rest of her sheepish feeling.

“So pretty. That was so fucking pretty.”

He slid his hands from her cheeks and then down to her sides. He gave her ass a little spank that made her squeak. “All right. If you have to, go take a shower and then we’ll go to my place so I can show you the thing.”

“But,” she sputtered, looking down between her legs at his ridiculously apparent erection. “But you didn’t...”

He pressed a kiss to her lips. “We’ve got plenty of time for that.”

“But—”

“No buts. Just take a shower if you want, and then we’ll get out of here.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

SEB HAD VIA’S hand in his when he jogged up his front steps. They’d driven over from his house, and his leg had jangled the whole way. He couldn’t help but feel that everything was up in the air with her. He wanted it good and settled, and, in his mind, the keys to all of it were at his place.

“Actually.” He turned to her as they stepped in through his front door. “Leave your boots on. I have two things to show you. The first one’s fun, and the second one’s intense. Let’s start fun.”

He led a mystified Via through his house and out his back door. “I can’t pin down this mood of yours.”

“What do you mean?” He pushed open his back door and danced backward through it, leading her toward his workshop.

“I mean that you get to my house, intense as hell, seduce me in about three seconds. Then you pile me into your truck, and now you’re two-stepping me into your workshop.”

“You think that was me seducing you?” he asked, stopping so fast she clunked into him. He steadied her with two hands on her shoulders. “That was nothing. Trust me.”

He kissed her fallen-open mouth and unlocked the padlocked garage door. He led her inside, closed the door against the cold and flicked on lights here and there.

“What did you—oh, wow! Seb, oh my gosh, this set is gorgeous. And it’s so perfect for you guys. It’ll look beautiful in your living room.”

He followed her gaze to the oak slab coffee table and matching side tables in the middle of the room. They had gorgeous copper legs and tons of small accents up and down one side. He’d thought about doing the intricate copper decoration on all sides but decided instead that he liked it on just one side, liked the imbalance of it. It felt realistic to him.