“Of course,” she lied. “Why else would I?” She nearly laughed as she said it, because with the things he was doing with his tongue, she could barely remember there was a contest.

He pulled his head away from her, met her gaze directly. “I should stop then?” There was a spark in his eyes and a hint of a grin that said he was teasing.

“I mean, if you really want to,” she bluffed back, knowing if he so much as tried to pull away, she would hold on for all she was worth, with both arms and legs.

He peered down at her, brows raised. “All you gotta do is admit it.”

“Admit what?”

“You came over for more than conversation.”

With a low laugh that sounded nothing like her, she said, “Not at all. I thought, after all your work on the application, you deserved an in-person message.”

“Then you’re probably ready to get going now, huh?” He put his hands up as if in surrender, and the only things keeping her from falling were her grip on him and the way he had her pressed between him and the door.

“Okay, okay,” she said, laughing again. “Maybe a part of me wanted to see you half-naked.”

“Just half-naked?”

She reached between them and unsnapped his jeans. “I’m up for full-on naked anytime you want to stop the games.” To show she was serious, she dipped her fingers under the waist of his jeans in back, skimming them over the skin of his ass.

His arms came back around her. “Thank God,” he said on an exhale, now fully letting a smile out. Then he went serious in an instant. “It’s been killing me not to see you outside of work. Not to touch you at work.”

“Thank God,” she mimicked, completely serious as well. As he had a hold of her again, she was able to ease away just enough to lower his zipper.

With a grunt, he stopped her and carried her to the bedroom, then lowered her to the floor. “Get naked,” he said, his voice a sexy rumble.

“Bossy,” she said, not minding at all as she took off her slip-on sneakers and let her oversized cardigan fall off her shoulders. The lamp by the side of the bed was on a low setting, casting a warmth over the room, which wasn’t big enough to hold more than the queen-sized bed, a nightstand, and another wall full of shelves and books.

Cole disappeared into the bathroom on the far side of the room and she heard a drawer opening and him rustling around as if searching inside of it as she whipped off her long-sleeved tee and slid her leggings down and off her legs. She was down to her bra and underwear, a matched set in coral, when he emerged from the bathroom carrying a box of condoms.