Roommating (Preston's Mill #1) by Samantha Chase, Noelle Adams Page A

somehow clear the aftermath of
that amazing kiss from her mind. “What are we doing?”
    “Kissing.” His voice was slightly rough—as if he were
affected by their embrace too—but he sounded more controlled than she felt. He
took a step closer, his eyes hot with obvious interest. “And I wouldn’t mind
doing it again.”
    She could barely resist that look in his eyes, but the
anxiety coursing through her was enough to prompt her to raise her hand to stop
his approach. “I don’t think we should.”
    He let out a breath. “Why not? It was good.”
    “Yes. It was good. But that doesn’t mean it’s a good idea.”
    “Why not?”
    “Because we’re both—not ourselves this evening.”
    She was trying desperately to be reasonable and smart, but
the sight of him standing in front of her, big and handsome and bristly from a
day’s worth of beard, looking at her like he wanted to swallow her whole, was
almost more than she could handle. In about five seconds, she was going to be
back in his arms, giving herself to him completely.
    “I think we’re ourselves,” Chris said slowly.
    “Well, I’m not. I’ve got to…” What she had to do—right now,
as quickly as she could—was get away from him. “I’ve got to….go to bed. We can
talk in the morning.”
    She whirled around and hurried into her room, closing the
door behind her.
    She leaned against it, breathing deeply. Yes, that had been
a cowardly retreat, but her only other choice would be to surrender to her
highly inappropriate feelings.
    She probably would have had sex with him, if he’d continued
deepening the embrace. She wasn’t sure she would have had the will or brains to
stop them, since it was becoming clear that she wanted it so much.
    That would have been a huge mistake.
    At least she’d saved herself from that .
    She jumped at a knock on her door, right behind her.
    “Heather?” Chris’s voice was low, still hoarse.
    “Sorry,” she said through the door, praying that he would
listen to her, not keep pushing on this. “I’m really sorry, but we need to talk
in the morning. I’m…I’m not myself, and I don’t want to do something I’ll
regret.”
    “Heather?” he repeated.
    “I…I really think it’s for the best.”
    Silence.
    Maybe he was finally going away.
    “Look…can you just open the door? Just for a second?”
    She groaned, knowing if she opened the door and looked at
him again that there was a good chance she’d fling herself back into his arms. “Can’t
we just—”
    “Heather.” This time her name was a near growl.
    With a sigh of defeat, she opened the door just a couple of
inches. But before she could even look at him, his hand shot through the
opening—with Lucy on it. Her tongue was lolling and her tail was wagging, and
she looked excited to be part of this ridiculous situation.
    Oh. So he hadn’t wanted to talk to or kiss her again. She
reached up and took Lucy—careful to not touch Chris’s hand.
    She cleared her throat but couldn’t seem to make herself say
anything.
    There was a longish pause. Then, “Okay. Talk to you
tomorrow.”
    “Thank you,” she called, relieved and now wanting him even
more. A lot of guys would have been pushy, just ignoring her wishes and
demanding to be let in. “Good night.”
    When she heard him retreating and then the muffled sound of
his bedroom door closing, she let out a long sigh and walked over to slump onto
her bed. What a mess. She’d been needy and vulnerable, and she’d let down her
guard far too much.
    Chris wasn’t a bad guy. Now that she’d gotten to know him
again, he was a lot better than she’d been thinking. He was fine for this
roommating thing and even for being a business partner with, for as long as he
wanted to stick around.
    But he wasn’t a committer. She’d learned that the hard way a
few years ago.
    She needed stability. She was at the point in her life when
she was looking toward the future, toward building a good life for