He opened the door with a smile so intense the woman on the other side carrying a tote of takeout seemed to black out for a moment as she tried to process over six feet of hot, clearly sex-disheveled man standing in front of her.

PJ let him take the bags and then inserted herself so she could sign the credit card receipt.

“How much do we owe you?” Asa asked.

“I’ve got it, Asa. Can you please take that to the kitchen?”

The delivery driver looked back and forth between them and shoved the receipt into the space. PJ grabbed it before Asa could. “I already paid when I called it in.”

He made a sound she knew meant he’d be giving her his opinion on this turn of events when they were alone. Whatever.

She signed the receipt after adding the tip and closed the door, locking up when she finished.

“I asked you to dinner. I should pay.”

“Huh.” It wasn’t a question. She needed him to understand she wasn’t some silly woman who needed taking care of. “Next time you can pay.”

He frowned and she got all hot for him again.

“I’m wondering if I should tell you how hot you are when you glower at me. Will it make your ego worse?” She put the bags down and moved to him. He excited her. Made her feel bold and strong. And yet, also precious.

He fought a smile but she saw it and he knew that too, so he encircled her waist and pulled her in close.

“I don’t glower.”

She rubbed her cheek along his beard. “Oh, you totally glower. Grrr. I’m glowering. Fear my testosterone.”

He snorted a laugh. “But you don’t. Do you?”

She shook her head. “I don’t fear it. I like it. It’s sexy. But.” She paused to tiptoe up to kiss him quickly. “I do push back if necessary.”

He took two handfuls of her ass and pulled her totally snug against him. “I’m wondering if I should tell you how hot you are when you set me straight,” he echoed back at her, teasing.

“You definitely should.” Not that she thought he’d back off in any case. This was a man who did what he wanted.

She wasn’t hungry at all. Not for the food on the counter.

A low hum of pleasure seemed to vibrate along her spine as he drew his fingertips along it.

He took up so much space in the room. So confident in his skin, the way he moved, like a man who was 100 percent cool with what he had going on. That confidence of his was so totally sexy.

“It’s very hot. One of the most appealing things about you, as it happens.”

He kissed her and she sank into it, let herself fall into the feel of his beard tickling her face, of the firmness of his lips, the sharp nip of teeth, and his tongue – oh god his tongue – sensuous, licking, tasting her.

His cock, hard against her belly, drove her crazy as she restlessly moved from side to side, brushing herself against him.

Asa groaned into her mouth. “Cold takeout. After.”

She took his hand and led him back to her bedroom, totally glad she’d changed her sheets just the day before and the place wasn’t a total mess.

“You keep surprising me.” He stood in her doorway, looking around.

“That doesn’t sound like you know if it’s a compliment or not.”

PJ loved her bedroom. In shades of cool blues, deep purple, and a tiny bit of saffron, she’d made a place that was her sanctuary. Fluffy bedding, comfortable enough to read in all day on a Sunday. Heavy curtains covered the windows because she liked to sleep in total darkness, but when she pulled those back, sunlight streamed in. A chair she’d reupholstered during a community college class she’d taken with Audra the year before sat in a corner with a small side table and lamp.

It was a calming place she sank into every night.

“It’s beautiful. Feminine.” He walked in and looked around. She liked having him in her intimate space. Made her want to rub on him, mark him like a cat. “You’re most certainly those things.”

“My layers surprise you? Did you expect cinder-block shelves and a mattress on the floor? Ah, because I’m young.”

He didn’t deny it, though he sort of tried to be really hot and make her forget.

“I didn’t say that. I figured you’d have style. Clearly you have good taste in cars and men.”

She snorted and then popped open two buttons on her blouse.

“But my being younger bothers you?” Her fingertip hovered at the next button, the one that would totally expose her bra.

“It’s not that.”

She slid the third button free, delighting in the look on his face.

Greed.

PJ could work with that.

“It isn’t?” She unbuttoned the blouse all the way, sliding it off. The dark brown of his eyes seemed to go nearly black as he took her in. So much intensity and focus that the power subtly shifted between them again.

“Take them all off. I want to look at you.” There was no way to interpret that as anything but an order.

Licking her lips, she unzipped her pants and stepped from them, his gaze on her like a physical thing. Her underpants followed, then finally her bra.

He sucked in a breath as he moved to her. “Jesus, you’re fucking beautiful.”

It wasn’t like she hadn’t had a man look at her like she was pretty before. Or that Asa was the first guy to get hot over her body. But this was different. Naked before him while he still wore his clothes rendered her more than physically bare.