“I don’t know what to do,” I confessed, but I didn’t move away because I needed the heat of him, the strength of him, to continue. “All my life, I felt like I knew exactly where I was headed and what was next. Now everything’s wide open. I’m battling multiple fronts, and I’m barely able to keep afloat. The one thing I know for sure is that I’m not ready for another relationship.”
“I know, Phoebe. And even if you were, I’m the last guy you should start one with.”
I frowned. “Why?”
“This whole thing started because I’m not a relationship type of guy.”
I licked my lips. “That’s right.”
An idea was forming in my mind. I smiled.
“Why are you so happy about that?”
“Because if neither of us wants a relationship,” I said, choosing my words carefully, “then that would mean that we’re just… er, what’s the word? Casual. Yeah, I could do casual.”
His mouth was on mine the next second. The kiss was unexpected, but I opened up to it immediately because I needed itmore than anything else—even air. Griffin kissed and kissed, and I didn’t want him to stop. I felt the edge of the table poke into my ass, but I couldn’t care less.
His hands went from my face down to my shoulders and then my elbows before resting on my waist, his thumbs pressing into my rib cage. I wrapped my arms around his neck and stood on my toes. I was at the same level with him, yet it still wasn’t enough. Even though I was kissing him with all I had, I wanted to have his hands all over me.
I only pulled back when I was gasping for breath.Hmm, turns out that I do need air after all.
“Phoebe,” Griffin said. He groaned, then cleared his throat. He was keeping me pressed against him, but that was quite fine by me. Ineededto be close to him. “Are you sure?”
I nodded. “Mm-hmm. Yes, I am.”
He narrowed his eyes. “What if the wine clouded your judgment?”
“No, I just took a few sips. But you just being here, close to me, might cloud my judgment.”
His eyes flashed. He was on the edge, and so was I.
“Fuck, Phoebe. You don’t know how much I want to kiss you again right now.”
“So why don’t you?” To my dismay, he stepped back. “No, that’s the opposite of kissing.”
I took a step forward and then realized my balance was just a tiny bit off. I glanced at the bottles.
“Mm-hmm,” Griffin said as if I’d just confirmed his worst fears. “I know we didn’t have a lot of wine, but I think it was too much for you.”
“It gave me liquid courage. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have had the guts to say all that.”
He stepped closer, kissing my cheek. Taking a deep breath, he kissed my forehead, wrapping his hand in my hair. And then he took another step back.
What was this sexy man doing? Confusing me, that was for sure.
“Listen, I’m going to Napa Valley for a few days.”
“Okay,” I said, unsure why he was sharing this with me.
“Think about everything while I’m gone. If you still feel the same once I’m back…”
“You’ll believe me?” I asked him. “What can I do so you believe me now?”
“Phoebe, don’t tempt me, okay? You have no idea how much I want to kiss you again. Make you mine again.” He all but growled those last few words.
Honestly, I appreciated that he was holding back. I certainly had a bit more liquid courage than I needed. I didn’t think I’d regret this tomorrow, but better safe than sorry.
“Okay, I guess.”
