We rode to the seventeenth floor and made a right off the elevator. I should have felt awkward going to Layton’s hotel room, but I didn’t.
He stopped outside a corner suite and pulled a key card from his back pocket, then slipped it inside the door and popped the lock open. “Welcome to my humble digs.” He held the door for me, turning the privacy lock after we were both inside.
“Pretty sweet suite,” I joked.
For one or two beats, I wanted to run, to go home and snuggle with Lucy, but then Layton looked at me. Not with his usual smile, but an entirely different expression. It looked like hunger or a need to be close—a look I’d really never experienced before.
“Let’s have a drink.” He took my hand and led me to a small sofa in the sitting area. “Let me see what the minibar has in stock. Sit,” he said, commanding and calming my nerves, but doing little to cool my hormones. “There’s cab or a pinot noir, or would you like something stronger?”
“Cab is good.”
I watched his hands, the ones I was becoming more and more fascinated by, open the travel-sized wine bottle and pour it into a glass and then open a small bottle of Lagavulin and toss it into a lowball glass.
“I always think those minibottles are so cute, like they belong to Barbie or something.”
“I always think they could be a bit bigger,” Layton said, carrying the drinks to the couch. He sat and handed me my wine. “Cheers! Again, I’m damn happy it didn’t end like last time.”
“About that ...”
“Don’t.” He winked. “Don’t ruin this with an explanation.”
“So, back to la-la land tomorrow?”
He nodded.
“Who’s with the infamous Harriette?”
I wondered if he had someone he was seeing in LA. He was the kind of guy someone snatched up and didn’t share, right? A good, dependable guy. Kind and considerate. Just the right amount of command and take-charge.
“My neighbor.She loves Harriette.”
I felt the corner of my mouth turn up and willed it to change direction. No such luck. Happiness ghosted through my veins.
“She likes the company since her son went to college. She and her husband are good to Harri. They walk her, give her lots of love. I’m lucky.”
“Oh?”
“I mean I’m luckier to be here now.”
Anotheroh?slipped from my mouth. What was I fishing for with this guy?
“Yeah.” Layton leaned over and took my wineglass and set it on the table, placing his tumbler next to it. He ran his hand down my cheek, a small callus on the side of his thumb grazing my skin.
“I want to kiss you. Is that okay?”
Molten pools of chocolate stared at me. All I could think about was when I was ten years old and my parents took me on a trip back east. We stopped overnight in Hershey, and I remember wanting to dive into the vats of chocolate ... just like I wanted to dive into Layton right now, despite him being all wrong for me. A lot like chocolate, I guess.
My overachieving brain was running circles inside my head. Pros and cons floated around in there, jumbling with my hormones, but the hormones were winning. Thank God.
“You should,” I whispered.
And he did.
Layton leaned in, and the scent of clean rain filled my senses as he touched his lips to mine. They weren’t too soft or chapped, but were just right, tasting mine with a confident firmness. At first, his kiss was simple, chaste even, not demanding anything from me as he watched me through half-closed eyes. I drank in his gaze for one last second before closing my eyes and allowing the sensations to overcome me.
He inched closer, and I basked in his warmth as his knee bumped mine and his hand came down to rest on my leg. He brought his other hand up to sift through my hair, eventually allowing it to settle on the back of my neck, keeping me close. And he never let go of my lips.
A small nip at my lower lip encouraged me to open my mouth and allow him to deepen the kiss. When I did, his tongue swept through my mouth, looking for mine and tasting like chocolate ice cream.
