“You came.”
Suzette turned from watching the taillights of Maebh’s Jeep fade into the night. He stood on the edge of the veranda, leaning against a post, backlit by the warm glow spilling from the open door.
All darkly mysterious and powerful. Impossibly handsome.
And hers. For tonight.
She tilted her head, moving closer. “Did you think I’d get cold feet?”
“The thought crossed my mind.”
Climbing the wooden steps, she stopped one below him. “Wanna know what thought crossedmymind?”
He grinned. “How much I’m gonna blow your mind?”
Her cheeks heated. “Besides that one.”
“Enlighten me.”
“You haven’t even kissed me, and here I am, prepared to get down and dirty with you. Does that make me a wanton woman?”
“Mywanton woman.” His voice dropped, rich and low. He extended his hand, palm up. “But I can remedy my blunder.”
“I’d be obliged, kind sir.” She placed her hand in his.
He chuckled, the sound low and warm, urging her up beside him. “I love that I can’t predict what’ll come from your mouth next.”
Lifting his free hand to her neck, his fingers tunneled into her hair, giving a gentle tug to tilt her head back. “Once my lips touch yours, there’s no going back. You okay with that, Suzette Bosch?”
Was she?
A flutter of panic tightened her chest.
Maybe she was risking more than she could handle.
Oh, dear.Where had her earlier courage gone?
He lifted their joined hands and pressed the back of hers against his chest. “Suzette?”
His heartbeat thudded beneath her skin — steady, strong, impossibly real — and it gave her the courage to go on. She drew a light breath and whispered, “I’m okay with that.”
He exhaled softly, the sound catching somewhere between relief and desire. The sound emboldened her.
Then his hand slid to the curve of her jaw, his thumb tracing the faint tremor of her pulse. And when his lips finally touchedhers, it wasn’t the claiming kiss she’d half expected. It was slow, tentative — like a promise tested in fragile light as the warmth of his breath mingled with hers.
Like he couldn’t quite believe he was kissing her.
Her fingers curled in his shirt, drawn by the heat beneath the fabric, and he deepened the kiss. Just enough to draw a quiet sound from her throat. The world seemed to fall away, leaving only the soft rasp of breath and the shiver of contact.
And yes, her belly fluttered with all sorts of wonderful things, her blood thrummed with anticipation. But underneath all of that, there was a knowing — a deep certainty that what happened tonight was going to alter her world.
And she was okay with that.
Almost. Maybe.
When he lifted his head, his gaze held hers. Dark, intent, and surprisingly, full of the same astonishment echoing through her chest. “Definitely no going back,” he stated, voice roughened.
Those gruff words flowed through her like molten lava.
