“Yeah, but you like that about me.” He turned around, gave her another quick kiss before she could pinch him again. “And I like everything about you.”
With that, he opened the door and left her apartment.
He was looking forward to seeing Nova tomorrow.
And for as many days after that as possible.
ChapterTwelve
Nova barely slept a wink. Not because she was upset. No, she was excited. And a little nervous.
Okay, and maybe a little scared, too.
She saw a side of Torin last night she’d never seen before. Actually, two sides. She understood he had a temper but seeing it was a sight to behold. He was usually gorgeous, but anger had taken his good looks into dangerous territory. His brilliant blue eyes turned fiery and his face grew taut, bringing his cheekbones and jaw into sharp relief.
Then, once he’d calmed down, he’d been…different. She’d never seen him so open. And she’d never realized that before—how much he’d been hiding. Not just from her, but from everyone.
After that incredible kiss in her doorway, and all the kisses that followed on her couch, he’d lowered the walls. Just a bit.
The change in him was fascinating. Torin Gallagher absorbed a great deal of her attention when his thoughts and feelings were hidden, when she had to work to get even a smile or a laugh out of him.
This more open version of Torin Gallagher? Well, she could easily become obsessed with him. He was beautiful. Not just on the outside, but on the inside. She understood from her interactions with him that he was driven, intense, and wanted things his way.
Last night, Torin revealed that he was even more complex than she’d originally thought.
So, as she suspected, Nova ended up obsessing about him last night.
Finally, she gave up on the idea of getting any more sleep when she woke at 5 a.m.
Instead, she climbed out of bed, dug through the cabinets and found the ingredients to make orange cranberry scones.
While she couldn’t boast much about her cooking skills, she could bake a delicious cake and amazing scones and biscuits.
When the scones were done, she brewed a pot of coffee, unearthed an insulated coffee pot that must have come from the restaurant and been left up here for a tenant, and poured the coffee in it.
She took her baking sheet and put the bowl of scones, coffee pot, and mugs on it. Then she headed across the hall. It was nearly eight. She doubted Torin would be awake, but it was clear after last night, that they needed to set some ground rules.
In between obsessing about his smiles and laughs, Nova also worried about the fact that he was her boss and she was his employee.
It would complicate their working relationship, as well as Nova’s relationships with her co-workers. Like Addie.
They needed ground rules. They needed to keep the fact that they were dating quiet.
Basically, they really needed to talk.
They were going to do it now, because if she waited until they were getting ready to open there would be other people around. Or Torin would be distracted by everything that needed to be done.
Nova knocked on the door twice. There was no noise from inside.
Finally, she pounded on the door with the side of her fist several times. She heard a thump inside the apartment but nothing, so she did it again.
“I’m coming! I’m coming!” Torin yelled from inside.
The door jerked open to reveal a shirtless, tattooed, and very rumpled Torin. Every bit of saliva in Nova’s mouth dried up.
His hair fell around his shoulders in a wild, black tangle. A crease ran down one cheek and his blue eyes were heavy with sleep. He wore only a tight pair of black boxer briefs, which pretty much displayed all of his lean, muscled body.
Wow. Her dry mouth was suddenly moist again. To the point that she feared she was drooling.
