“Iknowyou.”
She stepped closer. “Don’t ever tell me who I can and can’t date again.” She stepped away, only to stop and face him once more. “You know, I think a part of me has been waiting for you since the day we met, thinking that it was supposed to be us. But I’m done waiting.”
She turned again but for the second time, he gripped her arm and tugged her back—and this time he kissed her.
And there was no hesitation in this kiss. He dove straight into her mouth and tasted her. Drank her in.
She groaned, and the sound was becoming so achingly familiar that it felt like it was his. Like the sound of her passion wasdesignedfor him. Forthem.
He turned her and pressed her to the wall, caging her in. Needing her to feel exactly how much of a lie he’d been spinning all these years.
Clara couldn’t breathe.She couldn’t think. Holden was everywhere. Locking her to the wall. Touching her. Tasting her.
Every time he kissed her, it just cemented the fact that he was supposed to be hers and she was supposed to be his. It made the risk of waiting for him feel worth it.
She ran her hands down his chest, as though she needed to feel and memorize his body. To know him as well as she knew herself.
His tongue swiped against hers, making a shudder roll down her spine. And those strong hands of his enclosed around her waist, his fingers so long, they almost encircled her.
She leaned her hips into him, groaning when his hardness pressed into her.
This was it…this was what she’d been waiting for. She’d kissed men before but nothing like this. Nothing that even touched this.
She slipped a leg around his waist and nudged him closer. Immediately, his palm went to her thigh, holding her there, before sliding up and cupping her ass.
She was seconds from losing the thin hold she still had on her sanity when her phone rang, its tone loud in the otherwise quiet hall.
Suddenly, he stepped back, his finger slipping into his hair and a pained expression crossing over his face.
“Shit. I’m sorry, Clara.”
She frowned, ignoring her phone, focusing on Holden. “Why are you sorry?”
“Because I can’t keep doing this to you.”
“You wanted to kiss me. You wantedme. I could feel it.”
When he just stood there, holding the weight of the world on his shoulders, she stepped closer and placed a gentle hand on his chest, right over his heart. “Holden. It’s okay to want me. It’s okay for us to embrace this.”
The pain shifted into something else. Panic? It looked so out of place on such a strong, powerful man.
“I have to go,” he whispered.
She frowned, hurt cutting into her belly. But she didn’t stop him. She watched him walk away. Because she couldn’t keep fighting if he wasn’t going to fight too.
CHAPTER 13
“He kissed youagain?” Indie gasped.
Clara poured hot water into two mugs. “Yep. And it was better than the first.”
“You’re kidding?”
“Nope.” She stirred dandelion tea into the water. “Butthenhe did the same thing he always does. He put this distance between us and acted like it was a mistake. Like touching me was the worst thing he could have done.”
“Oh no. Why’s he so scared to explore this thing between you? It’s so clear there’s something there.”
“Mom thinks it’s something about him being hurt. Not that I told her it was Holden I was talking about. It’s confusing and frustrating and…it hurts me, Indie.”
