She forced a quick smile, nodded.“Okay, thank you.Coming back here has stirred up a lot of memories.That’s all.”
Tell him about it.
“Talking about him does help.Makes it hurt a little less, like remembering him means I’m still connected to him in some way and he’s not completely gone.Even though I know that sounds crazy.”
“It’s not crazy.”Grief didn’t give a shit about logic.Or time.
She put her napkin down in her lap, composed again.“Anyway, I feel better now.And I think he’d love knowing we’re together here right now, thinking of him.”
A sudden restriction formed in Tripp’s throat.All he could do was nod.
He was saved from having to fill the silence that followed by the server coming back to ask about dessert.
Willow cocked an eyebrow at him.“I’m game to split the chocolate cheesecake.You in?”
“I’m in, but sixty-forty.”
“Sixty for who?”
“Me.”
“Oh, you think so, do you?We’ll see about that.”
The server brought it out within minutes.Breakers was as famous for their desserts as they were for their seafood, cocktails, and the view.He was sure the cheesecake was epic, but he barely noticed, too caught up in watching Willow savor it with a low, sexy hum of pleasure every time she slid another bite between her lips.
His heart pulsed faster as he imagined finally capturing that lush mouth with his, delving inside to tease her tongue.Unleashing years of pent-up longing locked in the place he kept buried down deep.
The server walked by just as Willow licked a final trace of chocolate from her lower lip.
“Check please,” he said, struggling to keep a chokehold on the urge to grab her and lick it off himself.
He walked her back to her car in the deepening twilight, parked a few blocks up from the water.With every step he was intensely aware of how close she was beside him.Of the faint scent of her shampoo or perfume that kept drifting up to tease him.Of how right it felt to have her beside him.
What would she do if he stopped and took her face in his hands to kiss her right here and now?
“So, when can I come by and see your workshop?”she asked as she pulled out her keys and remotely unlocked her doors.
He pulled his brain back to the present.“When do you want to come by?”
She stopped near her rear bumper to look up at him.“Tomorrow?”
God, she was beautiful, the light from the streetlamp behind her bathing her in a soft yellow glow.“Tomorrow’s perfect.”
They stared at each other in silence, the need building inside him until all he could hear was the thud of his pulse in his ears.He wanted her more than he’d wanted anyone.Needed her.And given everything they had in common and the grief they shared, maybe she needed him too.
Fuck it.
He took a step forward to close the distance between them, stopped when something crunched under his right foot.
Glancing down, he saw the bits of broken glass shimmering in the faint light, right below her passenger window that someone had smashed in.
