Lennon was so big, so solid. He made me laugh, but he made me feel safe. Wanted.
I’d forgotten how lovely those feelings were. Now that I’d reconnected with them, I knew I’d crave them always. Especially with Lennon.
“What’s that look for?” he asked.
He was careful about touching me, always giving me the chance to pull back or away. He’d told me about his two sisters, and it was clear he took their emotional well-being seriously. My heart warmed to putty as I leaned into his hand, nuzzling my cheek to his palm. He cupped his fingers to accommodate my cheek and chin. I sighed as my eyelids fluttered. Contentment washed over me.
“It’s getting late,” Lennon said.
“I can’t believe I only have one more night here after this one—one more night with you.”
“Well, that’s one more night here. But I have a few weeks before the start of my season. I’ll visit you. Then, when you have more time off, you can visit me.”
I tipped my head back and met his dark gaze. “Can it really be that easy? I mean…”
“Are you asking me if this is real? What we’re feeling for each other?”
I nodded, the lump in my throat too large for me to speak around.
“I think it is. I want it to be. But the only way we’ll know is if we keep seeing each other.” His hand slipped from my cheek to my nape. “I care about you, Vivian. More than I have for anyone. Ever. Which freaks me out even as it excites me. I want to know you, to see if we’re as compatible in three weeks and three months as we could be in three years.”
“But we live over a thousand miles apart…”
“We do, but I won’t play hockey forever.”
I sucked in a breath. “You’d move closer to me?”
“If you wanted to stay in San Francisco, then sure. As long as we could visit my mother and sisters from time to time.” Lennon pursed his lips. They were lush and looked so soft against the dark hairs of his beard. “Well, it would probably need to be every couple to three months. My mom and sisters get into mischief.”
I smiled. “I don’t actually have any reason to stay in San Francisco. I mean, I have a friend…ish person in my building, but since my mom died and I finished school, I’ve just been working. I don’t have much holding me there.”
Lennon leaned closer, so close that I could feel the heat of his skin. I shivered with the need for him to be even closer. “Those details we can sort through once we’re sure this is what we want.”
“Okay,” I breathed.
“Right now, though, I have a terrible need…”
“What’s that?”
“I desperately need to kiss you,” he said.
Without thought, I licked my lips, desperate to feel the pressure of his skin to mine. “Yes. Please.”
He stared into my eyes as his lips met mine. The hair of his beard tickled my cheek and chin, and I shivered again, loving the dichotomy of textures. His lips were even more supple than I’d expected. Soft, warm, delicious. He tasted of the wine we’d drunk but also of man.
That deliciousness settled in my bloodstream like a warm haze, and I knew one taste, one million tastes of Lennon Cruz wouldn’t be enough. He was addictive, even as he felt like home.
He didn’t deepen the kiss more than soft swipes of his tongue against my lower lip and the tip of my tongue. It was sweet but sultry—a promise of more to come.
And I wanted more. Much more.
He pulled back and met my gaze again. Only then did I realize I’d closed my eyes. “Oh, Vivi. I’m never going to get enough of you.”
His deep voice was soft, almost its own caress over my skin. I clung to his shoulders as I pressed my cheek to his. “I was thinking the same thing.”
“I should get you back to your bed and breakfast.”
Disappointment hit, as did nervousness. As quickly as I was falling for Lennon, I wasn’t ready to jump straight into sex.
