He pays despite my protests—”I asked you out, I’m paying, that’s how it works”—and we walk to his car. Cold night air, stars sharp overhead, breath fogging between us.
He opens my door. I pause before getting in.
“Lucas.”
“Yeah?”
“Thank you. For today.”
“You don’t have to?—”
“I want to.” I look up at him. “You could’ve stayed angry. Made this miserable. But you didn’t.”
“I told you.” His voice drops. “I don’t want to spend more time being angry.”
His scent wraps around me—warm, close. His eyes drop to my mouth.
“You hurt me,” he says. “Really hurt me. I’m not going to pretend that’s fixed.”
“I know.”
“But being with you today...” He exhales. “I didn’t want it to end.”
“Neither did I.”
The distance between us shrinks. His hand comes up to cup my face—warm palm, careful fingers.
“Cara.”
“Yeah?”
“I’m going to kiss you. Unless you tell me not to.”
My pulse pounds in my throat. I feel myself go wet, slick soaking through my underwear. No hiding it. He’ll smell exactly what I want.
“Don’t you dare stop.”
Chapter 10
Lucas
Don’t you dare stop.
I’ve been fighting this all day.
Every time she laughed, every time her scent shifted warm and happy, every time she looked at me with those dark eyes—I thought about closing the distance. About finding out if she still tasted the same.
I told myself I wouldn’t. This was just testing the waters. Seeing if I could exist in the same space as Cara Donovan without falling apart.
But she’s standing here in the cold, looking up at me like I’m worth hoping for, and I can smell her arousal—rich and slick underneath the honey-citrus sweetness, unmistakable—and I’m done fighting.
I lean in.
The first brush of her lips is soft. Testing. She tastes like cherry pie and cold air andher—sweet and familiar, a taste I’ve been craving for ten years without admitting it.
She makes a sound against my mouth—relief, want,finally—and her hands fist in my coat.
I stop being careful.
