I melted into him without thinking.
His mouth found mine, the kiss slow and sure.
There was a promise in it.
Not about tomorrow, but about after.
About this not ending when the ride did.
When he pulled back, his forehead rested against mine. “Ready to go home, doll?” he murmured.
I smiled against his chest. “Yeah,” I said. “Take me home, Asher.”
Chapter Twelve
Asher
Juliet toed off her shoes near the mat by the front door and I flipped the lock.
I shrugged out of my jacket and hung it over the back of a chair. Kicked my boots off by the door. The domestic normalcy of it all hit me harder than I expected.
This was her home.
“You don’t have to stay,” she said quietly, turning toward me. “I’m probably going to pass out in about seven point three seconds.”
“I know,” I replied.
Her eyes slid to me, sharp but searching. “But you are.”
“Yes.”
That word settled between us.
She crossed her arms loosely, studying my face like she was trying to read something I wasn’t offering freely. “Why?” she asked.
I chose my words carefully. Truth, but not the kind that backed her into a corner. “Because I want to be here,” I said. “And because I want to be with you.”
Her breath hitched. Just slightly. A tell she probably didn’t realize she had.
I stayed where I was and let her decide.
She closed the distance instead. That told me everything.
She stopped just short of touching me, with her gaze steady but vulnerable. “This isn’t something I normally do.”
“I know, doll,” I said.
She huffed a quiet laugh. “There is just something about you, though.”
I shook my head. “I can say the same thing about you. Something just pulls me to you, and I can’t escape it.” I paused. “I don’t want to escape it.”
I covered her hand with mine, firm but gentle, giving her time to pull back.
She didn’t.
I pulled her into my arms and kissed her.
Slow. Deep. Sure.
