“Char, can you give me five minutes? Then, can we talk?”
“Sure.”
He parted the crowd as he moved toward his parents, his large frame automatically clearing a path for him. I wanted to be alone with him, to talk about his notes on his phone and what happened between us. I needed an update on Simone and us.
Plus we had an hour before we were due at dinner.
It took less than two minutes before he was back, a determined look on his face. “Let’s go.”
“Oh, nice manners.”
“No time for manners.” He weaved us through the crowd and down the stairs. Penny and Christian didn’t want the traditional send-off. They didn’t want staged photos besides the two of them. They wanted candid reception photos instead. That meant we had some alone time.
“Where are we—Did you get us a limo?”
“Yes.” He scanned the parking lot before sighing. “There it is.”
“A limo? For you and me?” I tore my attention from the crowd to the parking lot.
“Yes.” He faced me, his expression softening. “I wanted to make sure we had a little time just you and me tonight, so I rented it for us. Figured it’d be nice to not worry about driving.”
“That is nice.”
“Plus, I’d like to kiss you after we have this overdueconversation. I’d prefer to do that without all our noisy friends and family watching.”
I gulped, a little breathless. “Okay then.”
Snow covered the ground, and I slid on my heels. “Shit.”
“I got you.”
Hayden swooped me into his arms, tucking me tight against his chest as he walked toward the limo. Instead of protesting, I cuddled against him and breathed him in. His spicy cologne filled my nose, and man, he smelled so good. We had a lot to discuss, but I wasn’t nervous anymore. I ran my nose along his neck, and he shuddered.
“Careful, Char. I don’t want to drop you, and I need to focus.”
I chuckled. “Sorry. I’ve just… missed you.”
His muscles tensed at my words. “You have no idea how much I missed you too. Almost to the limo.”
He took a couple more steps before carefully setting me down. He ran his hands from my shoulders to my hips, his nostrils flaring. “There really aren’t words for how beautiful you look in this dress.”
My face heated. “Thank you.”
He opened the door and gestured for me to get in. I slid in and sighed as the warm air greeted me. A bottle of champagne sat to the right and a bouquet of flowers next to it.
He shut the door and tapped the window. “Can you drive for thirty minutes and shut the partition?”
“You got it, boss.”
The window made a mechanical noise, and after ten seconds, it closed, leaving us alone. My pulse raced at the baseof my neck, the urge to demand answers from him conflicting with the desire to kiss him.
He slid over to me, on his knees as he cupped my face. His gray eyes filled with worry as he swallowed. “I know we need to talk, but can I kiss you?”
I nodded.
He didn’t wait a second before closing the distance between us. He kissed me softly, like I was precious to him. He ran his fingers into my hair as he explored my mouth with his tongue. This kiss felt different. Felt more… felt… like he loved me. I pulled him closer to me, wanting to feel his heartbeat against mine, but he stilled. He kissed down my jaw, over my neck, and to my shoulder before pulling back.
His gaze was heated as he sighed. “I want to keep going, but we know our chemistry isn’t the issue at all.”
