The touch is absurdly gentle for a man built like him, reverent in a way that makes my throat tighten.
“Of course I did,” I manage.
His fingers linger, then slide down along the curve of my jaw, traveling back to tuck a loose strand of hair behind my ear. The motion is intimate in a way that makes me want to stay in this moment forever, with his knuckles warm against my cheek and his thumb resting just below my jaw.
For a second, we both just stare at each other, breathing differently.
“I was right,” he mutters.
“About?”
“Your hair.” His eyes drop to my mouth, then lift again. “It’s just as soft as I thought it would be.”
I tilt my head without meaning to, leaning into his touch. His thumb shifts, tracing over the edge of my jaw, the rough pad skating over my lower lip, and his body angles closer.
I can feel his breath now, warm against my skin. I’m aware, distantly, that this is a terrible idea. That we’re in a service corridor at a medical fundraiser with donors and colleagues ten steps away. That he’s my ex-patient, and ten years older than me, and this is entirely inappropriate.
But I don’t care.
His gaze flicks to my mouth again, and this time, I don’t look away. I rise onto the balls of my feet without thinking, closing the last inch between us.
CRASH!
A sharp clatter erupts from the catering kitchen nearby, metal against tile, followed by a muttered curse.
Our spell shatters, and we both pull back at the same time, too fast and too aware of what we were about to do. Reid drops his hand immediately, shoving it into his pocket as though it betrayed him. I clear my throat and focus very hard on the water bottle in my hand.
“Thank you again,” I say, shaking the bottle. “For thinking of me.”
He holds my stare for a beat longer than necessary, eyes traveling over my face.
“Always.”
Then he steps aside, gesturing toward the doorway to let me move through first. Ever the gentleman.
I nod in thanks, grateful for the cover of the crowd as we reenter the event space, the noise rushing back in around us.
My skin still hums where he touched me, and I can’t look at him as I make my way over to some investors to mingle with.
But I feel his eyes on me the entire time.
Chapter ten
I want more, I want too much
Reid
Idon’t know what the fuck that was, but somehow, I’ve now got to act like nothing happened.
As though my hand didn’t just memorize the shape of her jaw, and my mouth doesn’t still feel warm with the ghost of her breath.
Stepping back into the event room, the noise hits first. Music, laughter, the scrape of chairs mixed with the clink of glasses. The fundraiser has tipped into that late-night sweet spot where everything feels looser and louder, probably because it’s been earned. People are smiling with their whole faces now. Relief will do that.
I don’t stop moving, because I fuckingcan’t.Standing still will give my body too much time to catch up to my brain, and I’m not interested in seeing how that ends.
Instead, I grab a fresh drink from the bar, nodding thanks to the bartender, then weave straight into the cluster of guys near the auction tables.
“Hutchy!” Chase calls the second he spots me. He’s got his phone out, still replaying the mascot dance-off on repeat. “You realize that video’s already hit half a million views?”
