‘Well then, if that’s the case… why did you kiss me last night?’
Hayley’s cheeks caught alight and straight away, she wished shehad a way of filtering her thoughts instead of letting them blurt out of her lips. She should say something else, lighten the mood. But nothing was forthcoming.
She couldn’t stop looking at him and his eyes were locked on hers. And again, his proximity was doing strange things to her insides.
‘I kissed you because I couldn’t bear the thought of you walking away thinking I was the biggest jerk in the city.’
‘Ah,’ she said. ‘It was a PR exercise.’
He shook his head. ‘No, I just… didn’t want to never see you again.’
She swallowed, seeing the truth in his eyes, feeling the sincerity flowing from him. Oliver Drummond, superficial, serial-dating Superman, was as complex as they came and now he was looking at her like he might want to rip her clothes off. How did she feel about that? Crazy excited was the truth of it. But in reality, her stakes were high and she couldn’t throw any sort of caution to the wind.
She smiled, trying to dampen down the passion. ‘I bet you say that to all the girls.’
He shook his head. ‘No, actually, you’re the first I’ve ever said that too.’
‘Wow,’ she said quickly. ‘What was that beer the bar served you?’
‘Now who’s swerving the topic?’ He smiled.
‘I’m sober.’
‘Pity.’
She smiled and let out a breath. ‘You don’t want to get mixed up with me.’ She stood up. ‘I’m here looking for another man.’ She sighed. ‘There’s too many complications.’
‘I’m already mixed up with you, Hayley.’ He rose to his feet.
They were still a couple of feet away from each other but herbody was reacting like a raging inferno was about to burn her to the ground. This couldn’t happen. Her mission to find Michel was paramount. Getting involved with anyone was not on her agenda.
‘I’m a mess, Hayley.’ He moved closer. ‘Nothing in my life is how I want it to be right now.’ He put a hand to her cheek, let his fingers rest on the skin. ‘But then there’s you. When I’m with you…’
She could barely get breath inside her. His fingers cupped her jaw and all her pleasure senses engaged at once. She shouldn’t let this happen.
‘When I’m with you, everything else matters a little bit less,’ he whispered.
‘You’re forgetting you came here under the influence, wanting to give me a piece of your mind.’ She almost wished she had sold a story to the press. Having him still angry wouldn’t be leading to… whatever this was.
He nodded. ‘When I should have known the truth.’ He brushed her hair with his fingers. ‘Because I’ve gotten to know you.’
She swallowed. ‘You only know what I’ve told you.’
He nodded again. ‘And instead of telling me you wanted a trip to Honduras or you longed for a Ferrari, you said you wanted to find Angel’s father.’
She took a breath. ‘And you hated that.’
‘I still do.’ He trailed a finger down from her jaw to her neck and the zip of the onesie. ‘But you were honest with me. You were real.’
She shivered as his finger fixed over the zipper and tugged slowly downwards. Trust her to be dressed up like a toy room helper from Angel’s Christmas storybook when there was a chance she was going to be seduced.
She was getting drawn in by his eyes, her body inching nearer as his fingers pulled her zipper lower. She ought to move away. She needed to just take half a step backwards and achieve even ahair’s breadth of distance. Except she couldn’t move, didn’t want to.
His lips touched hers and she felt the same zing fizzle through her as she had the night before. His mouth was hot, his fingers parting the material of her inappropriate nightwear.
‘God, what is this thing?’ he asked, tugging at the zipper a little more.
‘It’s a onesie,’ she replied.
