“Why not?”
“Because I’m not getting in a car with you.”
“Why not?” I asked again because, frankly, her answer was not convincing enough.
She blinked like she couldn’t believe I was still going.
“Because… I don’t know you.” She dragged the last words out. Our eyes hadn’t moved. Locked in. Like they were off having their own private moment. The silence that followed wasn’t awkward.
I chuckled because I noticed her inching closer. She wanted to say yes as badly as I wanted her to.
So, like a complete idiot, I opened my mouth.
“But you do. Know who I am. I’m… Chris Jones.” I heard how conceited and gross the words sounded the second they left my mouth. My stomach had been screaming at me the whole time to watch my tone, but did I listen? Of course not.
Her lips thinned. I couldn’t tell if what I saw was annoyance or amusement. Maybe both. Either way, the comment was enough to make her look away, breaking our eye contact. Then she took two steps back.
No. Come back.
I had to stop myself from grabbing her by the waist and keeping her right there.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Jones,” she said, drawing out my last name like a little jab. Her eyes found mine again, but the spark was gone. “I have to go back to my son…” she added with a small smile. “It was…” Then, it grew a little, reaching her eyes.
Her hand lifted toward my chest, and my breath hitched. I hoped she would grab my collar and kiss me, but no. She plucked a random piece of tape off my shirt and gave a soft little pat to smooth the fabric back down. The top of her fingersbrushed the skin on my neck. It was the slightest of touches, but it was enough to send a shock through me so strong it made my hands clench, among other… bodily reactions. And I think it hit her too, because her smile faded immediately.
Her voice dropped, almost too low to hear.
“Nice to meet you.” She cleared her throat and looked away.
Two more steps back, and now she was turning toward the door. I couldn't let her go, but what the fuck could I say? I could pretend that the cocky comment I made wasn’t exactly who I was. But what would be the point? Everyone knew it was.
Her fingers reached for the doorknob, and my heart—the one that was full of that weird, fuzzy calm moments ago—suddenly clenched. It literally skipped a beat.
“Jules, don’t go…” The words slipped out without my permission. It sounded almost like a beg, and the overconfident part of me wanted to shove them right back in. But she stopped and slowly turned around.
Fuck it. Since my body was clearly acting on its own, I would go with it. I walked toward her, and she nervously rambled.
“My son doesn’t do well with crowds. I really need to get back before?—”
“Can I just…?” I interrupted, but the rest of the question got stuck. I didn’t even know what I was asking for. Couldn’t figure out how to put it into words.
We were so close now. Closer than before.
Her eyes softened, and I took it as ayesto whatever question I didn’t finish asking. I leaned in, and the second our lips met, it felt like my whole body sighed in relief. It was not just a kiss, it was a crash, a collision, like I’d been underwater way too long, and she was the first breath of oxygen I’d had inyears. I wanted to pull her closer and lose myself completely in her.
Some tiny part of my brain was screaming,“She’s going to slap you into next week, dumbass,” but my body was all in, and it knew I wasn’t in it alone. The way she kissed me back—hungry like she needed this as much as I did—made everything else disappear.
We broke apart, breathless, our foreheads still touching as we made sense of what had happened. The words came out of me before I even realized I was speaking.
“You taste like home.”
I was sure that slap would come now, but she instead brought her fingers to my face and brushed over my beard. When her eyes met mine, there was no hesitation. Before I could overthink it, we were kissing again, this time even more urgently.
Whatever noise and doubt were still living in my head were now gone.
There was just her. Just us.
My hands moved instinctively, sliding from her back to her waist. I wanted to memorize every curve. When my hands found the back of her thighs, she moved with me, wrapping her legs around my waist. I guided us to the vanity and sat her down.
