I shake my head, and his brows furrow.
“Fuck it,” I whisper, closing the short distance between us in the car.
I kiss him. And I don’t hold back.
I kiss him like my life depends on it.
I kiss him like he isn’t married.
I kiss him like we’re the only two people on this godforsaken earth.
And he lets me.
His hand cups my jaw, eagerly meeting my lips. He opens his mouth and lets me explore. My tongue brushes his, and my teeth bite into his bottom lip. My entire body buzzes as we kiss and kiss and kiss until I fear I’ll explode from the pressure building within me.
I pull away first, my eyes meeting his shyly.
He rests his forehead against mine, brushing strands of my hair with his fingers. “There is so much I wish I could do right now.”
I swallow. “I’d invite you in, but I’m on…” Well, I’d already admitted I’m on my period. I blush, like something so natural is embarrassing rather than normal. “I can’t.”
“Let me make one thing clear,” he says, his lips brushing my nose, then my mouth, before gravitating toward my ear. “The only thing stopping me from going inside with you is my respect for you. Nothing would stop me from doing very dirty things to you for a very long time. Blood doesn’t bother me.”
Oh my God.
“But I’m not going to do that,” he informs me, and I’m not sure if I feel relieved or disappointed. “Because you’ve had a long day, and I want to let you settle and relax. So, I’m going to get out and walk you to your door. Then I’m going to kiss you goodbye and drive home, where I’ll probably wind up getting myself off to you in the shower.”
Doubleoh my God.
If possible, my face grows hotter.
And Thomas does exactly what he says he will. He gets out of the car, opens my door, walks me to my apartment, and kisses me.
On the temple.
Not the lips.
And I can see that he wants to, but doesn’t trust himself not to follow me inside if that line is crossed.
So, I let him go.
And I try very hard not to think about what he may or may not be doing in the shower hours later when I crawl into bed for the night.
The next morning, I wake up to find a bag full of chocolate, pain relievers, and a heating pad at my apartment door.
There’s no note, but I don’t need one.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Winter
Janel’s smile doesn’tlook any different from the one she usually greets me with when I walk into her office the following day. Even after six hours of solid sleep, my lips still tingle from the kiss I shared with Thomas.
“How are you?” my boss asks softly as I sit across from her.
I rub the heels of my palms down my leggings and clear my throat. “I’m okay.”As I can be.“I wanted to apologize for leaving like I did. It was unprofessional, and it won’t happen again.”
One of her brows quirks up. “Why are you saying sorry? If I were in your shoes, I probably would have thrown my coffee on him.”
