Lilian's mind went wonderfully… horribly… blank.
Hawk was kissing her.Hawk waskissingher.Before she could respond, or even lean into the kiss, he pulled back, looking apologetic.“Sorry,” he said, “I know I said I wanted to be discreet about us at the faire, but I couldn't help it.You had this look on your face.”
“What look?”she breathed.
“Like you were in love.”He licked his lips, as if thinking twice about what he was about to say, but the words came out anyway.“And I really want you to look at me like that.”
How did he know that just from her face?
She did love books.They’d been her number one companion for years.When all her past boyfriends let her down, her books were always there.But they couldn’t hold her.Couldn’t kiss her.Couldn’t tell her that she mattered.
Or buy her coffee.
Or help her with a bookstore.
Lilian grabbed him by the V of his polo shirt.Her fingers dug into the wet cotton as she pulled him in for another bruising kiss.
She slanted her mouth over his and pressed forward.Hawk opened at her silent request, allowing her to deepen the kiss.He tasted like coffee.The same dark bitterness they’d shared earlier.Like those stolen sips, she wanted to consume all of him.
Thunder boomed in the distance, a loud, rolling sound that nearly drowned out her heartbeat.Hawk stepped closer, his damp polo brushing her bodice, as he backed her toward the wall behind the counter.The hard surface behind her and the solid warmth of him in front sent a sharp thrill through her.
She tipped her head, gesturing faintly at the shop around them.“Sneaking kisses during a storm.That’s very romantic.”
“Well, this is a romance store.”
“We sell things besides romance.”She nudged him gently, relieved when he still kept his body close.
“I forgot you also sell fantasies.”He said it like she was an arms dealer, selling dreams and romances like one might sell contraband.
Lilian shivered and wrapped her arm around his neck.To her surprise, he pressed his forehead against her own.
She waited for the excuses to come.For something at the faire to pull him away.Yet Hawk held her, and even more than that, his fingers tipped her chin up, and he kissed her again.
They stood like that.Huddled close together, kissing like they couldn’t get enough of each other.
Lilian forgot the faire was still going on around them.This was why he’d warned her against affection at the faire.Because once they started, it was impossible to stop.
Time slipped away, but Hawk eventually pulled back, his lips plump and thoroughly used.It made him look all the more handsome.“I have to go.”
A pang of remorse shot through her as she panted.“I know.”If he looked like that, she must be a mess as well.
When he stepped away, all sense returned.Any minute, someone could step into the shop and see them together.She was trying to be professional, and here she was kissing her boss in the middle of the workday.
“But I’d like to see you.I really want to continue having this conversation,” Hawk assured her, a flicker of lust lighting his eyes.“Tonight?After the faire?”
Lilian’s heart fluttered.“Sure,” she breathed.It was so hard to let his hand go after that.But when he pulled away, she let his grip slip through her fingers.
Hawk gave her a reassuring smile and stepped out into the rain.Lilian picked her book back off the ground where it had fallen, dusted it off, and leaned against the counter, ready to pick back up where she had left off.
But not even the beauty of the Dark Elm Ball could distract her from Hawk Carlisle and that kiss.
After the Faire
Acrisp,professionalknockfell against her thin door not long after she got home.Lilian fought the urge to sprint to it.
She wasn’t successful.By the time she made it to the door, her breath was trying to outpace the erratic drumming of her heart.Trembling fingers yanked the door open a little too hard and nearly put a hole in the wall.
And there he was.
