“It’s Rafe,” she admitted, her gaze shifting to where he still held her hand.
“He’s the relationship you recently got out of?”
“No.” She shook her head to emphasize. “But I’ve…” Bailey exhaled heavily. “It’s complicated.”
“You love him.”
It wasn’t a question, but she figured he deserved some sort of clarification.
“I think I do, yes.” She forced herself to meet his gaze. “It’s not reciprocated, and I know there’s no future there, but it doesn’t change the fact it hurts to see him with other women.”
Bailey thought about Rafe and Ivy and the way she’d been hanging on him. She’d done everything in her power not to think about what they’d done after that. She’d imagined him taking her back to his apartment…
Her chest squeezed, and her sinuses burned. It was stupid to get so worked up over something that had never been, but what she felt for Rafe wasn’t a passing fancy. It had solidified over the years, and though she knew he wasn’t interested in anything with her, she couldn’t make the feelings disappear.
Holt shifted closer, his hip bumping her knee. Bailey didn’t move. Not even when his big, warm hand rested on her thigh.
“What if I could help you think about him less?” Holt offered. “Just for a little while.”
“I told you I’m not a casual girl, Holt. That hasn’t changed.”
“I know. And I’m not talking about sex.”
Bailey felt her cheeks warm. She’d never met a man who told it like it was before. She liked that about him. She liked knowing where he stood on things. Especially since she’d spent so long trying to decipher Rafe’s secret code.
“But I’d like to see where this goes,” he said softly, twisting his upper body so he was facing her.
When he slid his hand under her hair, cupping the back of her neck, Bailey didn’t resist him. She let him urge her closer, and the next thing she knew, she was leaning into him, their lips lightly brushing.
“I’d like that,” she admitted. Bailey couldn’t promise she would stop loving Rafe, but she wasn’t opposed to seeing where things went with Holt. Maybe he was just what she needed to get over the man who’d stolen her heart the first day he rolled into town.
His lips moved over hers. Lightly. Briefly.
“There’s something you should know, Bailey.”
“Hmm?”
He paused, and the sound of his breaths hypnotized her, the feel of them against her lips. Her body temperature rose one degree at a time until she thought she would combust.
“I can’t promise I won’t fall in love with you.”
Her heart swelled, and she thought for a minute it would beat right out of her chest. Those were words her romantic heart had always wanted to hear. Bailey had longed for the day she would find a man who would promise her things that would make her fall in love with him.
“Me either,” she admitted, then kissed him, needing that connection.
Holt groaned softly, his hand tightening on her neck as his tongue slid past her lips. Bailey kissed him back, savoring his taste and the warmth of his body. Every cell came to life; every electrical impulse fired hotly as she succumbed to his mouth. A throbbing started between her legs, intensifying as the kiss did. Before she knew it, Bailey was fisting the front of his shirt, desperate to keep him there.
No one had ever kissed her the way he did. With wild abandon. As though nothing in the world mattered except her. And just like last night at the park, everything else disappeared except for his warmth, his touch. He consumed her in ways no one ever had. And for one brief, fleeting moment, Bailey didn’t think about Rafe.
But then he pulled back and reality returned.
When she tried to sit up, Holt’s hand tightened on the back of her neck, keeping her there. He pressed his forehead to hers as they both breathed heavily.
“Let’s see where it goes,” Holt said softly. “For as long as I’m here, let’s enjoy it.”
Bailey didn’t like that there was a looming expiration date for this, but she couldn’t find a reason to say no. Holt was just what she needed. A man who could show her there were men out there who knew how to treat a woman and one capable of helping her get over a broken heart. If she were lucky, when he did leave, she would be whole again.
Or he’ll be the one to shatter you completely.
