“Let’s not talk about Nick anymore,” she said.
“Good idea.”
They ambled along again, hand in hand. Eventually, they made their way back to the car, and Aubrey’s heart lifted when Gallant opened her door. He was, without fail, a gentleman.
As he drove, she memorized the way the dash lights illuminated his features. Outside, pinpricks of white glitter fell, whizzing from the darkness and disappearing again. Inside, the climate control blew hot air, the seat heater glowing against her legs. Aubrey emptied her mind. Nothing existed beyond this sultry bubble but chips of diamond snow and endless black night.
Gallant looked over and met her eyes. Yes, she could get used to looking at that face.
She made a contented sound in her throat.
His lips parted, as if he’d read something in her expression. He reached over to lay a hand on her thigh. Her dress had ridden up over her crossed legs, and his fingers grazed bare skin. The tips edged back and forth, the lightest brush of flesh on flesh, but she recognized the question in it.
Her pulse launched into overdrive. She uncrossed her legs.
Gallant’s breathing hitched. He inched his fingers upward, tracing a blazing path along her inner thigh. He slipped beneath her dress, up, up, up, until he brushed against the silk of her panties.
When she held his eyes, his finger ventured beneath the fabric. He quickly found her favorite spot, where he drew slow, exquisite circles.
Her stomach exploded into a flurry of sensation. A broken exhale staggered past her lips. “While you’re driving?”
“I can multitask.” His tone was low, full of promise. He chased the comment with another swirl of his finger, one that made her clamp down on her bottom lip and lift her gaze toward the sunroof.
He increased his efforts. Aubrey whimpered and squeezed her eyes shut. Which soon proved to be a mistake. His fingers teased a riotous heat to life, but the sensation made its way to her mind in disjointed flashes. There were dark eyes framed by dark lashes. Teeth pressed against her neck. Fire, rushing into her nose, down her throat, incinerating her from the inside out.
Well, fuck.
“Wait,” she bit out, and reached down to still Gallant’s hand.
He raised an eyebrow and stopped.
The heat he’d kindled floated upward to settle in her cheeks. “That feels amazing, but... can we save this for next time, maybe? I’m sorry, I just... I don’t know. My mind is all over the place tonight.”
“Of course. Whatever you want.” He cleared his throat, as if trying to strip the coarseness from his voice, and withdrew his hand. He didn’t seem angry or disappointed. If anything, he looked heartened, which heartened her, in return.
She smiled. “Thanks.”
He chuckled. “Don’t thank me. Not until I get the chance to finish.”
“I just mean for understanding. And for not being a dick about it.”
“I told you I could be patient, and I can.”
Something in her chest loosened. Yes, she could definitely get used to this.
They lapsed into soft, casual conversation. When they reached her house, he walked her to the door, where she kissed him with all the unquenched thirst still sloshing around inside her. And if the contact conjured visions of shorn black hair andsteel muscle encased in smooth skin, she tried not to dwell on it too much.
Gallant finally broke the kiss. “I’d better go. Before I get carried away.”
She ran a hand down the front of his jacket. “When will I see you again?”
He caught her fingers and kissed the tips. “Thursday evening? We could watch the parade? Drink mulled wine, then go back to my place?”
Her lungs fluttered. His place. For date number five. Which would give her three whole days to exorcise her ghosts and get her head on straight. “I can’t wait.”
He smiled and bade her good-night.
When he’d gone, she went inside and leaned against the door for long minutes, gathering her composure. Gallant’s letter gleamed in the shadows of the hallway, and she plucked it off the table on her way to the living room. It had become tradition to read by firelight, so she kindled a blaze and sat on the chesterfield, the envelope heavy in her hand. This letter weighed more than the others.
