I laughed. “I’m going to say good night now. I won’t see you again until I come pick you up in the morning.”
“Mommy, we’re making waffles, so don’t come too early, ’kay?”
I swished the wine around in the glass. “Waffles?”
“That’s what Mr. Weston said when he left. With chocolate chips and whipped cream and … something else, but I can’t remember.”
There was one thing in her statement that stood out more than the rest. “Mr. Weston has already left?”
“Yep! And he told us to be good girls, but I’m always a good girl.” She giggled.
I checked the time on the microwave, my pulse quickening as I anticipated the ding to go off at any second—the notification that Colson had arrived at my gate. Ironically, he only lived a few streets away. It wouldn’t take more than a few minutes for him to get here.
“How about you call me when you wake up, and we can decidetogetherwhat time I should come get you?”
“Okay.”
I smiled. “I love you, baby.”
“I love you, Mommy.”
As I hung up, the ding came from the hallway, and since I didn’t have my personal phone, I rushed toward the tablet, the screen illuminated, and I pressed the button to lift the gate. I then returned to the kitchen, downed the rest of my wine, and set the glass in the sink, slipping my bag over my arm as I made my way to the front entrance. The bell rang as I was approaching the door.
“My God, Sophie,” Colson said as soon as I opened it. “You’re fucking”—his head shook—“unbelievably beautiful.”
By the way he looked at me, he didn’t just make me feel like the most gorgeous woman there ever was. He set off every sensation inside of me.
Fire.
Tingles.
An explosion that erupted in my chest and lowered.
There was something different about tonight. The uniqueness had nothing to do with the way he had edged his beard or the casual but delicious outfit he wore. It was the fact that he was standing in front of my house, here to take me out on a date.
That he wanted more.
His gaze made its way down, following the same path as the scorching energy swishing through my body, and he reached forward and cupped my waist, taking a step closer to me.
“I can’t believe you’re mine.”
Once that last word left his mouth, our eyes were locked.
A statement that churned within me. That brought even more pleasure, as if I wasn’t already ready to burst.
But I still said, “Yours, huh?”
That earned me a smile. “For tonight. After this evening, you may decide you want to take back everything you said to me last night.”
“An option, I suppose.”
Why did it feel like this was the first time he was touching me?
That his fingers, although familiar, felt unknown and unprecedented?
That if he tried to take off my dress right here in the entryway, I wouldn’t stop him?
He dipped his head near mine. “Sophie … I have to.”
