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“Whatword would you use?”
Shelifted her head to meet his eyes. “Earthshattering.Lifechanging.Ormaybe knee-buckling.Takeyour pick.”
Helaughed quietly, and slowly let his arms fall to his sides. “Weshould say goodnight.”
Hereyes met his again, and he didn’t miss the flash of disappointment in hers. “Oh.Right.Yeah.”Shelooked down, suddenly very interested in her shoes.Slippinghis fingers under her chin, he tilted her face up to his, forcing her to meet his gaze.
“Iwant to make something really clear,Hazel.We’resaying goodnight right now becauseIwant to keep getting to know you.Idon’t want you to think that this is just a physical thing for me, because it isn’t.It’smore, andIthink we both know that.”
Herlips curved in a smile, and she brushed a lock of hair off his forehead.
“Butdon’t mistake my restraint now for disinterest, becauseIdo want you.”Helowered his head and kissed along her jawline, then whispered against the shell of her ear, “Iwant to kiss you like that again.Iwant to taste every inch of your skin.”
Andthen, shocking and thrilling the hell out of him, she tilted her head and said, “Iwant to know what you feel like inside me.”
Whenhe met her eyes, he saw the heat and playful mischief shining at him there.Hisbrain misfired, words failing him.
“Inever do this,” she whispered. “Date, kiss a manIbarely know, say things likeIjust said.”
Hepressed his forehead against hers. “Idon’t either.Holyshit,Hazel,Idon’t know what this is.Idon’t know what’s different, butsomethingis.”
“It’sscary.”
“Hellyeah, it is.”
“But,Iwant it.Whateverit is, this scary thing…”Shetrailed off, biting her lip.Hekissed her gently, the tenderness of the kiss a sharp contrast to how badly his cock was aching.
“Iwant it, too.Iwant it so badly that you should go inside beforeIdo something very ungentlemanly.”
“I’dhate to ruin your reputation,” she teased, pressing a kiss to his cheek. “GoodnightAdam.”Sheslipped away from him and disappeared into the hotel.
Adamstared at the door for several long seconds. “Whatthe actual fuck?” he whispered, giving his head a shake as he took several steps back. “Whatthe hell is happening?”
THIRTEEN
Thenext morning,Adammoved through the lounge, fluffing pillows, tidying books, watering plants, but his mind wasn’t in the present moment.Hismind was firmly stuck on last night, and the date he was starting to feel shouldn’t have happened.Hekept replaying it over and over in his mind.Thesmell ofHazel’sperfume.Thesound of her laugh.Thetaste of her lips against his.Thedirty words she’d whispered in his ear.
Helet out a soft groan and spilled water on the floor, overfilling the poor potted snake plant sitting on a small table by the window.
“Shit,” he grumbled, hustling back out to the lobby to get a towel to clean it up.He’djust finished sopping up the water when the front door to the hotel opened, andAdam’shead whipped in that direction so fast he almost popped a tendon.Hedidn’t know what he was going to do or say when he sawHazelagain.Heknew, for his sake and hers, that he should let her down gently.Herlife was complicated, and she lived inNewYorkCity.Hewas firmly rooted where he was, in this town, in this life.
“Icome bearing caffeine and apple cider donuts,” saidJack, who was out of uniform this morning.
“Why?” askedAdamwarily.
Jacklooked at him as though he was speaking another language. “BecauseIwant to hear all about your date.Duh.”
“Oh.Right.That.”Hejerked his head in the direction of the vacant sunroom, andJackfollowed.Adampushed open one of theFrenchdoors, leading them out onto the terrace.Mistclung to the field that separated theInn’sproperty from theHudsonHighlands, and the sun was still slowly making its way into the sky.Adamtook the coffeeJackoffered him and took a long sip.
“So?” askedJack, taking a healthy bite of his donut. “Howdid it go?”
Adamsighed heavily, staring out at the mist. “Itwas fantastic.”
“Yousay that like it’s a bad thing,” saidJack, frowning. “I’ma little confused.”
“Thatshould be the title of your autobiography,”Adamdeadpanned, deflecting.
Jackflipped him off. “Whyis having a fantastic date with a nice woman a bad thing?Explainit to me, becauseIdon’t get it.”
