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The sparkle in her eyes, the curve of her generous and unfiltered mouth, and the way she moved her body captured my focus like no woman ever had.
Resisting Nissa, even with all her red flags, was futile.
Even sitting in public, our fingers laced together atop the table, she—we—felt right.
So much so that my stomach rolled even while my inner mind found peace as though I’d come to my place of rest. Insta-love was a thing of Hollywood, for dreamers, but hell if I didn’t suddenly believe otherwise.
That fact scared me shitless.
The deepest parts of me, the jaded Leo, expected to be set aside on the friendship shelf after our night together. But even so, I was on board…for however long I could have her.
“Want to take another step forward with this?” she whispered as though she’d heard my thoughts, her eyes dark and luminous. Temptingly siren-like. Full of promise—and release.
To hell with self-preservation.
“Yeah. I do.”
Chapter 6
Nissa
Leo’s answer sounded more like a wedding vow, and luscious shivers swept over my body, settling between my thighs.
His eyes dropped to my mouth, heat filling his hazel-gold eyes, and he licked his lower lip without a hint of seduction or teasing.
The man was too damn hot and humble for his own good. A bit mysterious, although I understood his moodiness after learning about his recent breakup, but he had a soft, sweet side I’d caught sight of—and longed to watch unfurl. The smiles he flashed while talking over dinner had flipped my stomach each and every time.
How had no woman snagged him up and tied him to her for life?
Add in how he made my core pulse to be filled and toss in the towel, I was done. I wanted to find out thoroughly why Ciarra approved of him, watch his face as he came undone, and soak in his groans as he shuddered his release deep inside me.
I had a sneaking suspicion Ciarra might have introduced me to a rainbow’s pot of gold, but why?
To watch me fail yet again?
To prove to the world I was a moron?
Or maybe to show me she believed I deserved to have something good too?
My throat tightened as Leo and I continued to stare at one another across the table.
“What are you thinking?” he murmured, squeezing my hand as though assuring me everything would be okay.
“Honestly?”
He nodded, searching my eyes. “Always.”
I inhaled until it hurt, my stomach twisting over the vulnerability I was about to show. “I’d like to pursue this because I think you get me—the loneliness, the feelings of being put off to the side because you aren’t good enough or don’t measure up to expectations.” The words hurt to lay out there in the open between us, but he appreciated me. Wanted my true thoughts—and I yearned for the same.
His gaze flitted from one of my eyes to the other as though reading even more behind my statement, but I didn’t shift my focus from his scrutiny like I would have done with anyone else. Leo made me feel…safe in a way I hadn’t with a man before. I knew I could trust him with my emotions and the shit in my head.
“You hunger for attention because you want to connect with someone,” he stated quietly, “but everyone you dash toward with your heart on your sleeve doesn’t see your worth past the good time you promise.”
Tears filled my eyes, and I swallowed hard in attempt to keep my throat from closing off.
“I know what it feels like to desire to be noticed,” he continued, still searching my face. “Accepted as-is. Loved for who I am, regardless of my moodiness I hide behind a wall of goofiness.”
A shuddered breath deflated my lungs, and I attempted a smile that ended up wobbling. “I love to laugh, but when the smile fades from your eyes, I feel like I see the other side of you—and I like it.”
