My heart skipped. His cologne hit my senses—pine and cedar and trouble. The flickering TV cast shadows across his throat, his open shirt, his collarbone.
“Sure,” I breathed.
A muscle twitched in his jaw. He must’ve felt my breath on his cheek.
“I have all her movies on VHS. Well, all but one.”
I barked a laugh. “I know you’re old, but now you’re just taking the piss.”
“Not joking.City of Angelsis impossible to find.”
“You’re so weird,” I muttered, watching the way the light sculpted his jaw. “Have you ever thought about writing one?”
His shoulders stiffened. Just a little. “It’s not that easy.”
Which wasn’t a no.
“You don’t have to write it for anyone else,” I said gently. “Just for yourself. Indulge a little.”
I placed my empty bottle on the table. He didn’t reply for a long moment. Long enough I started thinking maybe that was the end of it. But then?—
“I think once people expect a certain kind of work from you, it becomes hard to be anything else.”
His voice was soft. Honest. It sat heavy between us.
On the screen, a blade dropped with a clang. I flinched. The cat jumped off my lap. “Fuck!” I yelped and covered my eyes as the scene that caused me many nightmares as a preteen flickered across the screen.
An arm slid around my back. Most likely out of instinct. But, to my dismay, I loved how it felt. His broad hand on my back. My cheek pressed to John’s shoulder, his clean shirt soft against my skin. His scent. Him.
I peeked up.
“You okay?” he asked, smiling—thatsmile. Dimples and all.
“Yeah,” I mumbled.
He touched the scratch Queequeg had left behind, fingers brushing my thigh. “Little bastard.”
His hand lingered. Burning my skin. My pulse quickened its pace.
Our eyes locked.
I couldn’t help it. My gaze dropped to his mouth.
The smile vanished. The line of his lips tensed. His hand, that had been rubbing slow circles on my leg, stilled, turning warmth into heat, heat intowant.
Neither of us moved. The longer the seconds stretched, the more dangerous this felt and the more difficult it would be to shrug this odd silence off.
My neck flushed hot. My lips parted on the tiniest exhale.
His eyes darkened. And then...
The sofa must have shrunk because we suddenly shared the same breath. The tips of our noses brushed, sending sparks along my spine. Twisting my gut in pleasurable pain. He closed his eyes.?
“Nora…” he whispered.
I should stop.
Pull away. Shove him. Curse him.Something.
