Tentatively at first, to give her the space to back out if she wanted to, he brushed his lips across Olivia’s.
She didn’t back out. She put her hands on his shoulders and rose up, pressing her mouth against his. Relief and hunger swept through him as he kissed her, and he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close as his tongue dipped between her lips.
Her fingertips brushed over his back and then her hands curled, bunching his shirt in her fists. He cupped her face, deepening the kiss. Her skin was damp from the rain and he knew he should stop and let her go, but he didn’t want it to end.
Then she made a sound deep in her throat, a hungry sound that told Derek she didn’t give a damn about the rain. She wanted him.
And he wanted her so badly it hurt, but it wouldn’t be tonight—it was too soon, and the first date and he didn’t want to screw it up by going too fast—so he was going to take every second of this kiss he could get.
It was definitely too soon when she pulled back, breaking the contact. “I’m pretty sure that car just sitting there, with the driver trying really hard not to look at us, is my ride.”
Her voice sounded as shaky as he felt inside. It was hard not to ask her to send the driver away and let him drive her home, but he was trying damn hard to remember the reasons he didn’t think they were compatible. In the aftermath of that kiss, though, he couldn’t come up with a single one.
“Thank you for dinner,” she said.
“It was definitely a pleasure.” He opened the back door of the car for her, but she paused with one leg inside and they locked eyes over the top of the door.
“Definitely,” she whispered.
He winked at her as she got into the car. “Sweet dreams, Olivia.”
The look she gave him just before he closed the door confirmed that he wasn’t the only one who knew sleep might be hard to come by tonight.
Chapter Five
“I never thought I’d be one of those women getting kissed on a sidewalk in the rain.” The squeak of an office chair swiveling startled Olivia, reminding her too late that she wasn’t alone. “Did I say that out loud?”
“You kissed him?”
“I was mumbling to myself. How did you even hear that?”
“You’re my boss. When you talk, I listen.” Kelsey smiled. “Especially if you’re talking about kissing.”
“Well, I’m done talking about kissing. I have to get through this material.”
A last-minute cancellation by a potential client had opened up an unexpected window of time, so she was taking the time to research an upcoming productivity suite that encompassed paper and digital planning. The cornerstone of her business was finding systems that allowed for individual workflow within the centralized structure, so continued success meant staying on top of the evolving software. A lot of entrepreneurs in the market would reach out to her for beta testing or an endorsement, but she didn’t bother with apps that simply digitized written pages for future reference. An app that analyzed a handwritten page and updated a central digital system interested her.
But today her mind didn’t seem to find her work nearly as interesting as it found reliving Derek’s kiss. She’d lost count of the times she’d read the same few paragraphs on her screen, and now she was talking to herself about it.
And to Kelsey, since she was in the room.
“I want to hear more about last night,” Kelsey said. “And I’m not going to stop bugging you about it, so the most efficient thing for you to do is spill the details so we can both get back to work.”
“Or I can take my laptop to another room and work in peace.” When Kelsey just folded her arms and cocked an eyebrow, she caved. But only a little. “The food was amazing. We got some brainstorming done for the benefit. And he kissed me goodnight.”
“Was the kiss better than the food?”
“Yes.” She didn’t even have to think about it. “And that’s saying something, because it was the best herbed stuffed chicken I’ve ever had.”
“And when are you going to see him again?”
“There’s a fundraiser at a bar on Saturday—you know, the one Brynn made the graphic for—and he made it clear he’d like for me to go, and not just for Village Hearts.” She inhaled slowly, held the breath for a few seconds and then let it out. She needed some damn clarity. “I’d planned to write Saturday and...I’m just not sure.”
“Youwantto go. It’s written all over your face. Just go for it.”
“He has an ex-wife. And two kids.”
“Okay.” Kelsey looked as if she expected more of an explanation, but Olivia wasn’t sure she could put her reservations into words. “If you want to date a guy your age who doesn’t have an ex or any kids, you’re seriously shrinking the dating pool.”
