That pulls my gaze instantly. “Why?”
“Because I want to tell you something, and I’ll lose my nerve with you staring at me.”
I turn toward the TV even though every part of me is pulled toward her. “Alright.”
“That night at the Drunken Fish,” she says quietly, “after we all hung out… you left your jacket behind. The leather one.”
“Yeah.”
“I kept it.”
My pulse jumps. “Why?”
“I don’t know.” She folds her hands in her lap. “But the scent calms me.”
I reach over and turn her chin toward me, urging her to look. Her eyes widen when I hold them.
“Tell me the truth,” I say. “Why’d you keep it?”
Her throat moves. “I just… liked having it near.”
Something inside me pulls tight, hot and unmistakable. “You’re so fucking sexy.”
Color blooms across her cheeks. She bites her lip, and the shift in her scent hits me, sharp and warm, sending heat down my spine.
I brush my thumb along her lower lip. She trembles. “You know I can smell Ryker on you.”
Her eyes widen. “You can?”
I nod once. “And the wild thing is… I still want to kiss you.”
“Jude—”
“Can I kiss you, Norah? Even if it complicates everything?”
Her breath shakes as she nods. “Yes.”
I don’t wait a second longer. I cup her jaw, guiding her toward me, and our mouths meet with a rush that knocks the air out of both of us.
Her fingers grab my shirt, pulling me closer. The kiss deepens fast, too fast.
She tastes warm and new and exactly like trouble I’m ready to wreck myself over.
When she presses against me, I slip a hand under the hem of her sweater, fingers tracing the curve of her waist. She shudders,body arching just enough to let me know she feels this as much as I do.
Her tongue brushes mine, small but desperate, and a low sound breaks from my throat before I can swallow it.
She’s in my arms, breathing hard, lips swollen from how hungry we are without meaning to be. She leans into me, and I draw her tighter.
I haven’t felt like this in years.
Her hand slides up my chest, over my shoulder, into my hair, and that’s it—my control buckles.
I pull her onto my lap, kiss her again, deeper, harder, her thighs tense under my hands.
We break the kiss slowly, breaths tangled. Her lips are parted, pupils blown wide. I rest my forehead against hers, trying to catch the thread of sense I lost somewhere in the middle of that.
She opens her mouth, but I hush her with a soft thumb across her cheek.
