“Wait,” I whispered, and he stilled in his retreat. “Wait,” I repeated before I straightened my back and pressed my lips back up and into his.
He exhaled in a sigh of relief and cupped the back of my head. We held there, rubbing softness against softness. Breaths hovering. I memorized the shape of his soft lips, the way his exhale brushed against my skin. I tilted my head, opening my mouth?—
He pulled away abruptly.
“Claire, I—” He grabbed my shoulders and held me in place. Mortification slithered down my neck as determination narrowed his eyes.
“I’m sorry. I got carried away.”As always.
I was embarrassed. I thought the heat between us was tangible, but this was a hard stop.
“It’s not that. Trust me, this is—” He looked around. “I just—not here.” He groaned in frustration.
“It’s okay. I shouldn’t have assumed.” I shook my head, then bent down to collect our stuff.
He lifted my chin to get my focus back. “Please don’t apologize. It makes me feel like shit.”
I closed my eyes so I couldn’t see the sympathy in his face. “You just said all those sweet things, and I?—”
“You don’t owe me anything because I was kind to you.” His words came out frustrated—a grumpy and familiar Levi.
I winced and felt even more humiliated. Was that what he thought? That I kissed anybody who wasn’t confused by my verbal onslaught? That wasn’t what this was. This was the purest form of want I’d ever experienced.
“It’s fine. We can just pretend it didn’t happen,” I said, getting back to collect our stuff. I stood, and the cold air seeped in, causinga shiver.
“Really. It’s not that I didn’t want that.” He took a breath and held up a finger in the air, so I sucked in my lips to keep from speaking anymore. I could still taste him there. I still wanted him. He sounded as frustrated as I felt embarrassed.
Well, this would be a fun and not-at-all-awkward ride back to the cabin.
“I wanted it. Trust me.” He stood, and the evidence of that was clear as day, based on that bulge currently trying to distract me. Speaking of aubergines, I’m pretty sure he had one stuffed down his pants. I blinked up at him, my lips still clamped tight.
Absolutely nothing needed to come out of my mouth right now.
He took a breath as he lifted and dropped his shoulders. His fingers splayed as he collected himself. “Can I show you something?” he asked.
It took all of my force of will to keep my eyes locked on his when he said that. “I, uh?—”
“Not here. Back at the house.”
Back at the house? Was he going to continue this kiss? Was he trying to end this next level of physicality? Was he going to take me to his shed and show me his wood?I would not make a wood joke. I would not make a wood joke.
I bit my bottom lip harder and nodded.
“Oh, man.” He chuckled. “You are trying so hard not to say something inappropriate right now, and I’m not sure I want to know what it is.”
Chapter 18
Levi
The momenther lips touched mine, my growing suspicions were confirmed. I had fallen for Claire, and I had no way of coming back from these feelings.
I wanted more from Claire, and I couldn’t do that without her understanding bits of me. She’d been so open and honest. It was time to share part of myself in return before things went any further.
The drive back to the house was the exact opposite of the ride into town. Claire sat in contemplative silence. Although she was quiet, when I glanced her way, wanting to simply look at her through the flashes of streetlights, she gazed at me with heat in her eyes, her teeth chewing on her bottom lip, watching me with an intensity that made sitting in jeans difficult. Each timeI caught her heated stare, Claire would turn to look out the window as my grip tightened on the steering wheel until my knuckles went white.
She sat up, surprised when I parked in front of Little Cabin. “We don’t have to go in there,” she said with patient understanding.
“I want to show you something,” I explained.
