He was deadly silent. I don’t think he even blinked for thirty seconds, and the longer he was staring, the longer I seemed to shrink under his gaze; the one where the flirtatious glint had no place. Every part of his body tensed, and I waited with bated breath until it finally relaxed. He got up and moved, pulling out the chair next to me. We were suddenly very close, and without a table separating us, the air felt too thick to breathe properly.
He leaned forward so his elbows were on his knees, his fingers interlacing at the point where they could have beentouchingmyknees but didn’t, as though he was stopping himself from doing exactly that.
“Lowe...”
The heat which still hadn’t cooled in my veins from earlier suddenly went ice cold; the goosebumps which had covered every inch of me were now back for a different reason. The way he said my name sounded like it was about to be followed with ‘we need to talk’, and created an alarmingly large swirl of anxiety, considering it was coming from someone I’d had no romantic interest in until three days ago.
Not to mention Istillshouldn’t have any romantic interest in, due to the 101 rules, along with all the other reasons I kept forgetting in his presence.
“Yes?”
“It keeps hitting me how much work I have to do to make this club good. It’s why I was late. I was trying to figure out how I was going to find this girl…” He noticed my frown deepen and waved his hand to stop whatever thoughts I was having. “Never mind, long story. Anyway we have a lot of work to do together, we’re going to be working closely, and yesterday, yesterday was unexpected. Yesterday changed things.”
My heart sunk a little deeper, especially from the way his hands were now twisting together. It was the second I realized what crushing disappointment felt like. I wasn’t sure what had been happening or where it had come from, but I knew I wasn’t ready for it to end, which is exactly where it appeared to be heading.
He took a deep breath. “I don’t always think before I act. I didn’t think yesterday before I kissed you, and I should have checked with you first before playing our little game out there. But when I saw you, then Buck and Shelley…” He trailed off, looking at me for a reaction, his grey eyes blazing through me just like they done all weekend. “Thinking around you becomesimpossible. But, I’m not sorry. I’m not sorry I kissed you earlier, and I’m definitely not sorry I kissed you yesterday, so I hope you’re not expecting an apology, because I’d do it again in a heartbeat… I guess, what I’m trying to say is… I just wanted to check with you now.” His face lit up with the boyish grin I knew for a fact got him out of most trouble he found himself in. “Better to ask for forgiveness than permission, right?”
Our eyes locked together while I figured out what he was asking.
“You want to kiss me again?” My words caught in my throat, desperate and raw.
“Yeah.”
My heart thumped between my legs, and the air became as sticky as a Louisiana summer when his palms slid up my thighs, slipping round to cup my ass as they reached it. And in less than the time it took to blink, he’d scooped me up to sit on his lap.
“Holy shit!” I steadied myself on his shoulders, shoulders my fingers were digging into like I was holding onto them for dear life; thick broad shoulders, just like the curve of his biceps, just like his thick, muscular thighs I was now straddled across. So much thick. So many muscles.
Good job growing up, Penn. Good job indeed.
“I know,” he smirked.
Before I had any time to think about the fact that Penn’s hands were creeping back round to my ass, his mouth found mine again like it should never have been separated in the first place.
His fingers dug into my flesh at the first slide of his tongue round my mouth, a tiny moan escaping him that had a direct line to straight between my thighs. This kiss was as sweet as the Coke he’d been drinking, the flavor of which danced on my taste buds as we twisted together. I could feel myself sinking into him,heading towards a line I didn’t want to cross in a dusty archive room with no lock on the door.
I eased back slowly, my bottom lip popping from his tugging grip. His lips were glistening, one side of his mouth sneaking up for the crest of a smile, and I swear his cheeks were slightly pink.
“I thought you didn’t like me,” I blurted out.
His fingers were running up and down my spine, making it hard to focus on anything bar what else I wanted those fingers to do. “I do like you, Lowe. Very much. Always have.”
He brushed his lips against mine, all too briefly, then craned back.
“But I will say one other thing… just now… that was the third time you made that face,” he pointed to my face, accusingly, “when I mentioned Jupiter Reeves. Please don’t tell me he’s your type. It’s way too conflicting for me.”
I blinked once, twice, three times, trying to make sense of what he said, but… nope. Couldn’t.
“Um, what?”
“If he’s your type tell me now, and I’ll go straight to Rafe’s tattoo guy and tell him to cover me. I’ll also be cancelling Jupiter’s contract.”
I laughed, even harder when the seriousness of his suggestion didn’t seem to drop from his expression, and shook my head. “No, I don’t have a thing for Jupiter Reeves. I seem to have developed a thing for sports club owners that I appear to have married in the last few hours.”
“That’s a relief, Mrs. Michaelson. I’m glad to hear it.”
I smiled, suddenly so overcome with happiness I may as well have been drunk. I was certainly drunk on something.
I looked away, needing to break the tension building between us before I carried out the very real fantasy I’d been trying not to think about all morning.
