“Oh, I know you did. I’ve heard plenty of refusals from you. I’m still in awe that you changed your mind. I guess luck was on my side.”
The club was small, as Elijah had promised it would be. There was a cover charge, which he paid for both of them, although Stephanie offered to pay her own way and protested lightly when he said no. “You can’t go on paying for everything every time we go out.”
“Honestly, I’m just so happy to hear you talking about every time we go out,” he said. “Like there are going to be so many more times.”
“I’m hoping there will be.”
“I’m sure there will. Here, come over here.” He led her to a table at the front of the room, and they sat down and ordered drinks from a passing server.
The musicians took the stage and began to play. The rhythm of the music was fast and exciting, and Stephanie immediately got caught up in it. Every time she looked over at Elijah, she saw that he was moving to the rhythm as well, as if the two of them were riding the same wave. It was oddly intimate and thrilling.
The evening passed in a blur, but one moment stood out sharp as glass. It etched itself on Stephanie’s mind, and she knew she would never forget it.
As one of the songs drew to a close and the final notes lingered in the air, Elijah reached across the table for her hand. He pulled her across the table and kissed her—in full view of everyone at the club.
No one commented on it. No one said anything. It wasn’t remarkable, on the surface. There were people kissing all around them.
But all Stephanie could think about as he let her go was the photograph that had been taken of the two of them. This club was supposed to be relatively private, but you could never be sure that your picture wasn’t going to be taken.
He had kissed her anyway.
He had kissed her knowing that it might be recorded and reported on, that people might speculate about it, that it might become a story. He had kissed her knowing that if it went public, people would realize he was still seeing the same woman he had been seeing the last time his picture had been taken. They would realize, potentially, that it was turning into something serious.
He hadn’t minded.
And Stephanie made up her mind in that moment that she didn’t mind either.
Let people say anything they wanted to say. She was going to enjoy every minute with Elijah Norcross.
“Should I drop you off at your house?” Elijah asked.
She understood what he was asking, and hesitated for only a moment. “Why don’t we both go to my house?”
“Yeah?”
“I’d like you to see my place.” She grinned. “I’d like to give you a tour.”
The air in the car was thick with tension for the rest of the drive. They hardly spoke. She gave him the directions to get to her house—he’d been there before, of course, but only on foot, and besides, she sensed that his thoughts might be as murky and distracted as hers were.
I hope they are, anyway. I hope his mind is whirling. I hope I’m not the only one feeling like all the nerves in my body are singing.
It seemed to take forever to get back to her condo. At the same time, though, no time passed at all before they were getting out of the car. Stephanie fumbled in her purse for her keys.
Elijah, apparently, didn’t want to wait.
He pulled her into the shadows at the side of the building and pressed her back up to the wall, his hands braced on either side of her. “You’ve been making me crazy all evening,” he breathed into her ear.
Stephanie felt like she was melting. “What were you going to do if I didn’t ask you back here?”
“Combust.” He leaned closer, so that his forehead was touching hers. Their bodies were so close now, Stephanie felt like her breath was rising and falling in unison with his.
“Don’t you think we should go inside?”
“I’ve been thinking about this the whole way home,” he said, and kissed her.
It was deep and powerful. Intoxicating. She could ride away on a kiss like that. She breathed in the musky scent of him and wrapped her hands around the back of his neck, drawing him closer to her. Deeper. He hummed pleasurably into her mouth, and for a moment Stephanie all but forgot she was human.
All that mattered was this. The sensations zinging through her body. The way her instincts drove her closer and closer to him, making her feel as though she couldn’t tear herself away. The rising tide of her need for more, more,more…
