He felt like home. She’d wanted this since she was twelve years old. She’d lost her heart to him on sight. And despite his abandoning her, being in his arms felt perfect.
She jerked back out of his arms. It was way too soon in their newfound friendship to be kissing and dreaming of things to come.
“Wow,” he murmured. “You sure can kiss.” He grinned crookedly, looking unsure of himself. “I’d apologize but that would imply regret. How can I regret the single most delicious kiss I’ve ever had?”
“It was the heat of the moment,” she supplied a reasonable excuse for their behavior. “A celebration of our success. That’s all.”
“I don’t think so, at least not for me, but I’ll let you pretend it was.” He stroked a finger down her cheek and tucked a lock of hair that had escaped her ponytail behind her ear. “I wanted that kiss. I needed it. But no pressure going forward. Have I made you uncomfortable?” His smile was soft and caring.
She stared down at the flour coated floor. “Maybe a bit. I liked it though.” She swallowed to clear her arousal and moisten her dry throat. “But I don’t think we should do that again.”
Liar. You want it again. Right now. And more later with less clothing. You want to rub up against him like a cat, learning every curve, every muscle. She cut off her errant mind, mid-thought.
“That kiss was electric. Dang near set my shoes on fire. I think we need to try again, see if that’s how it’s always going to be, or see if it was a fluke,” Darius countered with a wink. “I know it wasn’t a one off, but it doesn’t hurt to be certain.” He clasped her hands in his. “But not until you’re ready. I won’t push this. I won’t screw up a relationship with you like I did before. I want to take this friendship and see where it leads. At your pace.”
She didn’t say anything, words stuck in her throat. She stepped back, slowly pulling her hands from his. “Um. Er.” She stumbled for something to say. “Okay?”
“I’ve made this awkward, again. I apologize. It wasn’t my intent. I didn’t mean to kiss you, but I’m glad I did. Your kiss is sweeter than I ever dreamed it would be.” He mimed zipping his lips before mumbling. “Shutting up now. Let me buy you lunch at Mythos, a celebration of finally getting this crazy tower to stick together.”
“We can eat here,” she offered knowing a quick bite here would lead to less temptation than sitting close together in the intimate atmosphere of Cranberry Cove’s most romantic restaurant. She hadn’t been there since the remodel, but Julianna couldn’t stop raving about how romantic it had become.
“Or, I can buy you lunch.”
“Wait, you’re offering to buy me lunch at your restaurant? Isn’t that kind of cheap?” she grinned to let him know she was teasing.
“Yup.” He winked.
A thrill ran down her spine. How could a wink dig into her like that?” It burrowed into her heart and warmed her through.
“It’s not like it’s a date or anything. Two friends, eating together. We’ll get off our feet. You can check out my renovations. I’ll get a breath of air that smells like something besides gingerbread. I never thought I’d get sick of that smell.”
“Me either.” He was right. Gingerbread, day in, day out, for hours at a time was a bit much after a while. She’d had enough that she’d stopped sneaking tastes of the raw dough and cookie crumbs. Part of her was still that chunky girl who lived for food. But a girl could only tolerate so many sweets.
