This man, this formerly exhausted workaholic widower, had been hiding an entire personality underneath quarterly reports and bedtime routines.
His mouth found my neck then, trailing warm kisses just beneath my jaw while his hands slid beneath the fabric at my waist.
Every nerve ending I possessed seemed to wake up all at once. It had been so long since someone touched me like this. Conrad’s touch wasn’t hurried or transactional—God help me, I hoped it wasn’t temporary. His touch was reverent… like he wanted to learn me.
I threaded my fingers through his hair, suddenly understanding why women in romance novels were always losing their minds over that particular experience.
Conrad made a low sound against my throat, and my entire body reacted instantly.
“Well,” I breathed. “You found the spot.”
He laughed softly against my skin, his hands moving carefully but confidently over my body. Every time I responded, he seemed almost startled by his own boldness. Like part of him still couldn’t believe this was happening.
Honestly, I felt the same way.
Then his palm brushed my breast through my dress.
We both paused.
Conrad looked at me, a question in his eyes.
I nodded once.
That was all the encouragement he needed. His firm hand closed over my breast, and I moaned at the touch.
His eyes darkened. “Oh.”
“That’s becoming your favorite word.”
“You’re making coherent language difficult.”
His mouth curved briefly before he caught my bottom lip between his.
The tension that had been building for weeks finally had somewhere to go. It released through his hands, through my legs around his waist, through his mouth against mine as I dragged my fingers through his hair hard enough to make him groan.
I wanted him. Now. Here. In the middle of the kitchen.
The truth crashed through me with alarming intensity when his hand took hold of the hem of my dress and lifted it up until my legs were completely exposed. He slipped his hand under my dress and rubbed my thigh.
Heat curled low in my stomach.
Conrad kissed me slower then, like he was trying to savor every reaction he pulled from me.
“Winnie,” he murmured against my mouth.
I deepened the kiss instead of answering because hearing my name falling from his lips like that was far too intimate.
His fingers traced higher.
My entire body tightened instinctively.
Was this really going to happen? I spread my legs wider, my body shaking from anticipation. Conrad’s fingertips found the edge of my lace panties, then slipped underneath.
I held my breath. The world turned still. And Conrad brushed his fingertips over my clit.
“Oh, God,” I groaned into his neck.
The pad of his middle finger found the center of my clit and began circling the sensitive bud in slow, agonizing circles.
