Page 31 of Never Let Go

“Must be,” he agreed easily, and my heart started racing all over again. My palms were definitely clammy now.

While I’d heard a lot about having chemistry with another person, I’d never actually experienced it for myself until now. Not even really with Foster, but perhaps that was just because I’d never gotten close enough to him.

With Tyler, however, it was like my body and mind both longed for more of him. Part of me just wanted to get up, go over there, and go sit in his lap. Not to break the rules or anything, but just to be closer to him.

“Hey, Amanda,” he said suddenly.

“Hmm?”

“Do you want to make out?”

I laughed, blushing all the way to my hairline. “How did you know that was what I was thinking about?”

“Maybe because I was thinking about the same thing. I know it’s against the rules, but what the hell, right?”

“Right.” My heart stammered in my chest, going absolutely wild when it restarted again. “This is so unlike me, but yes. Yes, I do want to make out.”

He groaned. “Hold on. I’m coming to get you.”

I heard the faint rustling of clothes and it took him a beat to find my chair, but then large hands landed gently on my shoulders and ran down the lengths of my bare arms before they wrapped around mine.

“Come here,” he murmured huskily and I found myself standing up without even having decided to do it.

I couldn’t see him, obviously, but that somehow only made it hotter. My other senses were in overdrive and I felt him there, right in front of me, probably at least half a head taller than I was and smelling like a sexy male cologne commercial. The scent of him was all leather and smoke, and I practically melted into him when he wrapped an arm around my waist, pressing me into his body.

His surprisingly hard body, at that.

The arms around me were strong and toned, and even through his shirt, I could feel the ridges of muscles in his abdomen pressing up against the softness of my own. For a moment, I worried that he’d be turned off now that he could feel that I had a few extra pounds on me, but instead, I got the opposite reaction.

A low growl came out of him and he cupped my face, his thumbs trailing across my lips before his mouth descended on mine, hard, hot, and hungry. I moaned into the kiss, wondering if it was really happening or if I was dreaming, but it was so hot, I just didn’t care.

The chemistry was definitely there and I found myself wanting more, my fingers tightening on his shoulders. I pressed my chest into his. We got a bit carried away, and I wasn’t sure what had happened, but the next thing I knew, we started tumbling.

“Fuck,” he muttered as he grabbed hold of me, laughing softly as he righted us. “I was trying to move us to the sofa, but I forgot about the table.”

He said the words against my lips, and I joined in with his laughter. The buzzer went off and a red light came on. “Shit. Only five minutes left. Will you go out with me again, Amanda?”

“Yes,” I breathed into his mouth, inhaling deeply before releasing him. “I’m already looking forward to it.”

“So am I, but it’ll be a few days. I’ve got something to take care of, but as soon as it’s done, I’m all yours.”

I nodded, but I couldn’t help but wonder if the something he had to take care of was someone else. A man who felt, smelled, and sounded as good as he did couldn’t possibly be completely single, but he’d assured me that he was.

Either way, our time was up and I just had to trust that we’d be going on another date just as soon as he took care of whatever it was he needed to take care of. Even so, after we said our goodbyes and the waiter came to get me, I hoped like hell that this didn’t feel too good to be true simply because it really was.

15

FOSTER

Hope and Porter were both in my office when I arrived the morning after the second date. I rolled my eyes at both of them when I pushed the door open to find them sitting across from my desk, coffees in hand with Hope on my brother’s lap.

“Seriously, you couldn’t just call?” I asked playfully, in too good a mood to be brought down by their nosiness.

Porter gave me a wide-eyed, expectant look. “No, we couldn’t. We had to see your face while you talked about the date. Hope thinks she’s going to win the bet and I needed to see it for myself to believe it.”

“Right now, Hope is definitely the frontrunner.” I strode in and emptied my pockets before sitting down. Gratefully accepting the coffee she handed me, I grinned and leaned back in my chair. “The date went well. Really well.”

She squealed and turned to stick her tongue out at my brother. In return, he groaned and then grabbed her so fast that even I didn’t see it coming. He sucked her tongue into his mouth, kissing her hard and fast before breaking it off just as abruptly.