Page 39 of Manhattan Kiss

Jesus. What is wrong with me?

“Good to know,” I reply.

She shrugs. I want her to say yes to dinner. I want her to give me her number. But I don’t want her to do either of those things because I’ve pestered her for them.

If she’s not interested, then better to know now.

She looks right at me, a look of vulnerability in her beautiful green eyes. “I don’t want…”

I can finish her sentence. I can see what she’s saying before she’s formed the words. She doesn’t want to get hurt.

“I’m not going to hurt you.” I say it with confidence, even though I have no right to. Maybe I will hurt her. I barely know her, yet I’m making promises I’m not sure I can keep. I don’t want to hurt her. That I know for sure.

“Are you really divorced?” she asks, her tone changing.

“I’ve never been married. But yes, I’m definitely separated from Gabby.”

“Are you still in love with her?”

I pull in a breath. Should I be honest? More honest than I ever was with Gabby?

Yes. That’s what I want to be with Aurora. “I don’t think I was ever in love with her.”

“But you had a child with her.”

I nod. “It was unplanned. We tried to make it work. It didn’t.”

She pulls out her phone. “What’s your number?”

Good for her. She’s not making it easy for me. I reel off my number and she saves it in her phone.

“Oh, and call me Deacon.” I’m not sure I should have said that. The way she says Mr. Black is like she’s whispering a spell to get me hard.

She shifts her weight and sticks out her hip. “You want me to call you Deacon, Mr. Black?” She lingers over the words Mr. Black. She knows exactly what she’s doing.

My cock presses against my zipper and I take a step towards her. My hard-on is almost touching her stomach. Our eyes lock. It feels like a standoff, like each of us is daring the other to take the next step.

I clench my fists and drag my gaze away from her. “You better get out of here,” I say.

She steps back and the spell between us is broken. “I’ll let you know about dinner.”

“Or call me anyway,” I say, sounding pathetic.

She tries her best not to grin. “Maybe. I really have to go.”

She’s full of maybes. I want her yeses.

She sweeps past me and I catch her hand. She stops, and I lift her arm and press her wrist to my mouth. Just a little bit more of her.

She smiles, I release her arm, and then she’s gone.

Fuck. What is this woman doing to me? She’s running circles around me and has me counting down the minutes until I can catch a glimpse of her. I never imagined I could want a woman as much as I want Aurora.

FIFTEEN

Aurora

Darcy is the only person in the world who can help me figure out whether or not I should call Deacon Black. It’s late in the UK, but hopefully she’ll pick up. Of course, what she’ll want to talk about is how it’s been in the job so far. After my training, I’m now officially director of rooms and deputy manager. Honestly, I’ve learned a lot from the training and the transition has been relatively easy. It’s all fine.