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“Wow. You must be seriously smart to have multiple acceptances.”

Her blush spread from her cheeks down her neck and chest. God, she was beautiful.

“I wish my bosses thought that,” she said with a shrug.

“I find that bosses are usually idiots.”

There was that laugh again. “Aren’t coaches the bosses of football teams?”

“Sassy, smart, and sexy. Where the hell did you come from?”

I grinned so wide that my cheeks ached. Although, that could have been because I was out of practice when it came to smiling. There was a reason I had a reputation as the asshole on the sidelines. Reporters had commented on my clenched jaw and narrowed eyes more times than I could count.

But with Heather, in this moment, I felt at ease in a way that was just as unsettling as it was enjoyable. I wasn’t used to feeling like this with any woman.

Since the divorce, I’d had casual hookups but nothing more. No deeper connection or desire for more than sex.

While I definitely wanted to sleep with Heather, I already couldn’t imagine taking her to bed and moving on the next day, like I usually did. I was enjoying getting to know her too much.

But that realization made the grin fade from my face.

There was a reason that I didn’t get emotionally attached to women. It was a decision I made when my divorce was finalized, a plan to just enjoy myself without worrying about the future. It had been easy to stick to it until now.

I didn’t see Heather coming at all. Our strong chemistry was almost irresistible, and that caused a spike of panic that dug its claws into my chest. Because for the first time in two years, I didn’t know where this would go. If I took Heather back to my bungalow tonight, I felt like she was going to burrow her way under my skin and never leave.

The fact that part of me wanted that after just two conversations made the air feel too thin.

“Well, it’s getting a little late,” I said, very much aware that I was contradicting what I said earlier about having time to listen to her.

Heather didn’t comment on that as we got up from the table, but she watched me curiously as we walked out of the bar together. In the lobby, I told myself to part ways with her, that this was the time to put some distance between us before I got more invested in her.

But I couldn’t seem to make myself do it. I stuck by her side as we walked to the elevator. Heather pulled her key card out of her purse after pushing the up button, and my cock stiffened as she sank her teeth into her bottom lip.

“Thanks for the drink,” she said, her voice dropping enough to make me think of whispers shared in the darkness.

I stepped closer, eliminating the distance between us. Her curves pressed against the hard planes of my body, and her head tilted back as her lips parted. She was breathless and flushed, and I was hard as a rock as I lowered my head and pressed my lips to hers.

Her mouth was soft but needy, welcoming my tongue inside as I deepened the kiss. Her hands fisted the front of my T-shirt, tugging me even closer.

I was drowning in her, and for a moment, it was perfect. She was even better than I could have imagined.

But that was exactly what I was afraid of.

Breaking the kiss, I took a small step back, needing to put some space between us before I completely lost myself in her. It was harder than it should have been, and I’d never felt so conflicted.

“Wow,” she said on a long exhale. “That was…”

Fuck. Knowing that she was just as affected by the kiss as I was made every part of me long for more.

The elevator dinged then, and the doors slid open. Heather watched a few people get off before taking a step in that direction. “I guess I’d better go on up to my room. It’s the first one when you get off the elevator. Very conveniently located.”

Her nervous chatter was back, and it was so endearing that I wanted to wrap her in my arms. But there was also an unspoken question hanging in the air, an invitation that I knew I could grab with both hands.

It would be amazing. I knew that.

But that uneasy feeling of getting swept away was still there, pulsing beneath my desire in a way that made me hesitate. Heather was on the elevator now, and I saw the moment she realized I wasn’t joining her. Her shoulders fell slightly, and her smile looked sad.

The doors started to slide closed, and the panic from before shifted into worry that this was it. A single, mind-blowing kiss was all that I’d get from her because of my own stupid fear of getting close to a woman.