AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Now would be the time to scream, I think,” he said.
“Because we’re out of options?”
“No. Because if I haven’t made you crazy already, this will.”
Then he bent his head and captured her mouth, swallowing her gasp.
Cole folded her into his arms. He kissed her with a self-assurance that sent chills of awareness chasing through her. She felt his hard muscles pressed against her soft curves. Her breasts tingled. Everything tingled.
He savored her mouth, stroking her lips until they were wet and plump and prickling with need. His tongue darted to the seam of her lips, and she opened for him. He moved his hands up to cup her head and thread his fingers in her hair. Then he stroked inside her mouth, deepening the kiss, and she met him instinctively. She sighed, and he made a sound of satisfaction.
She wanted him. She’d developed a crush on him in high school, and she still felt an attraction for him that would not be denied. Longing, nervousness and defenselessness mixed in a heady concoction.
Slowly, Cole eased back and then broke off the kiss.
Marisa opened her eyes and met Cole’s glittering look.
“That did it.”
“Wh-what?” she responded, her voice husky.
“You forgot about being panicked.”
He was only partly right. She’d forgotten about the small space they were stuck in, all right. But she’d replaced that anxiety with a sexual awareness of him.
She took a small step back and felt the cabinets press up against her. Frowning, and seeking composure, she asked, “How can you kiss a woman you don’t even like?”
“You needed a kiss right then.”
She flushed. “What I need is to get out of here.”
He moved past her and she tensed. One little push and she’d be back in his arms.
She turned and watched him grasp the door handle and turn it hard. At the same time, he shoved his shoulder against the door—once, twice... The door swung open.
Turning back, he smiled faintly. “After you.”
She stepped into the hallway with no small relief. Still, she found herself tossing him an accusatory look. “You knew all along that it would open, didn’t you?”
“I knew there was nothing stopping it, except maybe a little stickiness from age. Simple deductive logic. It would have occurred to you, too, if you hadn’t been panicked and babbling.”
“When I think I’m about to suffocate to death, the words flow.” Now the only threat to her life was death by embarrassment. What had she confessed? And she’d melted into his arms... “I’ve got to go. I—I’m sorry. We’ll need to reschedule.”
“Marisa...”
She backed up a few steps and then turned and walked rapidly down the hall, not waiting for him to lock the storage room. She stopped only to grab her jacket and handbag from Cole’s office as she made her way out the building and to her car.
She’d already consoled herself with chocolate cake—what was left?
Five
Cole perused the job site from where he was standing on a muddy rise. His mind was only half on the discussion that he needed to have with his foreman. The other half was on what he had to do about Marisa.
Unlike the construction project in Springfield where Marisa had waylaid him, this one was already at the stage where drywall and electrical had gone in. But he needed to get updates from his crew and hammer out remaining issues so they could come in under budget and on time. The five-story office complex outside Northampton was another one of their big projects.
“Sam is coming down now!” one of his construction crew called.
Cole gave him a brief nod before his thoughts were set adrift again.
