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But this time she didn’t light back up, just moved past him and unlocked her apartment door.
Knowing he’d unintentionally hurt her, but not sure how, he followed her into the apartment and grabbed her wrist, turning her to face him.
“I didn’t mean that the way you obviously took it. You’re a beautiful woman, Faith, always. If what I said made you think I was implying otherwise, then you’re wrong. Nothing could be further from the truth.”
Without looking his way, she shrugged. “Okay.”
Placing his finger beneath her chin, he forced her to look at him and felt his heart kick up at the swirling emotion in her green-apple-candy eyes. Had he ever seen bigger, more expressive eyes? “No, it’s not okay. I’ve hurt you.”
“I’m not some fragile ninny who needs coddling, Vale.” Her gaze lowered, settling near his throat. “We’re business colleagues going away for a working weekend at your cousin’s wedding. There’s no reason for you to explain your comment. I know I made a big change.”
Like a beautiful butterfly emerging from its cocoon. The same on the inside, yet so utterly different on the outside.
He felt humbled to have played a role in the transformation, even such a tiny role. Yet he wanted her to see what he saw—a stunning young woman.
His thumb stroked along her jaw line, caressing the soft skin, noting the pink flush spreading across her cheeks, the parting of her pouty pink lips, the way his heart beat faster in his chest when her stunned gaze met his.
Vale did something totally out of character.
He lowered his lips to hers.
Faith’s knees wobbled. Firecrackers detonated in her chest, pounding her heart against her ribcage, demanding freedom to burst into a million projectile pieces.
No way was Vale kissing her!
If a trip to the salon and an upscale dress boutique was all it had taken to get his lips on hers, why hadn’t she gone shopping months ago? Had her hair streaked with strands of gold and a trained professional paint her face?
What was she thinking? This was Vale. Her boss. She should not be letting him kiss her.
He cupped her cheeks, drawing her closer, tasting her lips with a softness that belied the tough man she knew him to be.
She stood stock still, hands at her side, sure if she moved or even breathed, the fantasy would disappear, a pleasurable vapor she’d grasped at but failed to hold on to.
For eighteen months she’d wondered what this man tasted like, what his lips would feel like against hers, and now he was kissing her. So she gave in to the desire erupting within her, kissed him back, tasted his lips, opened her mouth to let him inside and hoped he’d never let her go, that he’d never stop kissing her.
Tiny explosions ripped through her one after another in the wake of his tongue thrusting into her mouth.
He was no longer cupping her face but her bottom, pulling her fully against his hard body.
He was hard. Amazingly, eye-wideningly… Oh, my!
As much as Faith wanted to spread her arms wide and welcome him, to take whatever he would offer her, she had to stop him before she completely lost her mind and became one of the many women to move in and out of his life.
Before he realized just how much she wanted him. Because Vale only wanted one thing from women. She had to think of her career.
She pushed against his chest. “Stop.”
He lifted his head, his lids half covering his desire-laden eyes. He wanted her. He had kissed her, wanted her, might have carried her to her sofa and made heart-pounding, thigh-slapping love to her if she hadn’t told him to stop.
Her head spun. Her eyes blurred. Her equilibrium shifted.
Regret that she’d stopped him filled her, making her wish she’d dragged him into her bedroom rather than push him away. But make-over or not, she wasn’t one of his playthings. She was his employee, a physician with plans to have a phenomenal career within his neuro clinic, and not by sleeping her way to the top.
Although with her lack of experience, sleeping with Vale might get her sacked instead of promoted.
“Why did you do that?” Wiping the back of her hand across her mouth, she stepped back, wishing she wasn’t shaking, wishing she didn’t want to beg him to kiss her again. She had to take control of the situation prior to him figuring out just how much she wanted to jump back into his arms.
“You needed to be kissed.”
