AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Probably because she talked too much to let things happen. “Let me help you out with that.”
Before she could squeak out another word, he settled his mouth on hers, drawing out the contact until she engaged and then it became a kiss.
Holy cow did it. When Havana got on board with something, she went for broke, drowning him in sensation as she took over, shaping her mouth with his and nestling even deeper into his arms.
This was his chance to indulge. Winding his fingers through her hair, he let the silk speak to him through his flesh, and it had plenty to say. That vibrant fall of red felt like heaven, sliding through the Vs of his fingers again and again as he kissed Havana. Finally.
All the tension between them sparked and caught fire, blazing higher and higher as he let her strength and determination heighten the experience.
All at once, she wrenched away, flying out of his embrace before he’d fully registered it happening.
“Sorry,” she gasped out. “I don’t think I can do this.”
“Okay,” he said slowly because his brain hadn’t reengaged yet. He clenched his jeans with both hands to keep from reaching out for her again, because that was a very real danger. “Did I do something wrong?”
“No, it’s not you, it’s—”
&n
bsp; “Me,” he finished flatly on her behalf. “I get it.”
“You don’t,” she corrected, and he could feel her chest rising and falling even though they weren’t within touching distance anymore. “Because I didn’t tell you everything. I was engaged. For real. To someone who’s not Damian. Cole. And it ended, not by my choice. I invented the engagement to Damian because I can’t go through that again.”
“So, if I’m reading all this right,” he said as pieces fell into place more quickly than he’d have liked, “you’re lumping me into a category of men like your ex-fiancé who break promises and deliberately hurt you. And that’s why you can’t kiss me. Because I have the same basic equipment as some other loser who isn’t me.”
“No.” She shook her head and then made a noise in her chest. “Well, yeah. I guess so when you put it that way.”
“What other way is there to put it? I’m a man, so therefore I’m going to treat you like your ex. And that means we’re going to be over before we started. Which part did I get wrong?”
“The part where I’m acting like an idiot,” she muttered with a hoarse laugh. “I’m sorry. This is me trying to control every aspect of my life so I don’t have to curl up in a ball after having my heart ripped out of my chest. It’s not your fault.”
He unclenched his hands from his jeans as his swirling temper vanished. Yeah, he’d fallen in a little deeper with her than he’d have guessed as well because this all felt very real and very huge to him too. Her vulnerability humbled him.
“Hey,” he said softly. “We’ve already established that you’re a mess of a control freak. I’m still here. How about this? You go back to your room and dream about me tonight. Tomorrow I’ll take you on a real date with no fake fiancés between us. Then we’ll see what’s what. I’m not going anywhere.”
“You can’t. You’re the mayor,” she reminded him, and her voice had regained some color.
Honestly, he liked it raspy and affected. But he liked it strong and purposeful too. Basically, he wanted to be wherever Havana Nixon was and to prove to her that all men were not created equal.
“That’s right, and don’t you forget that I have a plan for this town. I need you to make it work.”
“Me? I lost the election fair and square. I’ve got to spend the next little while coming up with an alternative to the shopping center project, or I have no job.”
“Sleep on that,” he advised her, not bothering to hide his smile since he suspected she couldn’t see it anyway. “Tomorrow we’ll see if that’s still true.”
He had plans for Havana that were designed to make her forget she’d ever heard the words shopping center. For now, he’d take his own advice and go to bed so he could dream about that kiss and how he’d take it up a few notches the next time he got her into his arms.
Because there would be a next time. No question. You couldn’t kiss a woman like Havana and not want a repeat every day for the next fifty years. And the beauty of it? He could. She wasn’t engaged. The world was wide open with possibilities, and Caleb liked all of them.
Thirteen
The next morning, Havana couldn’t decide whether to admit to Caleb that she’d dreamed about him as instructed or play it off like the kiss on the balcony last night hadn’t mattered one way or the other. After all, where could this thing between them really go when obviously she had no place here in Superstition Springs?
Maybe he’d forget all about her as he dug into his new job. She should encourage him to do exactly that if she was smart.
But when she entered the vacant lobby area of the hotel to find him waiting for her on the couch, he didn’t give her a chance to say anything. He shot to his feet and pulled her into his arms. Her mind emptied instantly of everything that wasn’t Caleb Hardy.
“Good morning,” he murmured into her hair, and she echoed it.
