AllFreeNovel
Share Us
His expression was so much brighter than I’d have thought.Hewas brighter. That came across on the chats, but this was different.
This was real.
He was the bubbles in a bottle of champagne and I hadn’t anticipated how badly I needed that effervescence in my life.
Like always, when hope rose, it immediately sank.
Turning my face away from him and dropping the bag of candy on the coffee table, I muttered, “Everyone leaves me, Conor.”
His hand grabbed mine and his fingers slipped against my knuckles, forming a bridge between us as he stated, “Everyonedoesn’t matter. Only you. Only me. And only Katina.”
That had me nipping the inside of my cheek between my molars. “Don’t give me promises you can’t keep.”
He sat up, his hand coming to cup my chin. “That wasn’t a promise.”
“What was it?”
“A statement of intent.”
“Do you watchThe West Wingtoo?”
His chuckle eased some of the tightness in my chest. “I watched it when it first aired but not since then. My tastes have evolved.”
“IntoDownton AbbeyandBridgerton?” I inquired politely.
He smirked at me, his thumb running down the line of my jaw. “I don’t have them on a constant loop.”
“Good to know because I’d have to break the TV if you did,” I joked, trying not to close my eyes when his thumb reached the underside of my chin where a sensitive patch of skin had me squirming in my seat.
“You going to rip Maverick a new asshole?”
“What do you think?”
“I think he did his best, and you can’t keep someone sneaky inside when they want out.”
“You’re defending him?”
“Not particularly. I just don’t think there was a snowball’s chance in hell of keeping Katina away from me when she believed I was the only one who’d bring you back.”
My shoulders sagged at his words because I heard the truth in them.
When the couch jostled slightly, I realized I had closed my eyes. They popped open, only to find that Conor’s face was a lot closer than before. I could see the striations in his irises. The outer rim was umber. Mossy green notes merged with amber before becoming a rich caramel in the tight confines where a fully dilated pupil took up most of the space.
His proximity overloaded the air with his citrus scent, and I breathed it in, watching as he moved ever nearer. So close. Too close. My heart stuttered.
“Can I?”
Trying to find an answer, a verbal one, was impossible. I swallowed. Nodded. Stiffened some more. Then I relaxed when his lips gently brushed mine.
A groan whispered from me.
It was unexpected.
Everything about him was.
Thatwas what I should have expected.
He was a wild card.
