AllFreeNovel
Share Us
One of his hands left hers, rising to toy with a strand of her hair that had fallen free. “This piece does not like that claw thing you’ve got going on. And frankly”—he paused and unclipped her hair—“neither do I.”
Her hair tumbled down around her shoulders and arms, and her jaw dropped. “Now, why did—”
She fell silent as he ran his fingers through her waves.
She swallowed; her throat was suddenly dry.
“You have such pretty hair,” he murmured. His eyes smoldered.
He caressed the side of her face with the backs of his fingers, sending her pulse into overdrive.
“So beautiful.” His voice was barely above a whisper. Then he met her gaze. “Tell me about yourself, Alex. I want to know you. All there is to know.”
He traced her bottom lip with his thumb, and she leaned closer. “Quinn, I—”
The sharp ring of the telephone broke them apart.
She leaned back in her chair. Her pulse was still pounding, her stomach still fluttering. She missed his soft touch.
Whoa. Easy there, Alex.
“Sorry, let me...” She pointed to the living room and stood, hustling toward it.
Confusion, uncertainty, and excitement clouded her thoughts. Part of her wanted to explore this simmering thing between them, but the other part still doubted her instincts.
Desperate for a distraction, she picked up the ringing telephone. “Hello?”
Silence.
“Hello?”
With a sigh, she hung up. Interrupted for nothing. Or maybe not. Maybe it had been a sign. A big ole slow-it-waaay-down sign from the universe. She pursed her lips.
Quinn strode into the room and crouched in front of the fireplace. “Want a fire?”
“Uh, sure,” Alex mumbled, distracted by how his jeans tightened around his firm backside and thick thighs when he crouched. She could watch him arrange logs in a fireplace all freaking night.
After a few moments of silence passed, she realized he’d said something else, and she’d missed it.Holy crap.She really needed to stop gawking at the man. “I’m sorry, what?”
He glanced over his shoulder, an eyebrow raised in question. “Who was on the phone?”
“No one. Wrong number, I guess.” Leaning against the sofa’s arm, she shrugged. She was aiming for casual, but by the way the corners of his lips twitched, she was pretty sure she was failing.
The fire roared to life, and Quinn rose. He took a seat on the sofa, playfully patting the spot next to him. How he could be so gruff and adorable at the same time was beyond her.
Unable to hold back a smile, she settled cross-legged onto the cushion opposite him, her back to the armrest. “I assume this is the getting-to-know-you portion of the evening?”
He laughed, and the sound warmed her chest. Not that she was getting gushy over him or anything.
“First question goes to me, then. When you were little”—his voice dropped to match the inflection of a game show host—“what did you want to be when you grew up?”
She didn’t think it was possible, but her insides melted even more. Not once in their entire marriage had Preston asked that question. Now that she thought about it, he’d never expressed any interest in her life prior to him.
Yet another giant, waving red flag she’d ignored.
But that was the past, dammit.
She was done with Preston. She would overcome how he still made her feel. She would. She had to.
