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“This task force has been keeping me busy, and I found a new lead I had to track down. But I’m here now.”
She nodded as if it made perfect sense. “I’ll let the next few couples know the boats aren’t safe after dark and give them free tickets for the s’mores bar instead.” She turned back to the couples left in line to give the bad news. They all seemed to take it in stride.
“On that note, I’m going to get a bite to eat and get ready for the movie,” Finn said, giving him a pat on the back before he walked away.
Conner had no choice now but to wait for the three pedal boats still out to arrive back and was surprised Hannah stuck around. Once they were the only people left on the dock, he struggled to hold onto his plan to ignore her. His annoyance with her pretending not to feel the connection between them was overshadowed by his desire to be close to her.
In short, he was in a bad mood.
“I’ve been thinking about your offer to get out of town,” she said, moving to stand farther in the shadows on the dock, outside the ring of light from the two working lampposts.
He tried to control his outward reaction so it didn’t reflect his shock that she was bringing up the idea of them getting out of town together. Crossing his arms, he followed her into the shadows to study her and waited.
“It’s not such a bad idea actually,” she said, looking out at the water to avoid his eyes.
“Is that right?”
“Well, Tank was here earlier, flirting with me and just being so nice,” she said, casting her eyes on him again.
He turned away so she wouldn’t see his grimace. “And?”
“He’s polite, says all the right things, has no beef with my brothers. But it’s just blah.”
Stepping within a breath away from her, he pulled her into him. “Did he kiss you?”
“No, but I think there was a moment he considered it. And I didn’t feel the hairs on my arms stand up or the shiver of excitement like now.”
Leaning down, he ran his mouth over her ear.
“Blah isn’t good enough for you, Hannah. You need thrilling, enticing, delicious kisses. Kisses that make you want more.”
He ran his mouth along her jaw to the other side of her face ever so slowly before using his tongue to tease her earlobe, earning a breathless sigh from her. Gripping her hips, he nudged her chin up while he placed open-mouthed kisses along her neck, before finally landing on her hungry mouth. Their kiss was the exact opposite of boring—it was electrifying.
A soft giggle sounded nearby.
Looking up, he found all three missing boats up against the dock and the couples waiting for help to get out. Squeezing Hannah’s arms, he pressed his forehead against hers. “Don’t move.”
He helped everyone out of the boats as fast as possible and ordered them to get in place for the movie. Next he had to tie each of the boats together and help the Riverwalk employee tie the lead to his boat so he could haul them down the river back to their marina. Finally, he turned back to Hannah, who was standing just where he’d left her, but the flush on her skin had faded. Was she having regrets?
Taking her hand in his, he pulled her into his arms, but she looked worried.
“I like that you’re considering my proposal. A night away from this town would be perfect for us, but I can’t go until I wrap up this task force.”
“And I can’t go until I wrap up all these fundraisers and the gala.”
“So in three weeks? That’s too long to wait to spend time together.”
Pulling her deeper into the darkness of the dock, he sat on one of the lower pilings, putting his face just below her chin. Grabbing her hips, he guided her to stand between his legs. With a gentle patience he was shocked that he possessed, he watched her eyes until she looked at him.
“This thing between us has been waiting for us to enjoy. I’m tired of pretending we can’t be together.”
She huffed as she ran her fingers over his forehead and into his hair. Her touch was like warm water soothing the tension he had been feeling all day.
“I just don’t want to let the world know until we have some idea of what this thing is. I like the idea of getting away and giving us privacy to just be ourselves. I want to believe you never betrayed Parker, but that doesn’t make it true. If he found out I was considering being with you, he would disown me.”
“Your brother would rather you settle for boring kisses the rest of your life than get a chance to have the real thing, just so he can be right. But that doesn’t mean you have to let him.”
A smile curved along her heart-shaped face. “The rest of my life? Let’s take this one hot getaway weekend at a time.”
