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His gold brown eyes met hers, held. “Challenge accepted.”
“Wonderful. I’ve put myself in your hands.”
If she hadn’t been looking at him so closely, she would have missed the flare of heat in his eyes. But she had been looking and she saw the fire, and the desire reassured her. He wasn’t indifferent to her. That spark between them, that powerful chemistry that drew them together in August, was still there. He might call it lust, but for her it was more. And maybe one day it’d be more for him, too.
Baird returned to their table with a port for her and a whiskey for him.
“No ice?” she asked, nodding to his drink as he sat down on the couch next to her.
He sat close, sitting the way a lover would. She liked it. And him. Very much.
“No. A whiskey nightcap should be neat, especially on a cold night.”
“Does it taste different when it’s cold?”
“It’s not as bold and fiery. The ice reduces the heat, so it’s a cooler, more controlled flavor.”
“And you like the heat?”
Once again something sparked in his eyes. “Depends on the heat.” He lifted his tumbler in a toast, his lips curving faintly, creases fanning at his golden eyes, so much like the color of his whiskey. “But I don’t think that’s a big surprise.”
Her heart thumped, and her pulse raced. Her hand shook as she lifted her glass and sipped the port, pleased by the full, round sweet flavor and how it warmed her all the way down.
She held his hand as they enjoyed their nightcap. They didn’t talk. They just sat close, no words necessary. Baird went for a second round and, when he returned, he stretched his arm around her shoulders, bringing her against his chest.
She wished time would just stop.
If only time could freeze right now with her feeling so good and secure. If only there were more of these perfect moments in life.
Eventually, they had to call it a night. Baird walked her to her room. They both stood there, neither speaking, the air heavy.
“Don’t look at me that way,” she whispered, drawing her key from her wallet.
“What way?”
“Thatway.” It was hard to breathe, her pulse drumming, her legs ridiculously weak. “It’s the way you looked at me in August, the way you looked at me earlier. It’s not going to work. Not this time. I know you now. You shouldn’t even bother.”
*
He simply smiled.He also knew her now. “If that’s the case, my look shouldn’t bother you.”
“But you know what you do to me. It’s not fair.”
“All day, I’ve wanted you. All night, I’ve wanted you. Even if nothing happens here, that doesn’t change the fact that I want you.”
“You want sex, and I want more.”
“That is the worst oversimplification I have ever heard. I don’t wantsex. I wantyou. And you say you want more, which I translate as you want love from me, not just sex.”
“You have correctly interrupted everything.”
She was maddening and yet he couldn’t get enough of her. “Our desires aren’t as different as you think. I want you. You want me. You want love. I know how to love.”
“Love me, or… Love pasta? Love whiskey? This is so frustrating, and I hate futility.”
He laughed.
She glared at him. “Donotlaugh.”
