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“Just to be clear,” he said, “I really want to come inside.”
She smiled. “Okay.”
“I mean it. I’m willing to crawl.”
“Mrs. Hennessy would be very inspired.”
He laughed.
“When we do this, I don’t want to be exhausted,” he said. “I don’t want to rush it, and I don’t want to wake up tomorrow morning and hurry out the door. I know you want to jump my bones, Ms. Burke, but I absolutely refuse to treat you like anything less than the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”
This was actually happening. A man was standing in front of her on a perfect summer night and saying these words. Hayley blinked back tears.
“Well, gee,” she said. “I never thought a rejection could be sexy.” She kissed him, gently. “Karaoke tomorrow?”
“Mm-hmm.”
Hayley kissed his lips again, and his jaw and his neck.
“I’m coming home with you tomorrow night,” she murmured. “And we’re going to take our time.”
37
When Nick stepped into the Squeaky Lion, his adrenaline spiked like he was catching sight of his first crush.
“Hey there, rock star.” Hayley slung a towel over her shoulder. “They’ve got me behind the bar tonight.”
He got the same hug as he did every Friday, the same smile. His frantic heartbeat was the only indication that they’d made out in front of his car less than twenty-four hours before.
Interesting.
“How’re things?” he asked.
“Fantastic,” she said. “I had a date last night.”
“Uh-huh.”
She stepped behind the bar and started organizing bottles. “Have you ever had a really good kiss, Nick? Like so good your legs go out from under you?”
“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but the thing about my legs—”
“Sometimes it just clicks. Like there’s this switch that flips deep inside me and I’mgone. Totally his as long as he doesn’t stop.”
He fought a grin. “And that happened on your date?”
“God, no,” she said. “He was better.”
His mouth went dry. Hayley kept doing her job, looking for all the world as if she were bored.
“Better,” he said.
She nodded. “He even tasted good.”
He knew exactly what she was doing. Hayley was paying him back for his best material at the theater, except she was making it a hell of a lot sexier by making sure only the two of them were in on the secret. He’d spent the entire day trying to anticipate how things would go when he walked into the bar tonight, and this was better than he’d imagined.
“Can I get you some water?” Hayley asked innocently. “You look a little flushed.”
“Maybe later,” he managed. “I’m going to turn in some song slips.” And find a way to retaliate.
