My mouth moved along her jawline, nibbling as I reveled in the sound and feel of the woman in my arms. It felt as if she was always destined to be right here, in this moment, with me … finally.
The sound of a door slamming had us both jumping apart. Chloe’s hand came up to her mouth, and her eyes were on me. The look of confusion there pushed the lust out of my brain, but before I could speak, Gabe rushed in.
“Zoey forgot her Jane Austen scarf, and refused to wait until tomorrow to get it,” Gabe said as he picked up the discarded scarf and bunched it in his hand. Catching sight of us, his gaze narrowed and he asked, “Everything okay?”
Chloe recovered first.
“Yeah, I was just leaving,” she said after she cleared her throat. Her eyes were still on me when she told him, “I’ll walk out with you.”
I didn’t say anything, instead deciding to give her the out she needed, and the space to figure out what just happened and whether she wanted to do anything about it.
Lord knew, I needed the same thing.
I heard the door shut behind them and leaned forward to brace myself on the back of a chair.
Damn, that woman had wrecked me more with one kiss than any other woman in the span of my life.
Now that the cat is out of the bag, what am I going to do about it?
Chapter Twenty ~Chloe
“I’m so thrilled that we’re going to do this,” I gushed to Laurel after she told me I was hired.
We’d met a couple weeks ago to go over what she was looking for and have an interview of sorts, and when she’d asked me to meet her and Jasmine for lunch, I was a nervous wreck wondering whether I would get the job or not.
It was similar to what I’d done in North Carolina, but I had a feeling it was going to be even more fulfilling.
“So am I,” Laurel replied with her killer smile. “I think we’re going to be great together.”
“Yay,” Jasmine cut in as she raised her glass. “Here’s to the two of you going in to business together, and to Ass for suggesting I hook you two up.”
“To Reardon,” Laurel and I both agreed. I refused to call the poor man Ass. I got where it came from, and that it had started when they were kids, but it was a terrible nickname.
The mention of his name had a memory of last weekend’s kiss flashing in my brain, and I swear, just thinking about it made me hot all over.
Who knew he could kiss like that?
“Whoa!” Jasmine exclaimed, and I knew her eagle eye had caught my hot flash because she narrowed her eyes and pointed her finger at me. “What was that?”
“What?” I asked, feigning ignorance.
“That little blushing deal that happened when I mentioned my cousin’s name.”
Needing to get it off my chest, I leaned in and whispered, “Reardon kissed me the other night.”
Laurel clapped her hands together excitedly.
“The party?” Jasmine asked.
“Yes.”
“When? Where?”
“After everyone had left. On the lips,” I replied, not sure exactly what she’d meant by where, but taking a guess.
“How was it?”
I thought of those soft lips, that sexy stubble, and the way his strong hand had gripped my hips.