“Yes, I can see that, from the way your cheeks are flu
shed and your eyes are all gooey.”
“They are not gooey!”
“Oooh, Melinda’s in looooove.”
“Shhh!” Melinda pushed her friend playfully, nodding towards Jordan’s bedroom. “The last thing I need is for Jordan to wake up.”
“Sorry,” Tara laughed, muffling the sound with the palm of her hand.
But Melinda wasn’t seriously annoyed. I can’t stop thinking about you. She put the phone down, but his words were with her all night.
He was under her skin; but she couldn’t let him be. This was casual. That’s all she wanted. She didn’t reply to the message; and she closed off the part of her heart that wanted to jump for joy.
* * *
His voice over the phone, without the distraction of his beautiful face and sexy body, was husky and spiced. She pushed back a little from her desk, her eyes watching snow dance beyond her window, her mind completely held by him.
“Did you have a good night?”
A smile was on her lips. She nodded, then realised he couldn’t see the tell-tale gesture. “Yeah. It’s sort of a thing Tara and I do. A routine. We catch up whenever her husband’s home and she can have a night off from the kids. I’m lucky to have a neighbour like her.” Stop babbling, she moaned internally, almost zipping her lips in an effort to bring the rambling discourse to an end.
“Yes,” he agreed, not seeming bored by the chatter. “She seems very protective of you.”
“Yeah?” She pressed her lips together. Tara had mentioned that she’d run into Ra’if. “I’ve known her a long time.”
He was quiet for a moment. “What time do you take lunch?”
“Take lunch?” She arched a brow. “I get a break around one. Why?”
“Meet me.”
Her heart turned over. “I only have an hour,” she murmured, her stomach clenching in anticipation already.
“That should be enough time.”
“Enough time? For what?”
“I’ll pick you up downstairs from your office.”
“Oh. Right.”
He disconnected the call before she could tell him where she worked, yet when she emerged from her office onto the ice cold street a little before one, he was waiting for her. He was dressed in a thick wool coat over his suit.
He looked like he’d walked off a billboard.
“Hi.” She hadn’t seen him since the night he’d made so many of her fantasies come true. He’d made her body sing again and again before lathering her up in the shower, making her a hot chocolate and leaving her exhausted, satisfied and on cloud nine.
Her smile showed her coyness at seeing him again. But it didn’t last long. He crossed the street in three long strides and pulled her into his arms. There was nothing cold nor patient about his kiss. It was fire and flame; need and want.
“Hi,” he said into her mouth, his body hard against hers.
When he pulled away, she was instantly bereft.
“What are we doing?” She asked light-heartedly, choosing not to display her unease. But deep down, the dependence she was beginning to feel for him made her very, very worried.
“Come with me.” He held her hand and guided her a little down the street until they reached a low-slung car. It was jet black, with inky tinted windows and super sleek. When she was close enough to see properly, she read the badging. It was a Lamborghini.