No. Stop it. He handed her the beer and regarded his seating options. She was on the couch, which meant he should probably sit in the armchair.
He sat down next to her.
She didn’t seem to mind and slipped off her shoes and pulled her legs underneath her, her thigh brushing against his leg. He took a deep breath, inhaling the aroma of hops from the beer and vanilla from her skin.
“How was your day?” he asked.
“Fine. I’m happy Andrew’s oncologist appointment went well today. I assume he told you?”
Logan nodded.
She took a drink and looked down at her hands. “There was a difficult case I had to deal with at work today. That was hard.”
“Do you want to talk about it?”
She looked up at him, her eyes darting back and forth intently between his. “Not really, no.”
He understood and didn’t push it. They talked easily about nothing in particular while they drank their beers. After a half-hour had passed and she set her empty bottle on the coffee table, he put his half-finished drink down as well.
Just as he was about to stand and get the tickets for her, she put a hand on his arm.
“Logan.” Her voice was quiet, and when he looked over at her, her cheeks had turned pink.
“Yeah?”
“Can I—um, can I see something?”
He frowned. “What do you mean?”
Jeni opened her mouth then closed it again. She looked at him wordlessly, a small frown between her brows.
Then her eyes dropped to his mouth.
He realized her intention two seconds before she slid her hand around the back of his neck and pressed her lips to his.
His conscience rose up, beseeching him. Pull away. Stop this.
And then, not yet. He’d let himself enjoy her lips just for a little while first. He’d been thinking about their soft, full texture since the last time he was here, reliving the perfect way they’d fit together.
Just for a few seconds…
This kiss was gentle and tentative but every bit as powerful. In no time, his heart thundered, and he wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her closer. A little moan came from her throat, and he groaned in response, fire licking through his nerve endings. He deepened the kiss, fresh memories washing over him at the feel of her tongue brushing his.
Suddenly she pulled back, breathing rapidly. She blinked a few times, and he resisted the urge to pull her onto his lap.
“Yeah,” she said on an exhale. “That’s what I was afraid of.”
He pulled his hand from her body. “Huh?”
Jeni looked around the room, squinting a little, as if thinking about something. He wasn’t sure she’d even heard his confused question. When her eyes focused on his face again, her expression cleared. She nodded, almost as if to herself, and put her hands on her thighs. “I want to talk to you about something. About you and me.”
His gut clenched, and he cleared his throat. How could he be both dreading and longing to hear what she meant by that? “Me and you?”
“Yeah. Well, maybe me first, then you and me.”
Logan stared at her. Where the hell could she be going with this? He was riveted and terrified.
Her eyes locked on his, and her voice was steady, the slight flush creeping up her neck the only indication she might be a little out of her element. “You know the basics—that I was married, Jackson is the only man I’ve slept with, and it was never what I would describe as earth-shattering. I just accepted the fact that I’d probably built up a fantasy in my head of what sex was supposed to be like. I decided maybe I’m just not a very, um, amorous person.”