“It must be getting late,” I said, trying to hold back the chuckle from her yawn.
She pulled out her phone and glanced at the screen for a couple of seconds. With a sigh she said, “It is getting late, which means I should probably go.”
I nodded, keeping my eyes on hers. I didn’t know what to say other than not wanting to keep her, but my mouth wouldn’t work. At that moment, she was more beautiful than ever before. Then she smiled even bigger, dark blue eyes glittering in the dim lights of the room and stealing my breath away.
I sucked in a shuddering breath and said, “I really shouldn’t keep you then.”
Still, the idea of her leaving had my body doing weird things. My animal stretched within me, almost begging me to make her stay. If he could reach out and grab her, he probably would have. The sensation was startling, and mostly because he responded to her in the ways I had heard about in the stories. Of when a shifter finds his or her mate.
But I couldn’t make her stay, nor did I want to force her to. For some reason I had yet to figure out, I understood she deserved so much more than a half-drunken fling. She wasn’t the kind. Not that I was known for doing that type of thing in the first place. I also wasn’t the type. But if she hinted at staying with me, I would let her. I would take her to my bed and taste every inch of her.
I was weak when it came to beautiful women. They were my downfall. My Achilles Heel. And she had slid into the number one spot on my top-ten list.
Cadence stood from her chair and started heading for the door. “I have an early start tomorrow morning, anyway.”
“Oh yeah?” I asked, taking every chance to drag out her leaving as much as possible. I stood from the bed, joining her side, and walked with her to the door.
“Yup,” she said and turned to face me before reaching the door.
We were walking very slowly. Much slower than necessary, and I didn’t mind one bit. If anything, the fact only worked to encourage me and told me she didn’t want to leave either. And I didn’t mind that at all. Walking slowly gave me more time with her.
“Big plans?” I asked.
“Maybe…” she smiled at me. “I just might have a surprise planned for you.”
I smiled and a soft chuckle flowed from my lips. “Is that so? How lucky am I?”
“You are very lucky.” She tapped me on the arm. A soft giggle bounced in her throat.
“What kind of surprise?” I asked. “If you don’t mind my asking.”
She shrugged. “Guess you’ll have to wait and find out for yourself tomorrow.”
“That should be interesting,” I said as she opened the door. I took one look at the weather outside and shivered through the artic blast of wind. I closed the door with one hand and then stepped closer to her. “The weather is getting bad. Maybe you shouldn’t go.”
“This is nothing,” she said, smiling up at me “I can handle it, trust me.”
“Sure. But you’ve had drinks with me,” I added. “Slower reaction time.”
She patted my arm, letting her hand rest on my bicep. She bit her lip and let out a shuddering sigh. My eyes took in hers, and there was a small amount of sadness in them. I wondered if she had only stayed because she pitied me. It wouldn’t have been the first time I misread a situation.
“I can’t stay,” she said, barely above a whisper.
“I’ll sleep on the floor if you’re worried about me taking advantage of you,” I said.
I didn’t want her to go. I hated that she was leaving. For some strange reason, I was worried she would disappear. It was a silly fear considering she was my cousin’s roommate’s sister, and we were bound to run into each other again, but I couldn’t shake the worry.
“I appreciate that you don’t want to take advantage of me,” she said with a coy smile. “But I am not worried about me. Trust me, okay? I’ve got this.”
“I would hate for you to drink and drive is all,” I said. “I would feel responsible if something were to happen.”
She smiled. “I understand. I’ll be fine though. I promise.”
She sealed that promise with a wink and my knees damn near buckled. I wanted to pull her into me so badly. Pull her in and kiss her until she forgot why she was leaving.
“How will I know you got home okay?” I asked.
She held out her hand. “Let me have your phone.”