She got up and came around by him. He closed his eyes as the scent of summer flowers surrounded him. She was so close. She wasn’t asking him to be perfect or expecting him to meet her needs. He could reach out and take her in his arms and to his bed again. She wouldn’t’ deny him.
But he’d disappoint her. He’d already done that.
His heart started beating so loudly he could hear it in his ears and he’d be surprised if she couldn’t hear it. Fear.
She’d called him on it and she was right.
“I don’t want to hurt you.”
“I know—it’s cool. Forget I—”
“I can’t. I can’t forget you said it. I hate disappointing you,” he said. The rest of the words were stuck in his throat.
“You’re not. I pushed. I do that when I care about someone. I can’t promise I won’t do it again. You set boundaries, I agreed to them and then I decided I wanted more, not your fault.”
He pulled her into his arms and brought his mouth down hard on hers. He held her to him closely; there was nothing tentative about the emotions she stirred inside him, and he tried to show her all the things that he knew he couldn’t’ say with his kisses. He pushed his tongue deeper into her mouth, and she wrapped her arms around him and clung to him as if she’d never let him go.
The storm of emotions ebbed, leaving him feeling like a battered boardwalk and seashore after a hurricane, still standing but just. Still holding the woman he wanted in his arms. He looked down into her face and realized, like that midnight call he’d made to her, he wasn’t going to be able to just limit himself to one day with her.
No matter what he’d said or how smart that would be.
“I’d like to try to see you again.”
The words sounded rusty and slow in his head, but she heard them. She touched the side of his face, and he knew that no amount of thorny branches tattooed around his body was going to keep him safe. She was already inching her way in and he had no idea what to do with her.
Thirteen
Indy hadn’t really thought through what seeing him again would entail. Dating hadn’t been something either of them were regulars at. Their dates had become something unexpected, she thought as she saw him standing in the doorway outside her shop a week later. She’d finished a long day filming over at the deli and then stopped by the shop because it helped her relax to be surrounded by books.
Conrad wore a navy blue suit that made his eyes pop. He had on a dress shirt with no tie, and she could see those thorny tattoos around his lower neck as she finished putting away her stuff for the day and walked toward him.
“Are you sure about this? If the people of Gilbert Corners think I’m cursed, I probably shouldn’t be seen here,” he said.
“Oh, I’m sure, plus it sounds like fun. Why are you wearing a modern suit? I told you to dress in 1920s’ garb.”
“I figured I’d leave that to you, doll,” he said, pulling her into his arms and kissing her. His kiss swept her away from everything, turning her on and making her want to skip the secret pop-up speakeasy that had opened. She suspected that was why he’d kissed her.
She pulled back, brushing her hands down the flapper-inspired beaded dress she wore, winked at him and said, “Thanks, doll.”
He laughed and double-checked the door after she locked it. “So where is this place?”
“That’s part of the fun—we have to unravel the clues to find it,” she said, taking out her phone and going to the Gilbert Corners app.
“You’re on the Main Street Business Alliance—don’t you know where it is?” he asked.
“Uh, maybe,” she said. She did know because all of the businesses around the town square had chipped in to open the pop-up. But she also wanted to see if they could figure out the clues. This was the first night of the club. Social media influencers and dignitaries from other neighboring towns had been invited as well.
“Good thing I recruited some help,” he said, lifting his hand and waving someone over.
She turned to see who it was. She was pretty sure it was his cousin Dash Gilbert, whom she’d never met but had seen a photo of on his company’s website. He wore a suit similar to the one Conrad had on, but he didn’t look as sexy in it.
“Hello,” she said as he joined them.
“Hi. I’m Dash,” he said offering his hand.
“Indy,” she said. “So we have to follow the clues to find the speakeasy.”
“Yeah, the head of the committee doesn’t know where it is,” Conrad said.