“This doesn’t feel like a bad idea to me.”
“Me, either,” I say, my hands skimming up his ribs to rest on his chest.
“So I should kiss you, right?” he murmurs, brushing the side of his nose against mine, making my lips part and my chest ache.
“Yes,” I say, the word ending in a moan as his lips crash into mine. The kiss is instantly urgent and hungry, not at all the gentle brush of skin against skin that I was expecting. Our tongues tangle, and desire ignites inside me, going from tingling to dying-to-get-naked in less time than it took for me to pop the top on my jar of fluff.
I fist my hands in his shirt, clinging to him as he pulls me onto his lap, kissing me harder, deeper until my nipples sting with the need to be touched, and my panties are wet, and I can’t remember a single reason we shouldn’t make each other happy.
Right now.
“Bedroom?” I pant against his lips. “It’s down the hall.”
“Not now,” he says, his fingers digging into my ass.
“Yes, now.” I guide my knees to either side of his hips and kiss him again, sucking in a breath as the thick ridge of his erection makes contact with my clit. I grind into him, loving the way he groans in response as I say, “We don’t have to tell Theo or anyone else. It can be our secret.”
“I don’t like secrets, either.” He grips my hips, holding me still at the end of my next hip roll, making my head spin. “And I don’t take advantage of people when they’re sad.”
“You wouldn’t be taking advantage,” I insist. “I’m not sad anymore, I promise.”
“Your eyes are still puffy from crying, Colette.”
“I’ll wash my face and be good as new,” I say, though I can sense I’m fighting a losing battle. His cock is still so hard I can feel it pulsing against me through our clothes, but the look in his eyes has gone from hungry to determined.
I sigh, shifting gears as I ask, “Tomorrow night, then? I’ll make you dinner, and then we can…make each other happy?”
“I’m leaving town tomorrow afternoon,” he says, sinking my spirits. “Why don’t you come with me?” he adds in a softer voice.
“Come with you?” I blink, but the idea doesn’t sound nearly as crazy as it should, and I don’t sound at all sure of myself when I say, “I can’t. I really can’t.”
“Sure you can. It’ll be good for you. You can get out of town for a couple of weeks, put some distance between you and Fernando, remember how nice it feels to be with someone who doesn’t make you cry…”
I bite my lip, wavering. I can’t go out of town with Zack, can I?
“It’s not like you have to be at work, right?” he asks, arching a brow. “So…?”
Heart racing, I fight the grin tugging at the corners of my mouth. “But we barely know each other.”
“I know enough to want to know more,” he says, his fingers curling into my hips, pulling me tighter against him. “And not just your body. I meant what I said before. I like you.”
“I like you, too,” I say, catching hold of the misgiving wafting through me and using it to bring myself back down to earth. “But I’m not in a place to start anything too serious. Are you?”
He shakes his head without a beat of hesitation, making me suspect he must have thought this through. At least a little. “No, I’m not. I have no idea what the next few months hold, let alone any farther into the future than that, but…” He cocks his head and looks up at me with those soulful eyes of his. “If we’re both on the same page, and we’re both okay with something casual… I think we’ll have an amazing time together.”
“I do, too,” I whisper. I’ve always liked Zack as a person. I’ve always liked him a lot. And now I also want to get naked with him a lot.
Like—a lot a lot.
I want it so much that it’s easy to banish the voice of reason. The inner voice and I can discuss this later, after Zack and I are on the road to New York. “What time should I be ready?” I ask.
Beaming like Christmas came four months early, Zack says, “I’ll pick you up at four. We’ll drive halfway and stay at a hotel, then finish up the trip on Saturday. The house is booked for two weeks, but don’t feel like you have to overpack. We’ll be able to do laundry while we’re there if we need to.”
“Two weeks,” I echo with a shaky breath. “What if you decide you hate me by day two?”
“I could never hate you.” He kisses me again, his tongue dancing with mine as his hands skim up to mold to my ribs just below my breasts, ensuring I’m soon dying for him to touch me again.