Total pages in book: 133
Estimated words: 131888 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 659(@200wpm)___ 528(@250wpm)___ 440(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 131888 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 659(@200wpm)___ 528(@250wpm)___ 440(@300wpm)
Whether that kiss came out of frustration or desire, he felt something and had been driven to take action.
That terrified him.
That disappointed him.
That made him feel like he was cheating on his late wife’s memory.
He was doing his best to hide it, but she recognized the signs because for the longest time, she also had been scared to move on. She’d been afraid to give her heart to someone else, worried it would get beaten and bruised all over again.
And, like she feared, it did. Badly.
The relationship she hoped that would last, ended up being destroyed.
Luckily, she was older, more experienced and stronger when it happened, so she was able to handle it differently.
Like Mark’s death, she survived Jason abandoning her and leaving her to raise their son on her own.
Nox drug the back of his hand across his mouth like that would magically undo the kiss, his erection and Liyah’s damp panties. Since it wouldn’t, she had no doubt he’d beat himself up for giving in to the urge to kiss her.
He flinched and jerked his head back when she reached up and wiped a spot of lipstick off his bottom lip. “Missed a spot.”
“I gotta go,” he grumbled. Bending over, he snagged his fallen hat and slapped it back on his head, pulling the brim low.
Disappearing once again into his shell like a turtle protecting itself.
“Of course you do,” she said dryly, trying to keep up as he shot out of the closet and across the room toward the exit. “You don’t want to talk about what just happened?”
Of course he wouldn’t, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t going to ask. She had a point to make.
“Nothing to talk about.”
“I disagree.” She stopped in the center of the room. “Avoidance is your middle name, isn’t it?”
He avoided that question, too, of course.
Just as he reached for the door, she called out, “See you next week, Bradley Avoidance Lennox. Have a good rest of your night.”
He stopped with his hand on the push bar. She waited as he stared at the door for a few seconds. Then he glanced over his shoulder. “You’re not leaving?”
“I need to finish in here first.”
Chapter Ten
Nox turned to face the woman standing in the center of the room.
The woman he just fucking kissed.
In a closet.
Like he was at some late-night high school party, where they were all getting smashed and playing Seven Minutes in Heaven.
He had lost his goddamn head for a few minutes.
He needed to go. To get out of that community center before he was tempted to kiss her again.
Maybe do even more.
He hated the fact that he was attracted to her. Not because of who she was or related to. But because she was the first woman to draw and hold his attention since meeting Jackie all those years ago.
Unfortunately, Aaliyah was so damn pushy.
You need to do better, Nox.
You need to get over it, Nox.
You need to move on, Nox.
Maybe the woman didn’t say any of that directly, but when it all boiled down to it, that was exactly what she meant.
The more time he spent around her, the more he was afraid she’d break through. The kiss, along with his hard-on, proved she had caused a crack in his armor. And it wouldn’t take much for her to wedge herself in even farther.
She was proud, strong and unafraid. He found that a fucking turn-on.
He liked bold women.
He liked independent women.
He liked intelligent women.
He liked a woman willing to meet challenges head on.
Aaliyah was all of that and more.
To him, she was as dangerous as meth to an addict.
He needed to go. Get as far from her as fucking possible and never come back to this weekly meeting.
Lose her business card and delete her number from his phone.
Forget he ever met her.
But what he wouldn’t do was leave her at the community center by herself. He couldn’t leave yet. Not until she did. “I’ll wait while you finish closing up.”
Her head tilted to the side and one eyebrow hiked up. “Why? You don’t think I’m capable of turning off the lights and locking the door by myself?”
He sucked on his teeth. “You can’t simply say thank you?”
“No. Because I don’t need you to protect me.”
“You’re going to get it, anyway. Just so you know, I can be just as pushy as you. Let’s see how you like it.”
He noticed most of the lipstick she’d been wearing was now gone. He glanced at the back of his hand and saw exactly where it went.
Fuck.
He asked, “What do you need to do yet?”
For a second, nothing but air escaped her parted lips, then she directed a huge smile at him.
He didn’t like that smile, nor the gleam in her eyes.
“To close up,” he added, his pulse speeding up once again.
Oh yeah, this woman was dangerous. Because he wanted nothing more than to make short work of walking to where she stood with her hand planted on her hip, so he could take her mouth again.