Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 75592 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75592 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
I simply nod. “I understand.”
Kat bestows on me what I think is her first genuine smile since we reconnected. “Thanks for understanding and thank you again for a great dinner tonight.”
“You’re very welcome.”
Kat resumes her trek up the stairs but I call her name one more time. “Kat.”
When she looks back at me, I ask, “Do you think we can have a friendship?”
“I think we already do.”
Christ, my heart swells with pure joy. “That’s good.”
“Good night, Gabe.”
“Good night, Hell Kat.” She rolls her eyes at me and then disappears up the staircase and to the left to her guest bedroom.
When I hear her door close, I make my own way up, working at the buttons on my sleeves. By the time I make it to my room, which is right off the top landing, I’m removing my shirt. I have no qualms about tossing it on the floor near my suitcase as I’ll have to get packed eventually. But I’m exhausted too and I’m tired of spending so much of my thought energy on Kat. I’m eager to fall into dreamless sleep, if I can be so lucky.
My hands go to my belt to undo it but still when there’s a faint knock on my door. Pulse skittering—it can only be Kat since we’re the only two in the house—I walk that way. Glancing at my shirt not five feet away on the floor, I consider putting it back on, but Kat has seen all of me and I’m not modest.
I open the door to find her there, head looking off down the hall from where she came, fingers twisted in what could be taken as anxiousness.
“Are you okay?” I ask.
Her head whips my way—roaming my chest before locking with my eyes. And she’s brutally honest. “No, I’m not.”
Thoughts are immediately on Sylvie and the winery. I go into protective mode, my hands going to hers. “Whatever it is, it’ll be fine. I can handle all of this for Sylvie—”
Kat shakes her head, that glorious black hair falling around her shoulders. “It’s not Sylvie. It’s that kiss. Or rather, those kisses. At the gala, and then this morning.”
“Oh,” I exhale harshly, thrilled she wants to talk about it rather than sweep it under the rug the way she’s been doing.
Years have passed since our very first kiss in college, years filled with memories that lingered like the faint trace of a once-familiar perfume. Now, standing close to her like this, the weight of everything unsaid charging the air, I know we’re on the brink of something big.
My eyes search hers, taking in the green pools of indecision, frustration and yearning. Every emotion that’s had my gut tied in knots. The vulnerability in her gaze echoes how I feel, and I’m not afraid to show it.
I can’t be, not when she sought me out.
Kat bites her lip, a nervous movement I remember all too well. I also remember wanting to protect her and quell that anxiety whenever I saw it, from that day years ago where I saw how troubled she was by the daunting equations of that college math class.
Slowly, I brush a stray lock of hair from her face. The touch is familiar and thrilling, a reminder of what had been and what could still be if Kat would open up. She closes her eyes at my touch, a soft sigh escaping her as she leans into my palm. My heart trips at what might be a slip of resistance.
The moment stretches, taut with anticipation, until finally I can’t take it anymore. My head bends and my lips graze against hers tenderly while her eyes are still closed. Her body jerks slightly but she sighs as if she’s in a very good dream.
I’m gentle to start, taking my time to relearn the map of her lips and tongue, but it’s Kat’s hands going to the back of my neck and the pressure she puts there that tells me she wants more. The kiss deepens and I’m tight as a bowstring as our hesitation seems to melt away.
I’ve never stopped wanting this woman, even when we hated each other.
Even when we moved on.
Driven now by a previously unrealized pent-up longing, I pull her hard against me and smile at her gasp of surprise. But then she’s kissing me back and we quickly slide out of control, spiraling into each other. With a hand threading through her hair, I grip tightly and gently pull her away.
Those green eyes flutter open, sparking with lust, and I groan because it makes it even harder to say what I’m about to say. “We’re getting ready to cross a line, Kat. If I start touching you, I won’t stop.”
I’ve got one hand at the back of her head, the other at her hip, and yet I feel a full-body shudder ripple through her.