Page 55 of Without Apology

“I suppose I wanted you to see a part of my life.”

She laid a hand on my chest over my heartbeat, which started to speed up at her touch.

“I’m glad you let me. You done being mad?”

“I can’t even remember what I would’ve been cross about. Whatever it was must’ve been stupid.”

She smiled. “Must’ve been.”

“I only have a couple more weeks on the project before moving onto the next one.” It wasn’t like I could offer to meet her for a weekend while I was on the next assignment or fly her to New York. Even if I were to entertain the idea of long-distance, it would never work. Yet the thought of walking away in a few weeks was hard to fathom.

“I believe you laid out those conditions when you first asked me out.”

I moved in closer, tipping her chin. Emotions didn’t come easy to me. Add the step of saying the words out loud, and I simply didn’t. Until now. Because I couldn’t not say it to her. “You make me feel things. I was frustrated because I’d pictured taking you slow the first time, not losing control.”

She searched my eyes before responding. “You make me feel things, too. Although I’m not opposed to taking things slow for round two, I’m a big fan of what just happened. Next time I want you naked, though, so I can see all of you.”

She had a way of putting me at ease. She could take something serious and make it playful. Mitigate my intensity with levity. “Same. The plan was to take you to dinner and a show tonight. I thought perhaps Wicked, Hamilton, or Lion King. Those seem to be the most popular.”

“What if we’re seen?”

Tom and the board members lived in the city, but I was certain they wouldn’t be in Times Square. I dropped my lips to hers for a soft kiss. “We won’t be. There’s a show at eight, so we have time for dinner first.”

“You planned a date?”

I nuzzled behind her ear. “Yes. I want you to have a chance to see your first Broadway show.”

She surprised me by letting her hands wander down to my ass, pulling me close. “What if I want to skip the show?”

My labored breath came quickly. It was tempting to lay her on my bed and spend the rest of the night inside of her, but I needed to rein in my emotions. She had one night in New York City, and I wanted to ensure she was able to tick a Broadway show off her bucket list.

“Date first, even if it kills me. But mark my words, you won’t be getting much sleep tonight afterward.”

She shivered at my declaration.

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