Page 40 of No One But You

“Mind if I come in?”

I shook my head, and he unlatched the gate.

My gaze swept over him, and I liked what I saw.

Damn. Just looking at him made me weak in the knees and warm in the belly. He was built just enough, but not overly buff. Then that face with a couple days of scruff, and those eyes and the way they popped underneath the halo of his black hair.

Yeah, well, I could just stare at him forever, and that was just what I was doing.

He walked with a swagger to his hips and slipped his thumb into his front pockets. “You left before I could say goodbye last night.”

I wrung my hands, not sure what to do with them, then slid them into my back pockets. “You were busy, and there was an emergency.”

“I wasn’t that busy. It was just a dance.”

“But it was Chloe. She has a way of getting her nails in a man and not letting go.”

“Only one woman has had her nails in me recently, and I’d love to get them to dig into me again.”

My eyes went wide, and my stomach flopped massively “Well, you seemed really into Chloe, and we didn’t say anything about last night being a date, so I didn’t want to push you if you weren’t interested. And . . .” I stopped because Kai had closed the space between us and placed his hand on my arm. Heat seeped into my skin.

He tipped my chin up, and our eyes met. He was serious. “I wasn’t interested in Chloe at all. I wanted to spend time with you last night. I would have come over last night—I wanted to come over last night—if you would’ve asked.”

I took a deep breath in and blew it out slowly. It had been a long while since a man made my insides melt. Maybe even never, but they melted under his gaze, and I swallowed hard. “I didn’t want to bother you.”

“I don’t know what’s going on between us, but I know I’ve thought of you a lot since I changed your tire.” He held my face in his hands and forced me to gaze into those eyes. Those eyes. I swallowed the lump that had lodged in my throat. “I had a lot of fun Friday night. I’d really like to get to know you more, but I need to know that’s what you want also.”

He smelled so good, like aftershave and outdoors. I lifted my hands to his arms. Was this what I wanted?

Yes, it was.

I wanted to get to know him as much as a bear wanted honey. I nodded, not sure if my voice would work.

His mouth ticked up and that dimple appeared.

“I love that dimple,” I whispered.

“You told me that Friday night.”

“Yeah, well, Friday night I was a little drunk. Words tend to spew from my mouth without thought. I wanted to make sure you knew I meant it.”

He pulled me into his arms. “How much of what you said Friday night was because you were drunk?”

A feeling of intoxication came over me when I looked into his eyes. I swallowed, and my voice came out as a whisper. “I wasn’t that drunk.”

Our lips touched lightly. The kiss was soft, warm, and sweet.

I wanted to feel this last night, but seeing him dance with Chloe got me upset, and that phone call about the escaped goats was a great excuse to not have to face my feelings.

Now, though, was another issue. My body reacted immediately as a tingle rushed from my lips to between my thighs. My body knew exactly what it wanted even if my heart wasn’t sure. How could I want him this badly when I hardly even knew him?

My mind flew backward and sifted through my memories like a filing cabinet. Where did he come from? Why was he here?

My mind sorted through the chaos going on inside it when he broke the kiss. That was probably a good thing.

“What’s wrong?” Kai asked as he brushed my hair behind my neck.

When his fingers touched my skin, an electric pulse sent the throbbing between my legs into overdrive. This was crazy. I needed to get a hold of these feelings. “We hardly know each other.” I put some much-needed space between us.

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