Page 13 of Promised Vows

Three doors down, she whirled around and smiled. “Thank you again for bringing me home and walking me to my door.”

“May I check your apartment, please? As a precaution.”

The slight narrowing of her eyes told me her porcupine quills were directed straight at me. Our gazes held until she rolled her eyes. “Fine.” She unlocked the door and pushed it open for me.

I quickly checked the apartment and returned to the hallway. “Okay. It’s clear.”

“I could have told you that.” A smirk played on her lips. She crossed her arms over her chest. “No one’s ever walked me to my door or made sure I was safe.”

That little admission caught my attention. “A man has never walked you to your door?”

“No.”

I grunted.

“What?”

Shrugging, I said, “Nothing.”

There came that petulant pout. Man, I liked that. “That wasn’t a nothing grunt. That was a something grunt. So what was it for?”

“The men you’ve been seeing are beneath you.”

“Oh.”

That was becoming my favorite thing. Leaving her near speechless. “Not only are you beautiful, but you’re witty and interesting. Feisty and fiery. A lethal combination for someone of more refined tastes.”

The flush in her cheeks told me I’d hit my mark. “Oh, well, thank you.” Her hand came to rest on my chest. “That was sweet.”

She touched her lips to my cheek.

Yeah, there was no way I could let that go. In one swoop, I had her flush against my body and my fingers on her chin, making her look at me. I could get used to the fire in those eyes.

“What? Now you’re going to force me to kiss you?”

Force her? There’d been a war going on with her all night long. Her mouth was pushing me away, but her body was speaking a completely different language. I was going to make her pay for that. “That is something I’ve never had to do.” I bent forward, took a deep breath, and ran my nose from her cheek to her ear, taking another long breath as I reached her hairline. I dropped my voice low. “Hibiscus shampoo, correct?”

Her gasp was sharp. “Yes.”

I hovered my lips above her skin and skated them down her neck. “Vanilla body wash?”

Her grip tightened in the fabric of my coat, using it as leverage to crush our bodies even closer. “Uh-huh.”

Nuzzling her ear, I flicked the lobe with my nose and smiled at the hitch of her breath. This time I whispered, “It’s a delicious bouquet on you, Anna.”

“You think so?” The words were breathy.

This was the most fun I’d had in a while. I gave a low growl as an answer.

A throaty moan was her response. She pressed her face against mine, her leg twining around my own.

The time had arrived to poke the tiger. “You’ll beg me twice before I ever put my lips to yours.”

I grinned as she pushed me away. “I’ve never had to beg for a kiss and I never will.”

“Yeah, you will.” Walking backward, I winked and said, “You’ll beg me like you practically begged me to get your number.”

Her lips curled as she growled a few obscenities my way and threw daggers with her eyes.

---