Page 22 of Moonlit Temptation

My fingers yearned to touch his face, to press our foreheads together.

I didn’t. I didn’t move.

I could do nothing but stare. That was all I was allowed to do.

Saint watched me with concern, mouthing, are you okay?

I could be honest and say yes, but instead, I shook my head and his arms tightened around me.

I basked in the bliss of his hold, wondering what was going to happen when we reached my hotel room. What kind of goodbye we were going to have.

I held him a little tighter for the rest of the cab ride.

For the second time tonight, I had been caught in a rainstorm, my clothes suctioned to my skin. And I couldn’t bring myself to care.

It brought me to this moment, Saint escorting me through the hotel with his hand on the small of my back. Though I swore he was following with reservation, as if he shouldn’t be walking me to my hotel room.

My steps were soggy as we walked down the hallway to my room, a little more unsure than when we entered the lobby. My bones still felt chilled, stiff from the rain.

Each step I took in my boots felt heavier than the last, thanks to all the water they drank up. They were so heavy that when we hit my floor, I lost my balance and went careening toward the wall.

Saint reached out to catch me, steadying me, leaving his hands on my shoulders as we finished the trek to the room.

My skin hummed under his touch, the only part of my cold body that felt warm.

When we got to my door, I hesitated to unlock it. Instead, I spun around to give Saint a hug he didn’t see coming. My feet left the ground as my arms wrapped around his neck.

He stumbled back a step before his arms found a home around my waist.

“Thank you for coming out with me tonight.” I squeezed my arms tighter around his neck. “This really was the best birthday.”

He set me back on the ground and I gently unwound my arms. “You’ll have other great birthdays, Madelayne.”

“But none will ever be my Golden Year again.”

He tilted his head to the side, confused.

“You know, the year you turn the same age as the day you were born. It’s supposed to be your luckiest year.”

His lips quirked into a small smile, amused. “Well, I hope this year is everything you wish it to be, Madelayne.”

I mumbled a thanks, not liking how he was moments away from walking away. Once he did, I’d be alone again.

Unless…

Saint slipped the hotel key out of my hand and unlocked the door before giving it back to me.

I could see the goodbye on his face. Gone was the expression he wore when he watched me dance in the street. It washed away in the rain.

Still, if he looked at me like that once, he could again.

Just as he was about to turn away, I reached out and grabbed his tie.

He paused as I raised a brow and stepped backward into my room, taking his tie with me.

I waited, my heartbeat pounding with the might of a sledgehammer as he stared at me with a hard, unreadable expression.

He was going to pull away, I just knew it.

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