Page 45 of Give Me a Shot

“You guess?”

“It’s…uh…been a while?” he said. He started pulling his hands down her thighs, like he was getting ready to step away from her. She grabbed them to stop them in their tracks.

“It’s been a while for me, too,” she said. “But let me be clear. I want you, Mo. I’m into everything about you. I want to get to know you more. I also want to rip your clothes off right now.”

His cheeks were already flushed, so she could tell that he was doing his shy thing only by the dip of his chin.

“Do you not want that?” she asked. His head snapped up.

“I do. Very much,” he said.

“So we should do this?” she asked.

“Yes,” he said. “But right now, we should stop.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because this table can’t handle my weight. And I’m certainly not going to lay you down on the floor.”

A searing flash went through her and her breath caught. She smiled.

“Who said I was going to let you be on top?” she asked.

He laughed. A free, open laugh she’d never seen before. It rumbled out of him, bounced off the walls, and warmed her as it passed through her body. She began laughing, too.

“You’re right,” he said. “I should have known better. But damn if that image doesn’t turn me on even more.” He leaned in close, gliding his parted lips up her neck. Her eyes rolled back in her head. “Can I call you tonight?” he whispered into her skin.

“Yes,” she whispered back.

“I don’t want to stop.” He sighed. “But anyone could walk in on us.”

He made a good point. She was a private person, and she’d already seen how mortified he’d become when someone hugged him in a room full of people. He might pass out if anyone walked in and saw her legs around him.

“You’re right,” she whispered beside his ear. “We should stop.” She nibbled on the lobe, and he shuddered.

“Not fair,” he said.

“I know,” she said as he pulled back to look her in the eyes.

He chuckled and shook his head.

“I’ll walk you back to your car,” he said. “But you’ve got a good hold on me here.” He gestured at her legs still around him. She didn’t move. He laughed again. “Are you going to let me go?”

“No,” she said. “If you give me a shot, I won’t let you go, Mo.”

He looked her in the eye and understood.

“Thank you, Jess,” he said, leaning in for a quick peck.

Chapter Twelve

Mo

She said it’s not a bad thing.

On a workout bench in the spare bedroom he’d turned into a weightlifting room, Mo started on a new set of reps to work his biceps. It was time to switch to a different exercise, but the need to push himself to exhaustion was stronger than the fatigue that would greet him once he’d finished. Pushing his muscles gave the buzzing anxiety from truly starting a romantic relationship with Jess somewhere to go. By this point in a workout his mind was usually quiet, but it kept returning to that moment in the smithy, to what Jess had said about him being an HSP.

She doesn’t fully know what it is; she might change her mind.

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