Page 47 of Shelter from the Storm

Gretchen wasn’t sure who moved first.

One second, they were staring at each other…the next, Theo’s lips were on hers.

One of his hands rose, cupping the back of her head. It was a gentle touch, but damn if it didn’t pack one hell of a punch. With that one hand and the slow, soft glide of his lips over hers, she felt cherished and safe, two things that had been painfully scarce in her lifetime.

She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, running her fingers through his thick hair as he upped the ante on the kiss, his lips parting, his tongue stroking her lower lip. She opened for him, drinking in his sweet breath.

With one arm still wrapped around her back, Theo pulled her body tighter against his, and she felt his hardness against her stomach. Desire warred with common sense, and she didn’t have a clue which was going to come out on top.

She’d just finished telling herself this couldn’t happen, but when another roar of thunder pierced the silence, she pushed even closer, her kisses becoming hungrier, harder.

Theo closed his fingers around her hair, using that grip to tilt her head, his lips firmer as he gave Gretchen her first taste of true passion.

She lost all sense of place and time, but she didn’t care. She didn’t want this to end. Because she knew the second they parted, her brain would engage, and she’d have to walk away from him.

Theo must have realized that as well, because he showed no signs of stopping. She trembled with arousal when he hummed, low and deep, as overwhelmed by this kiss as Gretchen.

Finally, years later, the need to breathe forced them to part.

Gretchen lowered her gaze, overwhelmed by him.

“Look at me,” he demanded.

She raised her eyes, her face flushed from the heat of the kiss and now the aftermath. What the hell was she supposed to say?

Every bit of discomfort vanished the moment she saw Theo’s handsome face, his kind eyes, his sweet grin.

When he cupped her cheek with one large hand, she melted because…fuck. Everything he did was Romance Hero 101 stuff, and she couldn’t resist.

Theo drew his thumb over her lower lip, which felt puffy following those hot-and-heavy kisses.

“I’ve wanted to do that since the first time I saw you.”

Gretchen blinked, trying to decide if he’d really said that or if she was hallucinating due to the lack of air after that twenty-minute kiss.

“I…” she started, clearing her throat. She could either be honest and tell him she’d wanted the same thing—because she had—or she could start to do damage control. “I’m not sure that was a smart thing to do.”

She held her breath, afraid Theo would get angry. But instead, his grin morphed into a full-fledged smile, and he even chuckled.

“Gretchen, I can assure you, that’s the smartest thing I’ve ever done in my life.”

She shook her head. “Theo.” Time to dig herself out of this hole.

“No,” he said, her tone clueing him in to what was coming next. “You don’t need to say any of that.”

“That?”

“You know what,” he replied.

“I think I do need to say it.”

Theo pressed his forehead against hers. At some point, his hands had found their way to her waist. “You don’t,” he reasserted. “I know all the reasons why you think what we did was a mistake.”

“You do?”

“I’m your boss. You need this job. You don’t want to screw things up.”

Her shoulders relaxed, grateful he’d said the words she didn’t have the strength to say. “Then you agree what we just did…” Flames licked her cheeks. Her experience with kissing and men was limited to one man, an asshole, so she was floundering. “It can’t happen again.”

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