Page 90 of Breaking News

“For dragging you into something that’s going to hurt.” I looked down, shaking my head at her. “You deserve better than me.”

“That’s nonsense.” She stepped closer, pressing her body into mine and touching my face with both of her hands. I looked at her with a lopsided smile while she traced my stubble with her thumbs. “They don’t make ‘em any better than you.”

Goddamn it, that accent.

Without hesitation, I scooped her up into my arms and kissed her right there on the pavement surrounded by the hum of the city and a hundred strangers who didn’t know our names. She melted into me instantly, wrapping her arms around my neck and smiling against my lips before kissing me back. We took our time with this kiss, stretching it out for as long as we could. What I couldn’t say with words, I said with my tongue, circling hers as my hands cradled her butt to hold her up.

Jill pulled back, pressing her forehead against mine. “Maybe this is stupid, but I’d rather be alone with you in the hotel right now than see any of this.”

“Okay,” I said, lowering her to the ground. “But are you hungry?”

“Let’s get room service. After.”

“Room service? We probably shouldn’t put that on the comp—” I stopped and smiled, not wanting to argue with her. “What the hell, why not?”

I took her by the hand, pulling her through the crowd in the direction of our hotel. This woman could talk me into anything with a single look.

We didn’t walk in a straight line. We stopped twice, or maybe three times, to kiss and explore each other’s bodies with our wandering hands. At one point, I had her pressed up against a metal shutter door on West 47th, her fingers tangled up in my hair while people moved around us like we didn’t exist.

We kissed the entire way up the elevator, only stopping in the hallway because we weren’t sure where Xander might be lurking.

We both kicked off our shoes when we stepped inside the room, and she paused a few feet inside, taking in the view of the skyline. “This doesn’t feel real.”

“I know,” I said, walking over to the window.

She followed me, standing just close enough that our arms brushed. I felt her pause there beside me–not moving, not speaking–and I wondered if her mind had drifted back to Woodvale like mine had.

As much as I tried not to think about it, it was right there.

“Let’s both get jobs in the city,” she said, turning to me and placing her hands against my chest. “And never go back.”

I wrapped my arms around her body, sliding my hands down her backside. “Sounds like a plan.” She scrunched up her nose and leaned in, but before she could kiss me, I tugged away. “Do you remember the fire at the old movie theater?”

Jill blinked, a little thrown. “Well yes, but that wasyearsago.” She let out a soft laugh. “What in God’s name made you think of that?”

“I just remember…” I glanced up at the ceiling before finding her eyes again. “I was standing there patiently waiting for a comment from the fire chief. And here comes this young, blonde reporter I’d never seen in my life just shoving her microphone at Chief Ruger’s face like she’d been doing this job for twenty years.”

She laughed, covering her eyes with one hand. “I remember that,” she said. And then she lowered her hand back to my chest, looking me in the eyes again. “And then you came up to me and introduced yourself.”

“Had to,” I said, holding her tight. “I was impressed.”

“You were all business, though. Why didn’t you flirt with me?”

I sucked on my bottom lip, releasing it with a pop. “Well, let’s think back to how old we both were five years ago, and…”

She threw her head back and laughed, and I used the momentum to sweep an arm around her waist and dip her backward for a kiss. She lifted one leg, pinning her knee against my hip. I tucked one hand under her thigh, sliding my hands underneath the hem of her shorts to grip her ass. She was smiling so hard now, I knew she wasn’t thinking about our predicament anymore.

And I would make damn sure she didn’t think about it again for the rest of the night.

I pulled her body upright. “Are you in any pain tonight?”

“No.” She swallowed.

“Yes, you are.” I could always tell. Didn’t she know that?

Jillian licked her lips, her hands still clinging to my neck. “I’m okay, Graham. I’ll be even better if you can do something to distract me from the very minimal, almost non-existent pain.”

“We could just lie down and—”

---