Page 68 of Power Play Pursuit

A lone chuckle escapes me, and I pull back slightly. “Is that so?”

“Are you finally ready to surrender, Elizabeth? Because I’m hopeless here.”

The sincerity in his eyes, combined with his speech from earlier, sends a whirlwind of emotions through me. And just like that, all my walls are completely shattered. He’s right. For so long, he’s been showing me all the ways he’s good for me. I just wasn’t paying attention. But I am now.

My heart is thundering in my chest, the sound so loud, I can’t even hear the music anymore. Finally, I meet his eyes again. “Yes,” I breathe out.

A glint of pure joy touches his eyes, and he caresses my cheek before drawing me closer. His familiar scent of clean cotton and musk embraces me, sweeping me off the dance floor and into our own bubble. Our lips touch, and I melt against him, unable to resist any longer. His hands slide down my back, pulling me tight against him as I run my fingers through his hair. Every brush of his lips feels desperate, like he’s been waiting for this forever, and I’ve never felt so wanted.

He pulls away, and I release a small moan at the loss of contact.

“I want everything with you, Elizabeth,” he says, the back of his hand grazing my cheek. “Not just one night, but all of them.”

A smile breaks onto my face, and I nod in agreement before kissing him again. “All of them.”

29

"Don’t expect me to go easy on you just because we’re dating now."

James Adler

I’m a happy man. Not because the doctor cleared me this morning to return to practice—with the stipulation that I wear the ugly no-contact canary-yellow jersey, which will definitely earn me some teasing—but because Elizabeth and I are finally dating. After two years of waiting, she’s finally my girl, and it’s the best feeling in the world.

We’re now walking hand in hand toward Rise & Grind, but I might as well be walking on air. Everything is brighter, the colors are more vivid,and even the rain was more intense last night. The crazy thing is, if I wanted to right now, I could stop and kiss Elizabeth’s perfect lips. In fact, that’s exactly what I’m going to do.

I twirl her with one hand, and she giggles as I pin her against a wall, hungry with anticipation.

“James,” she laughs, her giggles growing louder by the second. But when I kiss her, she instantly wraps her arms around my neck, deepening the kiss.

Having Elizabeth’s lips on mine is even better than in my wildest fantasies. I know, it doesn’t make any sense. But nothing can beat the real deal. Her lips are softer, tastier, more addictive than I could have ever imagined, and I need my fix. With one touch, they scorch every inch of my body, sending bolts of electricity sparking through my veins. It’s the most amazing sensation in the world. The most intense too. I know I said hugs were sometimes better than kisses, but nothing will ever come close to kissing Elizabeth.

“I knew your lips would taste like cherry,” I say, taking a step back and tucking my thumb under her chin.

She chuckles. “Actually, I also have a strawberry and a raspberry one.”

“Ohh,” I say, placing another kiss on her saccharine lips. “Then I’ll have no choice but to try them all.”

“I think that’s fair.”

Pulling away and taking her hand,I force myself to continue walking. Otherwise, we’ll never move from this spot.

Soon, we step onto Warlington Lane. And it might be November, but I swear, the street looks brighter than ever.

“Top of the morning to you, Susan,” I say, spotting the pharmacist in front of her shop.

“Hi, James. Hi, Beth.” She beams.

Next, I tip my imaginary hat to Mrs. Edibam, who’s arranging the flower display in front of her shop. She just laughs and waves at us.

Elizabeth tenses next to me, so I turn my head to see what’s troubling her. I clench my jaw when I spot Rogers stalking out of Rise & Grind. I tuck her closer to me as we approach the shop.

“What are you doing here, Rogers?” I ask through gritted teeth. This day was too perfect to be true. Of course he had to come and ruin it.

“Actually,” he mutters, stuffing both hands in his pockets, “I came to apologize to Beth.” He turns to her, his eyes pleading. “I’m really sorry for everything. For being a jerk and hurting you.”

He looks sincere enough, but I can’t help balling my fist.

“And I guess I want to apologize to you too, Adler. It was a low blow on my part, hitting you in the back like that.”

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