Page 26 of A Lonely Road
Atfiveo’clocksharp,Nora walked up the stairs to the deck. To my absolute delight, she was wearing theblue dress again, with those deep brown curls tumbling about her bare shoulders, and she held a box from my favorite local bakery in her arms. I unfolded from my chair to take the box, but this time I let appreciation show as my gaze traveled over her.
Fucking hell.She was stunning.
“I ordered the same pizza we had last time, I hope that’s okay,” she said, clutching the fabric of her skirt like she was trying to keep her hands steady.
“That sounds perfect. I'll put this in the kitchen until we’re ready for dessert. Want a tour of the house?”
Though her lips parted slightly in surprise, she nodded and followed me through the French doors that connected the deck to a spacious kitchen I’d spent a great deal of time fixing up after I moved in.
“This is the size of my whole apartment,” she said, impressed. “Did you renovate all of this yourself?”
I nodded, both pleased with the admiration in her tone and ridiculously turned on by the way she ran her fingertips over the edge of the granite countertop. “It was the first project I took on after buying the house. The whole first floor looked like something from the seventies. It was pretty horrific,” I said with a grin.
“So, you own a restaurant but on the side you’re a bartender, contractor, mechanic,andnursemaid.” One delicate brow arched upward in amusement. “That’s a pretty wide range of skills, even for an overachiever likeyourself.”
As much as I wanted to offer her some insight into my other more intimate skillset, I swallowed back the reply and simply inclined my head. “I am a renaissance man, what can I say?”
“Look, Lincoln, I think we need to get something straight before this goes any further.”
My muscles locked, gaze riveted on the flush in her cheeks. “What’s that?”
Nora narrowed her eyes at me and my brows shot up when she poked the center of my chest for emphasis. “I am not made of glass.”
“No, you’re definitely not.”
“You’re not going to offend me or scare me off by being flirty or dirty or whatever causes that steamy look in your eyes.”
I sucked in a sharp breath, but she wasn’t finished.
“I don’t want you to censor yourself because you’re afraid I’m going to crumble or run away. I’m not. I know you caught me in a moment of weakness while I was sick, but that’s over. Say what you want to say, all right?”
With a slow perusal of her ferocious expression, I said, “Well, Cassidy, I know good and well that you’re tough as nails, so let’s put that aside for a minute. You do have to admit thatthisis a far cry from the woman who moved in all those weeks ago, peeking out through the curtains before she’d venture outside.”
I gestured to her, a sweep of my hand from her head to her feet. She looked fierce and fiery and so veryalivethat I wanted nothing more than to kiss her breathless. Her cheeks flusheddarker but she didn’t break eye contact, like we were locked in a silent battle of wills.
“Okay, you’re right. I’ll give you that much,” she conceded. “But that was then, this is now.”
Gently, I replied, “I wasn’t born yesterday, Nora. I know what it looks like when a woman’s running from something. Or someone. You can’t blame me for wanting to go easy on you. I’m not asking any questions—your business is your business, and I’m not planning to pry—but I’d have to be blind not to see that even if you’re not afraid right this very minute, you damn wellwereafraid of something.”
At that, she jerked as if I’d slapped her and I was immediately filled with remorse. When I opened my mouth to apologize, though, she held up a hand to stop me.
“Fair enough,” she said evenly. “I admit that I was . . . nervous. Moving around the way I have, it’s not all rainbows and adventures. Sometimes it’s hard and scary, but dammit, Ilikeit here. And I like you, and I like the way you make me feel, and I didn’t want to screw up my chances here in town if that feeling wasn’t mutual.”
She stepped forward and laid her hand on my chest, my heart thumping under her palm. Even now, I knew she was nervous, but I sincerely hoped it was an entirely different variety of nerves than when she first moved in.
I covered her hand with mine, my brain focused on the part of her speech that sent heat streaking through my limbs.
“Oh, it’s mutual, all right. Humor me, though, with a little clarification. How exactly do I look at you?” I asked, my voice low and just gravelly enough to send a visible tremor up her spine.
“Like you can’t stop thinking about kissing me.”
“Probably because I haven’t stopped thinking about kissing you since the day you got here.”
Her lips quirked. “Then hurry up and kiss me already.”
There it was, the invitation I’d been longing for. It lay not just in the words, but in the gleam of her dark eyes, the way her tongue darted out across her bottom lip. I set my other hand at her hip and bent my head, brushing my lips across hers in a teasing caress. A shuddering breath escaped her, then she pressed closer, drew my mouth deeper.
God, she was sweet. So impossibly sweet.As her hands snaked upward to my shoulders, mine went to the small of her back, drawing her body flush against me. She tasted like summertime, warm and welcoming.
