Page 84 of Brooke
Kyle’s hand cupped the back of her neck, a demand. She raised her head. His chiseled face was so close, those baby blues searching hers.
Desire throbbed between them, their hearts pulsing in time. This was Kyle, the one man she could always count on, talk to—trust. Scary, scary feelings for a girl who had grown up so alone.
“You’ve never been more…” He broke off, at sea with the same roiling emotions she was swimming in. “Beautiful. Powerful. Compelling. Don’t hate me for saying it. But I’m so damn proud of you. Happy for you. I?—”
He broke off, his hands tightening on her skin. She knew what he was thinking. His gaze dropped to her lips. Her heartturned into a jackhammer in her chest. They’d agreed not to do this.
Had he changed his mind? Had she?
He leaned in, and she bolted away at the last moment, fear swamping her desire like flour on a kitchen fire.
“We can’t!”
She pressed back against the metal racks behind her, knocking into a saucepan.
“Think!”
He reached out to the cold metal shelf and gripped it, his knuckles turning white. He rocked in place a few moments before rubbing the back of his neck and shaking it off.
“Right! Okay.”
A harsh breath left those beautiful lips. God, she could not look at those lips right now.
“Things…got the better of me. I’ll just let you…”
He walked the few steps to the door and left, closing the door behind him. She put her face in her hands, scrubbing it.
God, they’d been so close to…
The friends line was like a tightwire, and she desperately feared what would happen if they fell off. She grabbed a cold container and pressed it to the back of her neck to cool off and made herself count to ten. Slowly.
Then she stepped out into her kitchen. She had a job to do. She had a promise to fulfill, to herself and Nanine and her roommates.
Her thing with Kyle, their thing, could not screw with that.
Kyle was standing in the kitchen doorway, as if waiting to see if she was all right after their near-disaster. He lifted his chin at her. She inclined hers back.
Nanine’s famous chandelier uttered an unwelcome melody, a passionate mélange of sound filled with longing.
She struggled not to cry uncharacteristic tears as she watched him disappear from sight.
CHAPTER
NINETEEN
Brooke rolled over in bed with a sleepy smile on her face.
Only to discover Axel was not in bed next to her. She eyed the clock and groaned. Ten a.m.? She made herself sit up, grateful her head wasn’t muzzy from a lack of sleep. The party after the big night had gone until four, with everyone staying until the final toast to Madison and her staff’s brilliant future—delivered by Nanine.
God, that had choked everyone up. She’d been grateful they’d all quickly dispersed afterward. Otherwise, they might have plunged into a vat of sadness, something no one wanted, Nanine especially. Axel had been very attentive to her feelings and her needs when he’d come back to the house with her.
Laying her hand on Axel’s imprint on the pillow, she traced the indention. Having him stay over with her—in her bed—had been an epic end to an already epic day. Nanine was marrying her father—although she wanted to wait until after Nanine’s reopened to tell everyone else. Not ideal, but Brooke understood, having only recently come clean about her relationship with Axel. She’d even decided she wasn’tgoing to feel an ounce of guilt about hiding it for so long. Because…
God, could life have worked out any better?
She ran her hand over her duvet, her thoughts drifting to all the years her father had spent alone. Brooke had seen her father suffer after her mother had discarded them and moved on, and she’d grieved with Nanine after Bernard died. Funny, how her father and Nanine could never have found each other if they hadn’t gone through those experiences.
Axel was right. The adventures of life couldn’t be predicted, but when a person allowed themselves to experience them, amazing things could show up.
