Page 41 of One Wild Kiss

She watched him, silent.

“Have you had enough of me already?” Having asked that he realized she could answer the affirmative, which left him weirdly exposed.

“No.” She sighed, and in her hesitation he sensed she was feeling equally vulnerable.

“Okay, good.” Great, actually. “How do you feel about extending the weekend? Is there any reason for me to be in the office tomorrow? Any big meetings? Unmovable conference calls?”

“I—I’d have to double-check but I don’t think so.”

“Even if there is, we can cancel. There’s nothing more important going on than this.”

She offered a gentle smile, and his shoulders relaxed some. He didn’t often crave approval, but hers meant a lot to him.

“Addison—what’s your middle name?”

“Jane.”

“Addison Jane Abrams—” he reached for her hand on the table “—would you be willing to stay another night with me? The entire night. Through morning. No vanishing.”

She nodded.

“I’m going to need to hear the word.”

“Yes,” she answered and pride flooded his chest. “As long as my boss doesn’t care if I skip work on Monday, I’m willing to stay another night.”

“I see no bosses here.”

The waitress delivered their breakfasts and he was forced to have an annoying interaction to specify that yes, he was fine and no, he didn’t need butter. When she finally left, his eyes tracked back to Addi, who hadn’t so much as picked up her fork.

“I’ll try to leave you with enough energy for work on Tuesday.”

Elbow on the table, she propped her chin on her fist. “I make no such promises.”

Damn.

He liked her like this. Bold and fun. Open and lively. So much better than the controlled, practical woman he’d bumped into this morning.

“The entire night,” he reminded her as he cut into his pancakes. “I might save some of this syrup for later.”

As he took a big bite, she laughed. He loved hearing it. He also made it a point to ask the waitress for some syrup to go when she returned to the table.

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