Page 56 of Broken Bridges

Cole stumbled. “But...but... I want to know what goes down.”

“I know you do, but tough. Let’s go.”

Grinning, I puffed air through my nose. Tia was lucky to have a brother who looked out for her.

“What’s up?” Pursing her lips, she shuffled toward me.

Damn. She was beautiful and rocked a pair of khaki cargo pants. I tucked my hands into the back pockets of my jeans to avoid touching her. “I want to apologize again for last night. A lot of crazy shit went down, and I should’ve handled the whole situation better. I just needed some time to process what happened. What shouldn’t have happened.”

“Lewis, you have nothing to apologize for. I’m sorry our kiss upset you so much. I don’t want you to question who you are. We crossed boundaries that shouldn’t have been crossed.” Her shoulders slouched and too much sadness loomed in her eyes. “It was just nice to let loose for a night. For a few hours, I didn’t have to pretend that I’m not in pain. I didn’t have my brother breathing down my neck, being overprotective. I didn’t have to watch every word I said, like I do around Sutton and the girls at work. I don’t want them to know my heart isn’t in our show. For a few moments, I had fun...with you.”

An ache jolted through my chest. She hid so much from everyone, hid behind her jokes and laughs. I hated that she was hurting so much. The fact I’d helped her have a few hours away from her problems made me feel a touch better but not much. I half smiled. “It was a tortured fun.”

She took a tiny step forward, leaving two feet of space between us. “I got to dance with the hottest guy in the club and had one of the hottest kisses I’ve ever had in my life. My panties are still wet.”

My dick twitched. Oh geez. Boner alert. Images of dirty dancing with her last night flickered through my mind, our bodies gyrating, touching, moving as one. Too hot. I swallowed the huge lump in my throat. “We did burn up the dance floor.”

“We did.”

My gaze swept across her lips. I should step away. Should put more distance between us. But my feet remained glued to the spot. Lowering my voice, I whispered, “We just can’t do that again.” I wanted to believe the words that fell from my mouth. No...I had to believe them. I had to.

Her gaze drilled into me, hammering my head with hard blows. The fire that lingered between us sizzled. “Are you sure last night was nothing but drunken fun? That we should just put our kiss down to being nothing more than a crazy antic?”

“Yes.” I lowered my chin and winced. Who was I kidding? “But the thing is...it wasn’t, was it? You feel something for me, don’t you?” Like I do for you.

“Lewis, I’m trying not to.” The anguish in her voice reflected the same level of agony that had set into every muscle in my body. “You’ve made it clear where you stand. I respect that. I’ll make every effort to stop teasing, touching and flirting with you.”

Shit. I liked it when she did those things. But she was right. We were both at fault. Going forward, we had to be more careful and control ourselves. “Me too. Can we reset...again?”

“I’d like that.”

“Cool. We’ll be okay.” I caught her arm and pulled her into my embrace, giving her a warm hug. So much for no touching. With my head resting against hers, I circled my hands over her back and held her close. Mmm. So good. “Let’s just put last night behind us.”

“Yeah.”

But she didn’t let go.

Neither did I.

Within a heartbeat, the silence in the room wrapped around us, chaining me to her.

Crap!

Her heartbeat strummed in time with mine.

Her hands pressed against my shoulder blades, sending warmth rippling across my skin beneath my T-shirt.

Closing my eyes, I nuzzled into her hair. The scent of her shampoo filled my senses, rushing in hot waves from my head down to my toes. The pounding in my brain resumed, crashing against my skull. I stilled, afraid to take a breath. “Tia?”

Drawing back, she placed her fingertips across my lips. “Shh. It’s okay. You have the band to worry about—not me. Last night is forgotten.”

I followed every move of her gorgeous lips. Lips I’d tasted and, for some fucked up reason, wanted to taste again. It took all my willpower to catch her hand and lower it to her side. “I’m not sure I’ll forget in a hurry but yes.”

She nodded, but longing still darkened her eyes. “Good, because this thing between us...is over. It’s nothing.”

Dizziness swam through my brain. My fingers twitched to hold her again.

She leaned in close; her lips hovered an inch from mine. Her hot breath sent goose bumps shooting across my skin and shivers down my arms. “What you’re feeling...for me...is nothing.”

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