Page 26 of Ms. Lead

Watching her become increasingly uncomfortable with me, I take a minute to reevaluate things. This is ridiculous. I’m only here for a month. What would be the harm in a brief romance? No secrets would need to be divulged, and it would be understood that I’ll be off back to England in a month’s time.

Maybe she would be interested in a temporary arrangement of some kind. We’re adults. Surely a no-string relationship is possible. Especially since we’ll spend so much time together over the next few weeks. It would solve the desire problem and make the month ahead of us bearable.

“Are you ready to go?” She pushes on the table to stand, but I reach over and grab her wrist, making her freeze in place.

“Have dinner with me tonight.” It’s not a request, and my blood starts to pump faster in my veins as possibilities start running through my mind. I’m getting ahead of myself, but I don’t care. If I don’t act on these feelings that have been scorching through me since I first saw her, I will incinerate to ashes right here in this coffee shop.

Now that I’ve had the thought, I can’t unthink it. My body is just following instructions at this point.

She’s startled but recovers quickly and studies me for a long minute. She must be satisfied with what she sees because she nods slowly.

“Okay…but I’d like to change out of this uniform if that’s alright with you.”

“While I think you’re beautiful no matter what you wear, that’s perfectly alright with me.”

Her eyes widen, and her face flushes at the compliment. I admit, I’m laying it on pretty thick, but I’m enjoying how much this is flustering her. She’s damned cute when she’s thrown off her game.

“Oh,” is all she can say as her forehead creases in confusion.

Letting go and leaning into these feelings and emotions will be fun. I take her hand, brush my lips across her knuckles briefly, and lead her out of the coffee shop. I can’t help but smile at the shock on her face.

Allowing myself a temporary tryst while I’m here could go a long way to sustaining me once I leave. If I can get Bianca to agree. I think our physical attraction for each other is mutual. I’m pretty sure I’m reading the signals from her accurately. It’s a risk, but I need to take this chance.

The early evening dusk casts a purple haze over everything, and the afternoon heat has only slightly dissipated. The palms of our hands grow warm from the friction as we walk across the lot to the car. This feels so natural between us, as though we’re a well-established couple, and we do this all the time.

At the front of the car, we stop, and I turn to her, sweeping the hair out of her bright eyes as she stares at me with wonder and confusion. The wind has picked up and is swirling around us, cocooning us in warmth.

“Can I do something?” I ask. Suddenly unsure what the hell I’m doing. I was all confidence and bravado inside the café, but now self-doubt is starting to creep in. What if she says no?

Narrowing her eyes at me, she tilts her head, curious. “Do what exactly?”

I swallow hard. My nerves are all over the place. “May I kiss you?”

I’m surprised to see fear and uncertainty in her, and she averts her gaze once again, not answering my question, but I’m undeterred.

“Bianca, I have wanted to kiss you since I first saw you at the airport. I’ve restrained myself till now, wanting to keep our relationship professional, but I’m finding it bloody impossible.”

She takes a minute but seems to resolve something within herself and straightens her shoulders.

“Then don’t.”

“Don’t?” I’m not sure what that means. Do I not kiss her? I’m confused.

“Don’t restrain yourself.”

She doesn’t have to tell me twice. I step closer, place a hand under her chin, and tilt her face to mine. Her lips part and her eyes flutter closed as I lean in, barely grazing her lips at first. Cupping her face with my hands gently, I kiss her again. This time, our tongues slide against each other, and the taste and feel of her are beyond what I ever imagined. Again, a sense of déjà vu overtakes me, and I already know how to kiss her and touch her in a way that makes her respond to my every move.

The kiss deepens, and my hands instinctively glide through the silky strands of her hair to the back of her neck, pulling her even closer to me. She doesn’t resist and melts into me, pressing her chest against me. Her fingers slide over my shoulders and up into my hair. Every connection between us, our lips, our hands, our bodies, buzzes with energy and sends thrills vibrating through me.

For a moment, we both forget where we are, and who we are, for that matter. We’re no longer relative strangers who just met a few days ago. We’re long-time lovers reuniting after centuries apart. For a split second, I’m not a broken man with a doomed future; instead, I’m a strong protector, showing the woman I care about exactly how much I do.

Wait.

I pull away and try to catch my breath. I need to be extremely careful here. I can’t care about Bianca. Not really. Not if either of us is going to get out of this unscathed. But as we stare at each other, and she smiles at me so sweetly, I could fall to my knees right here and now and confess everything dreadful about myself to her.

I know instantly that I’ve already fucked this up. There’s no way we’re getting out of this without a great deal of pain. Not now. It’s too late now.

Chapter Sixteen

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