“We don’t need to label what we are or what we’re doing. We can go slow.”
Right.
“That wasn’t slow,” she replied dryly.
“No. That was hot as hell.” Link moved until he stood in front of her, blocking the entrance to the alley. “But the other stuff can be slow or fast or however you want. All I ask is one thing.” He frowned slightly, and she was taken aback by just how handsome he was.
“No…two things. I don’t want to be your dirty secret. I don’t want to be the guy you call when you need some more of that hot sex we just had. I want to be the man who can take you to dinner, and I don’t want you to feel weird about it. If we do this, we’re all in.”
“But what is this exactly?”
“This is us getting to know each other properly, with no skulking about. This is—”
“Hey, there you are. I’ve been looking all over the place for you.”
Elise froze and glanced over Link’s shoulder, where she spied Boone and Poppy.
Poppy, who owned the boutique where she’d just had the best sex of her life.
Poppy, who was Link’s closest friend and who, judging from her raised eyebrows, knew what they’d just done. God, I probably smelled like sex, she thought hysterically. Eau du sex. Yep. That’s me.
Link moved a bit so that he blocked her view again, effectively breaking her train of thought, which was probably a good thing because that hysteria inside her was clamoring for an outlet.
“Hey,” he said gently. “This is you and me not hiding anymore. It’s us embracing whatever the hell this is and not caring about small minds and what other people think, including your son.” His voice was low and husky. “This is you living, Elise. Don’t be afraid to grab what you want.” He held out his hand, and for a heartbeat, she didn’t know what she was going to do.
But then something curious happened. Some chunk of reason, or more likely fear, broke away from that knot she’d been carrying around for months. She exhaled. Counted to three.
She looked up into Link’s face…
And placed her hand in his.