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That alone made me want to change the way Hooked collected data for trial memberships. I didn’t give a fuck if they canceled before the thirty days were over. I wanted to know who they were.I wanted to know her name.I wanted just a tiny bit of information that would give me a clue as to who this woman was and why things had gone so wrong.But Love owned only part of my thoughts.The other half, the more dominant side, was Drake.Not a single thing in my office—not my email, my ringing office line, not even the knock on my door—could pull me out of the trance I was in as I replayed last night’s kiss.Watching it over and fucking over in my head.Knowing she was only down the hall, in her office, was driving me mad.I wanted to see her.I wanted to be around her.I wanted to smell her in the goddamn air.I didn’t know why, when I’d climbed into bed long after my shower, I ached so goddamn hard for a woman I barely knew. But inside, somewhere deep, it felt like we’d spent years togethe
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CHAPTER TWENTY-TWODrakeI sat alone at the same table I’d shared with Saara just minutes ago. The chunky ice cube was melting into water at the bottom of my glass, each sip now only full of the lemon and rosemary that had garnished the Manhattan my best friend had ordered me, the liquor much stronger than a small pour of sauvignon blanc. Saara’s hope was that it would whittle away my nerves, making the prickles in my body less blunt, but it hadn’t worked. The thought of Easton and Mr. Boston still turned me into a nonstop-talking, jittery mess.As did the—oh God—questions.I didn’t even know where to start with those or how to process them.Or what to even think.But my best friend had been very strategic with her departure, leaving less than a ten-minute window before Mr. Boston’s arrival. A few minutes before eight o’clock, the door to the bar opened with force, a familiar face walking through the entrance, his eyes scanning the large space, unsure of who he was looking for.I had
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I handed her the tumbler and said, “He’ll take one of these too. Thank you.” I waited until she was gone before I said another word. “After five-plus years, I came back to Boston and accepted a job with Hooked—the same place, in a sense, where I met you—and then it turns out you were the guy I fell for back then, and in two weeks we reconnected just as strongly as we had before.” I rubbed my thumb over the grooves in the table. “It’s hard to believe that two people who are so different matched at one hundred percent and hit it off not once, but twice.” I analyzed his stare, first his left eye and then his right. “What are the chances.”He took a deep breath. “I don’t deny that—or any of this. But I can’t stop thinking about then, the way you just disappeared, changed your number, and gave me no way to ever reach out to you again. Why?” He added, “I didn’t deserve that.”“No”—I shook my head—“you didn’t.”“Make me understand.”When I filled my lungs, I held the air inside.“And another
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“But to change your number? That, I don’t get.”I sighed. That day, like so many others, had hurt.“Faceframe gave me a company phone and there was no reason to maintain two lines, so I got rid of my personal one. Before I did that, every morning I would wake up and look to see if there was a text from you. I was battling the loss of my mom, and I couldn’t even distinguish grief from happiness anymore. I was just moving, keeping busy, burying myself as deep as I could so I didn’t have to think about that permanent hole in my chest.” I stopped to breathe. “I could have reached out, of course, but again, I didn’t trust myself.I didn’t trust what I’d say to you, what I’d promise you, what I’d ultimately do if you asked me for more. I wasn’t in the right headspace. So I thought if I disconnected, if I made it impossible for us to communicate, I would be able to move on.”“Did you?”I shook my head. “Not even close.”Silence ticked between us, but his stare was as strong as ever.It didn’
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“We don’t have to figure out anything right now.”She nodded gently.“I just need to know one thing.” I wasn’t going to reach for her hand; I didn’t want my touch to influence her decision. “I need to know if you have any feelings for me. If this is something—if I’m something—you want. I’m not saying we have to move straight into a relationship or dive head in. I’m not saying this has to instantly turn into something extremely heavy. What I’m saying is”—I felt my voice lower to a growl—“if I lean in to kiss you, would you let me have your lips or would you stop me?”Emotion slid into her eyes.“I’ve waited over five years to touch you again, Drake. First with Love. Now . . . you.” I rested my arms on the table, my sleeves not high enough, so I pushed them to my elbows. “I don’t know how much longer I can wait, because that kiss . . .” My voice drifted off. “It wasn’t nearly enough.”She glanced down, her hands moving into her lap.Her face was hidden, not allowing me to read it.Fuck,
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Instead of flipping on any lights, I found the remote to the fireplace and turned it on. As the flames came to life, their glow flickered across her face, giving off just enough of a gleam that I could see what I was doing.That I could take in that breathtaking face as it looked up at me.There was no reason to hurry this. I’d waited far too long to rush through it now.So I took my time lowering her zipper, giving her just enough space to slip her arms out, freeing her top half as I dragged the material down her torso, continuing past her knees until I could toss the dress onto the floor.All that was left were knee-high boots, black lace panties, and a matching bra.“Drake . . .” I moaned. “I always wondered what you would look like naked”—I shook my head—“but nothing, not a single image I could come up with in my head, compares to what I’m looking at right now.”She said nothing, her teeth just grazing the larger of her two lips, a hunger moving through her eyes.I took the base o
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“Easton!” She squeezed my strands of hair. Pulling, yanking them. She even went as far as twisting them as my finger dipped all the way in, my tongue flicking back and forth across her clit. “Shit!”Her hips bucked.Her fingers locked on my head.From her sounds alone, I knew this wasn’t going to take long.But I wanted to worship her.I wanted to bathe in her scent and soak myself in her wetness.So I slowed down, giving her more friction with my finger, inserting up to my knuckle, and pulling back out. I repeated that pattern over and over. And each time, I swallowed her, reveling in her flavor as it flowed down my throat.“Yes! Fuck!” she shouted.The second my tongue increased in speed, her hips rocked, and she used more strength as she pushed against my face. She was building, closing in. Her clit hardening. Her moans loudening.She was narrowing even more around my finger.“You want to come.”Her eyes were already pleading with me as she gazed down between her legs. “Please.”I
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“You’re . . .” He chuckled as he moved over to me, naked, placing his arms on either side of me to align our faces. “About to get ravished. And I assure you, Drake. I’m very real. I proved that to you years ago and I will again.”I swallowed, attempting to take in a breath. “You’re also perfect.”“You can’t use my words.”“But you are. In every way. And I mean every way.”His eyes narrowed, an intensity moving through them. “Drop your feet to the floor.”I hadn’t realized my knees were bent. That my toes were clinging to the end of the bed, like it was going to hold me up.“You’re blocking my view of you, and after all these years, Drake, I just want to look at you.”As my feet landed on the floor, his words simmered in my chest, his gaze reminding me of how I’d felt back then, in the stairwell, and how those emotions were even stronger now.I nipped his thumb as it passed my front teeth and kissed it to soothe the hurt.The grin grew across his lips, and it was so beautiful it made m
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