The corners of his lips turned up slightly. “I’m not coming in, Viv.”
I visibly deflated with disappointment, my shoulders dropping. Kane brought his free hand up to my cheek, brushing his thumb across my cheekbone . . . down to my jaw line . . . over my lips.
Closing my eyes, I reveled in his gentle touch. For this burly, often gruff man to be caressing me this way made me hot in a way I’d never been. I ran my hands up his chest, the carved lines of muscle turning my breath into shallow pants.
He cupped my cheek in his hand and brought his mouth back to mine. I moaned again and pressed myself against him, letting my tongue tangle with his in a dance that had my pulse pounding.
When his hand slid from my waist down to cup my backside, I gasped into his mouth and pressed my fingers into his neck, needing to pull him closer. His lips lift mine but stayed close.
“Did you enjoy tonight?” he asked, his breath warm on my lips.
I let out a single note of incredulous laughter. Was he really unsure?
“Yes. Very much,” I finally said.
“Me too. Are you free next Friday night?”
“Yes.”
“Good. I’ll call you.” He brushed his thumb over my lips one more time before stepping back.
I held myself in check, not letting out the groan of the frustration I was feeling. Before our date, I’d been interested in Kane. Intrigued. I was long past that now. His dark, calculating gaze and silent detachment held me captive.
I’d never been out with a man like him. In fact, I always went for his opposite–friendly, warm and eager.
Kane didn’t wear his warmth on his sleeve. He kept it buried deep inside. And that made seeing it all the more special. That soft brush of his thumb over my lips and his gentle, exploratory kiss had made my panties wetter than any other man ever had by groping me.
I unlocked my door and pushed it open, glancing over my shoulder in hopes he’d change his mind about coming in.
“Night, Viv,” he said. His expression was tender and commanding at the same time, telling me to go inside and not tempt him further.
I glanced at his crotch, unable to help myself. The large bulge resting against his thigh told me he wanted more as much as I did. I tried not to smile, but the urge won out.
He saw, and a smile crept onto his lips, too.
“Goodnight,” I said, leaning against the doorframe.
He held my gaze for one more delicious second and then turned to go. I watched him, my grin getting bigger as he hustled down the steps and into the waiting car. Len clapped him on the shoulder as he slid in and closed the door.
I pushed my door shut and locked the deadbolt, leaning against it and sighing happily. Next Friday night couldn’t come soon enough.
I SCANNED THE EMAILS IN my inbox and sighed. Monday was hitting hard already. I’d answered some emails from home over the weekend, but I still had eleven that I needed my work files to answer.
After a fortifying sip of my latte, I got started. It took a conscious effort to stop my mind from wandering to the Friday night kiss. I’d been smiling over it all weekend–even when I was cleaning and working out.
“Look at you,” Cara said, walking into my office and sitting down in a chair in front of the desk. “Smiling on a Monday morning? It has to be because the date went well.”
“It did.” I met her eyes across my desk and smiled wider.
“You told me almost nothing in your texts. So start at the beginning and tell me everything.”
“I would, but I have lots of emails to get out before I go to court.”
Cara arched a brow, amused. “You want me to leave?”
“Can we go to lunch later and I’ll tell you then?”
She stood and shrugged. “Alright.”
As soon as she closed the door to my office, I went back to the emails. One of my clients had sent me a lengthy message about his ex-wife being ten minutes late to drop off their children Saturday morning. I shook my head as I responded, wondering how he was going to feel about getting billed for this.
Part of me wished Kane had texted over the weekend, but he didn’t strike me as a cutesy message sender. I grinned as I imagined a text from him. It would say something like how the fuck are you?
He wasn’t one of those guys who busted ass in the gym to look like a badass; he actually was one. I’d known that the moment I saw him take Eric on in the alley. Kane’s fearlessness was one of the things I liked best about him.
I forced my attention away from thoughts of his dark, intense gaze and back to my emails. By nine-thirty, they were all caught up and I was on my way to court in a cab. I only had one quick hearing, but I had to wait almost an hour for it.
The courthouse was full of suited attorneys looking fresh and ready to take the week on. I felt it, too. Hunger was essential to success for new attorneys in New York. Even the established ones at my firm earned their money with long hours.
Usually I was all about work on Monday mornings. But today my thoughts kept drifting to my intimate dinner with Kane. We could’ve eaten at a crowded McDonald’s and it would’ve felt intimate if he’d looked at me like he did Friday night. He listened when I talked, silently taking me in with that dark chocolate gaze.
By the time we sat down at a downtown deli for lunch, I was dying to talk to Cara about the date.
“Were you lying when you said you didn’t sleep with him?” she asked. “You know I won’t think less of you if you did.”
I lowered my brows at her and finished a bite of my club sandwich. “I wouldn’t lie about it. He kissed me at my door and left.”
“Huh.”
“What? Why do you look so surprised? It’s not like I’m a whore or something, Cara.”
She gave me an apologetic look. “Oh, no. I didn’t mean . . . I’m not surprised because of that.”
“Then what?”
She shrugged. “He just seems like that kind of guy.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“He seems like a guy who’s looking to get laid after he takes a woman out for dinner.”
I glared at her, offended on Kane’s behalf. “And you base that on what, exactly? You only met him for a few seconds.”
“I base it on my inner radar, which is pretty damn accurate. When you meet a guy at a club and he looks like that, he’s usually not looking for anything serious.”
Cara was sometimes too opinionated. I reminded myself of that, but still, irritation made me continue the conversation.
“Looks like what? And he’s one of the club owners, by the way.”
“Oh.”
“Not that it matters. I would’ve wanted to go out with him even if he was a bouncer.”
“He just looks . . . rough.” Cara shrugged again. “With the tats and that scowl. You should try to get him in bed, ‘cause I bet he’s amazing.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” I said wryly.
Cara set her sandwich down and gave me a serious look. “Viv, I just don’t want you to get hurt. You’re looking for a husband, and this guy doesn’t seem like your type.”
“I am not looking for a husband. I’m looking for a relationship.”
“Which will lead to marriage.”
“Okay, eventually, yes. But in all the time I’ve been here, I’ve gone on lots of dates and I’ve never felt this way.”
“You felt this way before that asshole Eric cornered you in the alley.”
I shook my head. “I thought Eric seemed promising. He checked all my boxes. But Kane . . . he checks none of them. I feel something different with him. It’s like I’m drawn to him for reasons I don’t fully understand yet. I know he’s strong and honest and that means so much more than any of the stuff I thought I wanted in a man.”
“After one date?”
“And one alley rescue.”
Cara furrowed her brow. “Do you think you’ve put him on a pedestal because of that?”
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “Maybe. I just know that I’ve been looking forward to seeing him again since a few seconds after he left Friday night. It feels really good.”