Total pages in book: 24
Estimated words: 22634 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 113(@200wpm)___ 91(@250wpm)___ 75(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 22634 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 113(@200wpm)___ 91(@250wpm)___ 75(@300wpm)
“Even better than I’d imagined,” he mumbles against my lips. “And I fucking imagined it millions of times in the past week.”
I nod, incapable of speech.
He grins, then opens my door. “Let’s get you home, Gorgeous Girl.”
The whole drive back, my hand is in his, resting on the console. We don’t talk. We just drive, the silence saying all the things we’re not ready to admit out loud.
He walks me to my door and just steps closer, and suddenly, my back is against my front door as his arms cage me in. His eyes are even bluer in the dim hallway light. “I need to kiss you more than I need my next breath.”
I nod, but he’s already there with his mouth covering mine. This is an even hotter kiss than the one in the restaurant parking lot. He devours me. His lips are urgent, teeth catching my bottom lip, tongue sliding inside until I gasp and clutch his shirt in both hands.
He growls and deepens the kiss, one hand tangling in my hair, the other splayed against my lower back. I melt. There is no other word for it. I’m boneless, dissolving against his muscular body.
When he pulls away, I’m panting. My hands are in his hair, and my dress is bunched up around my thighs. He rests his forehead against mine, breathing as hard as I am.
“Jesus, Hazel,” he says, and it’s half a laugh, half a moan. “You undo me.”
I want to say something clever, but all I manage is, “Ditto.”
We stay that way for a minute, staring at each other in silence. I’m scared, but I don’t want to run. I want to know what happens when you let someone in, really in, past the jokes and the defenses.
He straightens, fixes my hair with a gentle hand. “Can I see you tomorrow?”
“I’d like that.”
“I’ll pick you up at noon,” he tells me as I open my front door. He hesitates, then cups my face with both hands and kisses me again, softer this time. “I want to take this slow,” he whispers. “But I want you to know—I’m all in.”
I’m all in, too. I just haven’t found the words for it yet.
He waits until I’m inside, then walks backward down the hall, never taking his eyes off me. When I close the door, I lean against it, heart galloping, and know that I’m completely and utterly lost.
And for once, it feels like maybe, just maybe, I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be.
CHAPTER SIX
PRESTON
I’m up before my alarm, adrenaline already humming through my blood. I lie there for a minute, staring at the ceiling, replaying every second of last night. The way her lips fit against mine, the way her dress bunched up around her thighs, the wild thump of her heart under my hands. I barely got a fucking wink of sleep all night long.
I drag my ass out of bed and throw on a pair of sweats. I have time to run a circuit of Worthington Hills before the sun even brushes the tops of the buildings. I run fast and hard, pounding out the nervous energy that starts every time I think about Hazel.
It doesn’t work. I return to my apartment more wound up than when I woke up.
I stand in the shower until the water runs cold, planning our date. By the time I towel off, I’m basically vibrating with energy. Hazel’s on a loop in my brain: her flushed cheeks, the way her voice cracks when she laughs, the way she clung to me last night and whispered my name like a prayer.
I want to make this day perfect for her. For us.
Once I’m dressed, I move on to planning the picnic lunch. I quickly order a fancy picnic basket from the little boutique in the lobby of my apartment building. They promise to deliver it within an hour, so I grab my keys and head out to do my shopping for our lunch while half the building is still asleep.
The walk to the Worthington Hills Market is only a few blocks, but the whole time, I’m mentally running through the grocery list in my mind.
Inside the store, I scan the aisles like a man on a mission. I grab strawberries, fresh-baked bread, two kinds of cheese, and the fanciest dark chocolate I can find. I want her to laugh, so I grab those gummy Nerds candies she told me she likes. Chicken salad, kettle chips, Pellegrino, lemonade, and a couple of those little single-serve pies, just in case.
I check out in record time and head back to my apartment. I find a large box next to my door and smile. This is all coming together perfectly. After unpacking my grocery sacks, I pull out my phone.
Me
Ready for round two?
It isn’t even five seconds before she texts back.