The Rules of Dating(47)

He thought a moment. “I probably shouldn’t. I don’t want to push my luck and break one of the rules of undating. Plus, the sitter has work in the morning, so I shouldn’t keep her too much longer.”

I tried to hide my disappointment. “Oh…yeah, of course. I’m sorry. I wasn’t even thinking.”

He took my hand again. “I had a really good time tonight.”

I smiled. “I did, too.”

“You know how when we do certain things it just feels wrong or unnatural? Like turning around after you throw a bowling ball down the alley and not watching to see what happens?”

I chuckled. “Yeah?”

Colby looked down at his feet. “That’s what leaving without kissing you feels like.”

My insides felt all warm and mushy.

“I think I’m going to skip the traditional end-of-undate ritual. No sniffing for me. I don’t trust myself to get that close right now.”

I smiled sadly. “Alright.”

Colby pushed the button for the elevator. It must’ve been waiting because the doors slid open immediately. I had to force myself to step inside the car and leave him. Colby was one-hundred-percent right. It felt wrong to walk away like this. Once I was in the elevator, I put my hand on the doorframe to stop them from closing.

“Thank you for sticking up for me with my mother tonight. It means a lot to me.”

He smiled. “You mean a lot to me.”

I let go of the door and stepped back. “Goodnight, Colby.”

“Goodnight, beautiful.”

The second the doors began to slide closed, panic washed over me. My heart raced, my palms began to sweat, and it felt like I was having a panic attack. It was so bad that I stuck my hand out between the doors at the very last second, and the old elevator crushed it before begrudgingly bouncing open again.

“Shit!” I screamed.

Colby ran back. “What happened? Are you okay?”

“Nothing…” I shook out my wrist. “I stuck my hand between the doors to stop it from closing, but it’s fine. It scared me more than it hurt.”

He took my hand and examined it. It wasn’t even red. “Are you sure?”

I nodded. “Yeah, I’m positive.”

“Open your fingers and close them.”

I did as he said without any pain. “They’re fine.”

“Why did you stick your hand in the doors anyway?”

“I, uh, I just felt like I needed to get off.”

Colby’s eyes looked back and forth between mine, and then a cocky smile spread across his face. “It feels weird for you to walk away without kissing me, too, doesn’t it?”

“No,” I said a little too fast.

“Admit it. You want to kiss me.”

“No, I don’t.”

His smile widened. “Liar.” Colby cupped my face and guided me to take a few steps back, until I hit the elevator doors. He leaned down so our heads were aligned and our noses were practically touching.

“We’re going to be standing here a long time if you’re waiting for me to initiate it. I’m not breaking the rules.”

My heart beat even faster with him so close. Did he have to smell so damn good, too? Who still smells so delicious after six hours out in New York City? I had the strongest urge to press myself against him, feel his warm, hard body up against my soft.

Colby ran his nose along my throat, his hot breath leaving a trail of goose bumps in its wake. My resolve was quickly crumbling. How could it not with my body zapping like I’d touched a live wire? He moved his mouth to my ear, and his voice was gruff and needy. “You know you want me as much as I want you.”

He was right. The ache for him was unbearable. When he pulled his head back and I saw the desire swimming in his eyes, I was done for.

So, so done. “Fuck it,” I said as I launched myself at him. I wrapped my arms around his neck and jumped into his arms, pressing my lips to his. Our mouths opened, and our tongues collided. I might’ve started the kiss, but there was no mistaking that Colby took it over. His hands slid into my hair, grabbing a handful in the back and tugging my head where he wanted it. He pushed up against me, and I could feel his hard-on pressing against my stomach. My eyes rolled into the back of my head. We stayed like that for a long time, grabbing and groping, pulling and pushing. When the kiss finally broke, we were both panting.

“Holy shit.” I shook my head. “That was…” I couldn’t find the right word to describe it.

But Colby did. “Just the beginning, sweetheart. That’s what it was.”





CHAPTER 14


Colby



My phone rang Sunday afternoon, and I smiled to see it was Billie. She was scheduled to meet us here in about an hour for our next undate.

“Colby is unavailable right now,” I said when I answered. “He’s still in recovery from the best damn kiss of his life.”

She laughed. “Yeah, it was pretty darn good, I have to admit.”

Just hearing her voice got me all revved up again. I fell back on my bed and bounced on the mattress, still so turned on from last night. “How the hell am I supposed to adhere to our rules now that I know what kissing you is like?”

“I guess you’ll have to forget.”