I Love How You Love Me (The Sullivans #13)(16)

And yet, even though she shouldn’t feel as if she knew Dylan well enough, everything she’d been through over the past year and a half suddenly wanted to come spilling out.

“Does Mason usually sack out at eight o’clock?” When she nodded, he said, “Then how about I pick you up at five so we’ll have a good couple of hours at the aquarium before he gets too sleepy to enjoy himself?”

“Didn’t you hear what I just said? I can’t date you.”

“It won’t be a date. Just three new friends hanging out.”

She knew she should say no, but now that she’d been perfectly clear with Dylan that they weren’t going to start anything romantic, was there really any harm in spending a couple of hours together at an aquarium? Especially when she knew how much fun Mason would have with the sea creatures and Dylan.

Of course, even as she rationalized, the wanting was humming away inside of her, calling her a liar. Just admit you want to be with him, that you want his mouth, his hands, on you. That you’ve been wondering all night what it would be like to kiss him.

“Doesn’t the aquarium close at five?”

His grin told her how pleased he was that he was on the verge of getting what he wanted, even if she hadn’t quite said yes yet. “I’ll trade my buddy a sail to keep it open a couple of hours longer for us.”

With that, he took both of their cups over to the sink and rinsed them out, a man who had clearly been raised not to expect anyone to wait on him. She stood, too, hoping it wasn’t going to be awkward when they said good night.

“Thanks for a really great interview and for introducing me to your family. I really did have a good time tonight.”

“I did, too, friend,” he said as he headed out her door. “See you tomorrow night.”

Another man might have pressured her into being more, but Dylan had made her laugh instead with his use of friend.

“You were a handful as a kid,” she said, “weren’t you?”

At the bottom of the steps, he laughed, too. “Why do you think my parents were always so happy to see me sailing away?”

Closing the door behind her, Grace knew she had no right to feel disappointed that he’d left without even trying to sneak a kiss. He was simply doing what she’d asked him to do: treating her like a friend instead of a potential girlfriend. But she had barely slid the bolt closed when she heard footsteps and then a knock.

“You’re back.” She looked up into his eyes, an even deeper, darker brown than usual, as all the butterflies came right back.

He held out her bag with her notebook and recorder. “You forgot this in my car.”

“Oh.” Her voice was flat, heavy with disappointment she couldn’t figure out how to hold back. “Thanks. I would have been in trouble without this tomorrow.”

“It doesn’t feel right to me, either,” he said softly.

Doesn’t feel right? “You don’t want to work with me on this story?”

“No, the story is fine. Leaving like this, like you don’t mean anything more to me than just some journalist, that’s what feels wrong.” He reached for her hand with his free one, just that one simple touch sending heat searing through her. “I was trying so hard tonight to play it cool, to not scare you away by coming on too strong. But all I’ve ended up feeling like is a liar. And I can’t stomach the thought of lying to you, Grace.” He stroked a thumb across her palm, making her shiver despite the heat swamping her system. “So here’s the truth—I’ve wanted to kiss you from the first moment I set eyes on you, and every moment we’re together, I only want it more. But, damn it, I won’t do anything to hurt you when I know someone else already has. So if you don’t want to me to kiss you, and if I’ve somehow read everything wrong since Tuesday when I could have sworn we already had a connection, tell me now…and I’ll make myself go without learning if your mouth tastes as good as it looks.”

His touch, his good looks, even her intense attraction to him hadn’t been enough to send her over the edge. But when he told her he wouldn’t steal a kiss that might hurt her—that was when her defenses fell all the way. Especially when she was still flying from the beautiful wedding at his parents’ house.

He was making this her choice. Not one that came from guilt. Or because she felt like she owed him a kiss after the evening they’d just shared. But simply because she wanted to know his taste, too.

One kiss with Dylan didn’t have to mean forever. It didn’t even have to be a promise of more. And maybe if they kissed now, it would keep them from blowing it out of proportion during the rest of their interview.

So instead of grabbing her bag, she grabbed him.

Sliding her hands into his dark hair, she pulled his mouth down to hers and poured all of her pent-up hunger, and need, and wonder at the beauty of the wedding she’d been a part of tonight into the kiss. For a few precious moments, she let herself give in to the madness, to the fiercest, sweetest desire she’d ever known as she nipped at his lower lip with her teeth, then met his tongue with the wet slick of her own. He moved close enough that she could feel the heat and the strength of him all along the front of her body. She drank in his groan, breathed in his clean masculine scent, gloried in his hard muscles pressed against the length of her.