Barely Breathing(14)

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 f*ck 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.”