Page 10 of His Alone

My eyes were closed, but I opened them and slowly turned my head, frowning when I saw the map on his phone.

“Your address, darling,” he said with a small, sympathetic smile.

There weren’t words to describe how terrible it felt to have him embarrassed on my behalf. At the rate I was going, I was wondering if maybe I should have tried to go home with him. Would he even want a second date after this?

“Oh. I’m… I left my car at Emily’s. I need to get it.”

He nodded and slid his phone into the center console. He must have already known where she lived because we were on the road in record time.

Ten minutes of silence later, he pulled up to the curb outside Emily’s house. I immediately started to unbuckle my seatbelt to flee to the safety of my own vehicle for a private freak-out, but James reached out and grasped my arm gently, stopping me.

“I wouldn’t have asked. I’m the one who said this wasn’t really a date.”

“I know that, but some men—”

“Are assholes. I’m not. Well, at least not in that regard.” James chuckled a little before letting out a deep sigh. “Piper, I’m not the type to push. Especially since I know you’re… inexperienced. We’ll take it one step at a time.”

“We will?”

He smiled. “We will. And if you’re okay with it, I’d like to walk you to your car.”

“O-Okay?” I replied nervously, not quite catching his drift.

What he meant didn’t dawn on me until we were standing at the door of my car and he loomed over me with a small smile. I smiled back a little awkwardly before turning and reaching for the door handle.

He laid a hand on my shoulder and spun me back around. Once I was facing him again, he started leaning in. His eyes were wide open and searching mine when it finally clicked.

Walk me to my car. To my car door.

He wanted to kiss me.

Oh. OH.

Whatever he saw on my face made him chuckle and cup my cheek. His palm was warm, but not as warm as his breath was when he leaned in even closer.

“Your call,” he whispered, his lips just barely ghosting over mine.

His eyes were open just enough for him to watch me and I felt him sigh when I closed mine in anticipation. His lips pressed against mine and every other thought that was popping around in my head disappeared.

The kiss was slow and exploratory. He might have only been doing it that way for my benefit, but I didn’t care. I was grateful. It gave me a chance to feel my way around the new experience. When I started to sway on my feet, his arms wrapped around my back and held me against his body. The warmth from him alone was enough to make me moan.

The brief but unmistakable press of something solid against my navel made my eyes fly open. James broke the kiss with a shaky breath and I was glad to know he was just as affected as I was. Of course, I did feel the physical evidence of that firsthand. I wasn’t so dense that I didn’t recognize what that was.

There was a long moment where I felt like something needed to be said, yet no words came to mind. Just… silence. James took my hand in his and raised it to his lips, meeting my eyes as he pressed a kiss to the skin.

At that moment, I realized there really wasn’t anything either of us could say. Nothing except—

“Good night, Piper.”

“Good night.”

After a brief hesitation, he released my hand and stepped back, not turning away until he was down the driveway and close to his car. He smiled the whole time and I smiled back, giving him a small wave before he got in his car and drove away.

In a daze, I unlocked my car and got in. Still stunned from the kiss, I leaned back against the headrest and sighed, smiling to myself. Before I could even think about starting the car and driving home, my phone started to ring from my purse. I dug it out and rolled my eyes when I saw Emily’s name on the screen. With a swipe of my thumb, I answered the call and her loud voice seemed to echo in my quiet car.

“Don’t you dare think about leaving after what I just saw! You get your ass in this house right now so we can talk!”

Looking up with a frown, I saw the blinds of Emily’s bedroom shuffling around. A second later, her hand slipped through the cracks and she waved.

“Were you watching the whole time?”

“Of course! You’re in my driveway, you know. If you want privacy, get your own property to loiter on and kiss people. So, are you coming in or what?”

I had two choices. I could go home and avoid my roommate by hiding in my room for the rest of the night and replaying the entire evening in my head by myself, or I could go inside and talk to a good friend about how the night went and get her advice.

It was a no-brainer.

“I’m coming in.”

I ended the call in the middle of her happy squeal, laughing as I rushed to meet her at the door. Moving to Uniontown was turning out to be the best decision I ever made.

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