Page 97 of Return to Me Always

His eyebrows shot up. "Are you serious?"

"Well, maybe my mom. But nobody else."

He shook his head, his lips compressed into a tight line. "Not your ex?"

"No."

He raised one brow. "Well, I'm sorry to say this. But he's a daftie."

I laughed because I could pretty much guess the meaning of that word and it rang true. "Yeah. He is, uh, I mean, was, er, is." This conversation scrambled my head, making coherent words impossible.

"Definitely. Because you are the most beautiful woman in the world."

My heart fluttered against my ribcage, and I had no idea what to say. How long had I been dreaming of meeting this man? And now, he was here saying things to me that I had dared not even imagine.

"And I'm not just talking about the outside, love, which—well, I can't even tell you how many times I've had to stop myself from staring at you."

"You have?" I thought I had been the only one staring.

"You didn't notice?" His eyes lit up as he held in his laughter.

"No! I had no clue."

"Well, I guess I'm more sly than I thought," he teased. But those sexy eyes turned serious again. "But what I'm trying to say—what I mean to say is that you're not just beautiful on the outside."

Holy smokes! Tyler talking like this was almost more than I could take.

"Not just beautiful here or here." He held up a lock of my hair with one hand while caressing my cheek with the other. His palm then landed at the top of my chest, and I gasped for breath. "But here."

I knew he meant my heart, but his hand so close to my breasts was just too much, and liquid fire shot through my chest, pulsing all through my veins, making every inch of my body feel alive. Alive with passion.

He must have felt the same heat because I saw him swallow hard, his eyes taking on that sultry, hooded look that I'd noticed in the restaurant. As we stared at each other, a shiver racked my body, and Tyler's eyebrows came together.

"Sorry. I kind of forgot that we're drenched," he said.

"It's okay. Me too."

Those lips that I loved so much came down on mine, and his hard body pressed into me, instantly replacing the shivers of cold with heat, a heat that consumed every part of me.

I fought to breathe because this time there was no holding back between us, and I could sense it in Tyler, sense thatthis was it. There was no turning back now, nothing to stop us from expressing this amazing love for each other.

His kiss grew more demanding. I gasped as he bit at my lower lip and sucked it into his mouth, shooting a spark down my body to my center.

"I want you so fucking much," he whispered between kisses.

My shivers turned into a tremble, something that I was getting used to with Tyler. But this time, it wasn't shaking in dread or fear. It was in excitement and anticipation.

Feeling bold, I traced his lips with my tongue, and his whole body shuddered. Oh, God, something about that made me even hotter—something about causing that kind of reaction in this powerful, giant of a man before me, who I thought didn't even like me for so long.

I had to feel him, feel him now. I'd admired that body for so long under layers of clothes and a heavy backpack, and I was dying to see him, to touch him. As our lips moved together, I reached for his shirt and snuck my hands up the bottom edge. His stomach muscles jumped at the contact as my cool fingers touched his hot skin.

Damn.He felt incredible. I trailed my fingers along his waist, moving even lower until Tyler let out a hiss.

"We need to move," he said in a strained voice.

My heart leapt at the hunger in his eyes. But more than anything, I wanted to see him. "Hold on," I said.

His brows creased. "What?"

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