Page 126 of Your Place or Mine

When I reached the bar, I didn’t sit.

I just stood there, waiting.

He didn’t move.

But his voice was low and rough when it came. “Wasn’t sure if I’d see you again today.”

“Did you want to?”

His jaw clenched.

And that was answer enough.

I leaned on the bar, pulse racing, heart aching. “You left.”

“Yeah,” he said, not bothering with an excuse.

“I didn’t expect you to stay.”

“But you wanted me to.”

He wasn’t asking.

I didn’t lie. “Yeah.”

The silence that followed crackled.

Tense.

Frightening.

Hot.

“I shouldn’t have come,” I said, even as my body leaned forward.

“You keep saying that,” he murmured, “but here you are.”

His eyes met mine, green and unreadable.

And then his hand reached across the bar, fingers grazing mine.

Just that.

Just touch.

And my whole body reacted like he’d set a match to it.

“Lydia…” he warned.

I knew that tone. He was already unraveling.

So was I.

“I don’t want to fight it anymore,” I whispered. “Do you?”

His answer wasn’t words.

It was movement.