Page 18 of Midnight Wishes

‘Idon’twant to—’

Sarah broke off abruptly as Alex stepped all the way into her space, crowding her into the wall. ‘So you weren’t ogling my chest, arms, legs, and back before breakfast yesterday?’ He’d felt her stare remain on him when he got up to refill her coffee.

‘If anything, I was wondering what tattooist let you walk out their studio looking like a five-year-old with a Sharpie just discovered a book of Norse runes.’ Sarah’s voice had a sharp bite to it.

Another lie. His artist’s work was immaculate, taking the harsh lines and turning them into romantic brush strokes reminiscent of a Master’s painting. But whether she’d intended it or not, her lie held a revelation: shehadbeen looking. Intently. Even bare-chested, the narrow line of runes running down the side of his ribs and stomach—and disappearing underthe waistband of his shorts—wouldn’t have been obvious, half hidden by his arm.

‘You can keep telling yourself there’s nothing here,’ Alex said, ‘or you can give in to it. I know which would be more fun.’

Her chest was heaving as she looked up at him, lips parted and pupils wide, and if she moved her head another inch towards his, he was going to kiss her.

She did move first, but faster than he’d expected. He didn’t get a chance to kiss her, becauseshewas kissinghim, red wine and sandalwood filling his senses. A second into it, his body caught up, pulling her against him.

Soft.It was the overwhelming thought in his brain while his hands roamed over her. She was soft and warm and made the prettiest little whimper when he scraped his teeth over her bottom lip.

She’d been wearing dark plum lipstick that first night. It had looked stunning, and he’d been imagining it smeared on other parts of his body ever since, but the taste had distracted him from something uniquelyherthat was making this kiss a particularly heady experience. The waxy texture had also covered up the bare silk of her lips, which suddenly felt like a crime.

He’d never cared much about the amount of makeup a woman wore. In fact, he was used to it being heavier rather than lighter, and he’d never minded it. But something about Sarah practically bare-faced—just mascara and a bit of colour on her cheeks—really worked for him. She looked hot as hell all made up, but there was a gentleness to her like this, with the soft fullness of her romantic features pulling focus.

Maybe it was just that she looked closer to his fantasy of waking up next to her.

Their gazes locked as she broke away from the kiss. A second later, she broke the eye contact too.

‘We can’t.’ Her voice was quiet.

‘Wecan.’

‘I have to—’ Then she shoved past him, using both hands to push open the door to the bathroom.

Alex stared after her for a few seconds, before going to order the drinks he’d promised to their table and making his excuses.

By the time he cast one final look around the pub on his way out, she still hadn’t returned.

Chapter 10

SARAH

Good Looking | Suki Waterhouse

Memories of Alex’shands all over her had been plaguing Sarah for two days. When she tried to paint, when she was cooking dinner, at night in her bed…

Try as she might to fight her attraction to him, she’d missed it. The way he kissed with his whole body. It wasn’t just fingers pressed intentionally to all the places that drove her crazy. It was his thigh pressing between her legs. His shoulders drawing up to pull her closer, letting their bodies undulate together with each movement. His lips igniting an inferno that spread through her body, meeting the small blazes starting up at every point their skin touched. Feeling crushed by the hard weight of him.

Now she had to see him again, unchaperoned, and hope she could trust herself to ignore their physical chemistry by focusing on the fact that she disliked him on a deeply personal level.

She had about convinced herself she could do it when he came around the corner, one hand in his pocket, looking like the spokesman for a prestige menswear brand. Suits weren’tsupposed to do it for her. Slightly ratty jumpers and jeans just this side of too tight and shoes that would look more at home on a skateboard than a polished floor—those were her kryptonite on men.

But his shoulders were testing the structural integrity of that jacket, and frankly she had never trusted anything the way his thighs must trust those trousers, and now she knew exactly what was underneath that shirt, and all of it was proving too much to deal with.

‘Am I late? Is that why you look pissed?’ Alex raised his wrist, his watch lighting up to reveal a surprisingly classic design. She might have expected a surplus of information, with graphs tracking his fitness levels, a list of upcoming meetings, a compass. Maybe even the lunar cycle. Instead, with the simple face and sleek leather band, it could easily be mistaken for an analogue piece.

He was cutting it fine, like he had for the invites, but he wasn’t late. And she didn’t have an answer for why she looked pissed outside ofactually, yes, you do turn me on rather a lot, and I’ve never been this angry about being horny. So she opened the door wordlessly and walked in. The first thing she noticed was the sheer assault on her olfactory receptors. Florals hit her from every angle, but after a moment, a familiar woody citrus scent cut through it all, reminding her that she did, in fact, like having a sense of smell.

Warmth flooded her back, ruining it as Alex’s proximity reminded her why that smell was familiar.

Then he was stepping around her and introducing himself to the florist, who visibly preened under his attention. She waspretty, with her pink cupid’s bow set below a cute button nose and eyes only a shade or two less blue than Alex’s. Her hair fell to her waist in glossy, dark blonde waves, pinned back on one side with a shimmering bow. And her perfect hourglass figure was draped in a gauzy dress embroidered with roses.

Florals? On a florist? Groundbreaking.

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