Page 49 of Hate Mail

“Do you normally run without a shirt on?” I ask, breaking the silence.

My question catches him off guard. He frowns, then breaks into a smile. “Usually, yeah. It’s too hot for a shirt.”

“Oh, that’s why.”

He raises an eyebrow. “What did you think?”

“I thought maybe it was part of your mating dance.” I wiggle my arms and body in a poor imitation of a male bird seducing a female.

He laughs, grabbing onto my arms to stop me from embarrassing myself. “Yeah. You caught me,” he teases. “I’m just out here running around shirtless, hoping some girl will follow me home.”

“Does it work?”

His eyes glance over me, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips. “Well, last week the girl I had my eyes on ran right into me.” His gaze darts back to the front door of our building before returning to me. “Right there in that lobby.”

I shrug, pretending to not know what he’s talking about. “I hope you got her number.”

Before he can respond, Anne’s car pulls up to the curb. I can’t see her through the dark windows, but I know that she’s watching us.

“That’s her.” I turn to say goodbye to him. He’s a lot closer to me than he was a minute ago, making me have to crane my neck just to look him in the eye. As I do, he takes my face in his hands and his lips meet mine. It’s my turn to be caught off guard. This isn’t just a peck on the lips. His mouth lingers on mine, and it feels like a promise is being made. A promise of what, I’m not sure, but I’m willing to accept it. I forget that we’re standing in front of our building and that we have an audience of one watching from the car. He deepens the kiss, parting my lips with a flick of his tongue. His hands fall from my face to my back, pulling my body against his. With our bodies together, our hearts beat at the same rate, and I feel like I’m melting into him. My hands land on his sides. I clutch fistfuls of his shirt without thinking about it. It takes everything in my power not to jump up and wrap my arms and legs around him.

I force myself to pull away because I know that if I don’t, I’ll end up missing my flight. His chest is rising and falling rapidly with each breath he takes. There’s something different about his blue eyes. His icy stare has been replaced with the hot blue of a flame.

“I should go before Anne starts honking and makes a scene.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” he says. His voice is a soft, deep rumble that makes me wish I didn’t have to wait until tomorrow to see him again. I want to give him one last peck on the lips, but I’m afraid that if I do, I won’t make it to the airport. I can feel his eyes on my back as I get into Anne’s car. She’s staring at me, her mouth and eyes wider than I’ve ever seen them.

“You couldn’t have, like, texted me an update on the Husky Eyes situation? What the hell, Gnome?”

She steps on the gas pedal, taking us down the street a little too fast. I pat my seatbelt, making sure it’s tight enough.

“I already told you about the aquarium,” I remind her. “Am I supposed to update you every time he kisses me?”

“You could have told me you started sleeping with him.”

I laugh. “I haven’t.”

She groans. “Seriously? Why are you making the poor guy wait?”

I think about that for a moment. “I’m not making him wait. He just hasn’t tried to take my clothes off yet. He’s kind of a gentleman.” I smile. “I like it.”

“What happened to just having a little fun with him until you move out of the building?”

I shrug. “I’m not so sure that’s all I want now.”

We reach the airport. When we go through the security checkpoint, I feel silly for having been so scared to do this last weekend. I still can’t believe that Luca convinced me I was on the terrorist watchlist.

“Did you bring us any reading material?” Anne asks once we’re sitting on the plane.

“Sorry. I forgot.”

“Seriously?”

“I was going to bring the letters he sent while he was stationed in Georgia, but … I just forgot them.”

“Ugh. You suck.”

“It’s not a long flight. You’ll survive.”

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