Page 104 of At the Heart of It
“Probably.”
Kate laughed, not looking too perturbed. “I could have refused, but it seemed like a pretty harmless way to spice things up,” she said. “Then again, it’s tough to feel sexy when you’re sitting on the toilet in the ladies room yanking your boobs out of your bra between meetings.”
“Is this supposed to be turning me on?”
She grinned, but ignored him. “Anyway, this one time I was in a hurry, so I snapped this really quick up-skirt photo while I was sitting at my desk eating lunch.”
“Hot,” he said, not caring that he sounded like Average Joe.
“Not quite. I went to text it to Anton, but instead of hitting the message icon, I hit the icon right above it. The one that says, ‘Tap to Share with AirDrop.’”
“Oh no.”
“Oh yes. And since I was at work, the AirDrop user closest to me was the person in the next office.”
“God.” Jonah shook his head. “Was it your boss?”
“Thankfully, no. It was Amy. She still teases me about it sometimes.”
Jonah laughed and picked up his beer. God, he loved this. Not the dirty story swap, though that was fun, too. He loved sitting here with her like this, laughing together at themselves and each other. Not caring about showing each other their very best sides, but letting their silliness show, too.
This is real intimacy.
He almost said it out loud, but stopped himself. It didn’t seem like the right thing to say. Not now, not with what they’d agreed.
Still, he felt closer to her. Did she feel it, too? He looked in her eyes, and felt sure he had his answer. There was an intensity there that made his chest ache. A longing he knew matched his own.
“Kate—”
“I should let you get home.” She stood up fast, nearly sending her chair toppling. She righted it and began stacking paper plates and bowls into a pile, arranging the plastic utensils in the top bowl. She wasn’t meeting his eyes, so he stepped forward and touched the side of her face.
“Kate,” he said again, softer this time. She lifted her chin, meeting his eyes at last, and the urgency in her gaze made his chest feel tight.
Then his lips were on hers, gentle at first, waiting to see if she’d respond. She did respond, kissing him back with a hunger that sent his pulse racing. She tasted like hops and honey and something unbearably sweet.
He tunneled his fingers into her hair, while his other hand still cupped the side of her face. Deepening the kiss, he knew this went beyond lust. Beyond desire. In thirty-six years, he’d never felt such a deep-seated longing to connect with another human.
He broke the kiss, but didn’t let go of her. Looking deep into her eyes, he knew she felt this, too. “Please,” he whispered. “Let me make love to you again. Just once more.”
Something flickered in her eyes. Desire, yes, but something else. If she said no, he’d accept it. He’d walk away and never ask again. But holy mother of hell it was going to hurt.
The silence stretched out so long he began to count his own heartbeat. Or was that hers? They were pressed against each other, chest to chest, heart to heart.
“We shouldn’t,” she whispered.
“I know.” He tried to step back, but something held him there. Maybe it was Kate’s palms pressing against his shoulder blades, but it felt more than physical. “It’s okay.” He meant it as a reassurance that he was fine walking away. That he could step back and exit the room with his pants zipped, his job safe, his heart intact.
But the longing in Kate’s eyes was unmistakable. She didn’t let go. She took a shaky breath that made everything ache in the center of Jonah’s chest.
“No, I need this,” she whispered, and kissed him again.
Chapter 17
“This feels weird on so many levels,” Kate muttered to Amy in the elevator the next morning.
Amy gave her a sympathetic smile. “You mean attending a TV network meeting in the same building where you shagged the show’s star the night before?”
Kate grimaced as she watched the buttons on the elevator counting down to the awkward meeting. Five, four, three . . .
