Page 21 of One Hundred Lights
Oh god. What am I doing? But I know. I know exactly what I’m doing right now.
I know what I want.
“Your house?” His eyes grow wide. Wider.
“Yes.” I bite my lip and grin at him, head tilted. Am I being charming and seductive? That’s the goal. “Get in your car and follow me home, then help me unload the lights. Into my house.”
My house, where we’ll be alone. My house, that has my bed in it.
He blinks, examining my face, trying to figure out if this is something more than it seems to be.
As usual, I realize this is the wrong way to do things. There will be no going back after spending the night with Adrian, but I’ll worry about that tomorrow. For now, there’s some kind of magic happening between us. Sparks and spells and a huge freaking bonfire.
I can’t let this chance slip by.
Now I know my separation from Adrian and Reese didn’t work. Without them—withouthim—my feelings only grew, like invasive weeds in an untended garden.
Or maybe it’s more beautiful than simple weeds.
Maybe it’s more like beautiful wildflowers.
I direct him to my car with the five giant bins, which don’t fit in my mid-sized trunk, so he sticks them in the back of his SUV.
Do I have to take the bins home? Probably not. I made up the part about the school being really strict about leaving stuff in the gym.
Could they have sat there until something else was arranged?
Yup, they sure could’ve.
But this way, I have an excuse to take Adrian home, along with the bins. I’m sick of waiting. I’m sick of feeling bad about myself.
One night together.
That’s all this will be. That’s all we can have.
I pressthe garage door opener, but as usual, the battery is cranky so it doesn’t work. Adrian jumps out of his car and strides up, tapping my code into the keypad. This man knows my garage code, for fuck’s sake. I slip out of the car.
“You should really change that once in a while.” He grins.
I shrug, my face flushing. He’s always been able to come and go. And I really like that idea.
Adrian unloads the bins into my one-car garage, then wordlessly follows me through the door to the main part of my house. By the time I stop in the middle of the kitchen, my chest is thumping and I’m questioning whether he wants to be here or if he’ll even want to kiss me again.
But I no longer wonder if I’m doing the right thing. I know the answer to that.
“Want a drink?” I fiddle with the zipper on my coat. A soft light spills in from the lit Christmas tree in my family room, and holiday music from one of my smart devices echos softly throughout the house.
He nods and slips off his own jacket while I pull a bottle of red wine from the small wine rack on my kitchen counter. As I open the bottle, he grabs stemmed glasses from the correct cabinet on the first try.
In silence, I pour the wine, and we both drink, our eyes locked. I gnaw on my bottom lip and slip my jacket off, hanging it on the counter stool, aware of all my bare skin.
Adrian’s eyes roam over my body. Am I brave enough to do this? To seduce Adrian?
“You look beautiful tonight.” He repeats his earlier compliment, a slight wobble in his voice.
I swallow and slide my glass onto the counter, stepping toward him until I’m a foot away. His pupils expand when I take the glass out of his hands and push it onto the counter.
It’s now or never.
