Page 37 of Lost on Ice
Her easy praise of Westbrook pisses me off. I’m pretty sure she’s trying to make me jealous, but it’s working. I need to change the topic, quickly, or else I won’t be able to hide how angry I’m getting.
“I didn’t know your uncle was so sick,” I murmur.
Abbie tenses and her expression grows a little sad.
“His health has been declining the past two years,” she replies in a soft voice. “He needs to focus on taking care of himself right now.”
That pang of guilt returns that I felt earlier when Westbrook talked about her uncle. Four years? Fuck, I had no idea.
I wasn’t there for her through any of it.
I’m such an asshole.
“I’m sorry,” I murmur. “Your uncle’s a good man and a good doctor. I hope he’s doing okay now.”
She shrugs. “He’s doing all right. Resting will help him.”
“Good.”
That’s where the conversation appears to die. We stand there in awkward silence for several moments, but I’m not ready to let her go. I want to keep talking to her, want to keep her with me instead of letting her go into the clinic with Westbrook.
“So, uh, how are things going?” I ask.
To my surprise, she rolls her eyes and lets out a frustrated huff.
“What are you doing?” she demands to know. “Why are you trying to talk to me when you’ve made your feelings perfectly clear and ghosted me until now? Just because we slept together last weekend doesn’t change what you did before then, and pretending that everything is perfectly normal between us issomessed up.”
Ah, shit. I did do that, didn’t I? No wonder she seems to hate me now.
“You’re right.” No way in hell am I telling her about Cassandra and her schemes. “I shouldn’t have treated you like that. You didn’t deserve it, and I’m really sorry. And I’m sorry for confusing things further last weekend. That wasn’t my intention… though I can’t say I regret what happened.”
She blinks at me. “Can’t say I expected an apology from you.”
I smile. “I’m a man of surprises.”
“Well, sometimes.” She rolls her eyes, and I realize my response wasn’t great, to say the least. “Less than you think. Anyway, I’m back from lunch and I’ve got work to do. Seeya, Jake.”
She moves to walk around me, but I grab her arm and stop her. She stares up at me with wide eyes and parted lips, stunned.
I gaze down at her, not really sure what came over me to stop her like this, but I can’t resist leaning in and hovering my lips over hers. She doesn’t push away. I press further, deepening the kiss and wrapping one arm around her waist. She inches closer to me.
After a few moments, she lets out a soft moan and melts into me. She parts her lips and I sweep my tongue into her mouth. She grips the front of my shirt, and our bodies press tight together so that I feel every one of her curves against me. The world around us seems to fade away. It’s just the two of us and the heat of our kiss, warming us up and banishing the cold away.
I want more. More of her. More of this. More pleasure and connection and warmth. I want it so badly, it startles me a little.
When I raise my head again, we stare at each other in stunned silence for several long moments. I can’t tell what she’s thinking. Her eyes are wide and her lips are parted, slightly swollen and red from the kiss.
“I…I need to get back to work,” she murmurs, pushing against my chest.
I let her go and she hurries around me to get away and inside, moving like a bat out of hell.
I watch her until she disappears into the building, my hands in my pockets and my heart thundering in my chest.
What the hell am I doing?
Chapter Fourteen
ABBIE
