Page 43 of Four Dates and A Forever
Elsie knew how badly Rhett wanted a family. They’d spent part of their weekend together talking about family and kids and how he couldn’t wait. He didn’t just want a family; he was the caliber of man who was born to be a father.
“I am so sorry,” she said.
“Me too.” He met her gaze, his filled with so many emotions it broke her heart. It reminded her of the moment she’d discovered Axel’s infidelity. It was this feeling like no matter how hard she tried or how different things could have been, there was something lacking in her that was the contributing factor.
So instead of simply saying she was sorry, she did what she’d wished someone had done to her. She walked into him and wrapped her arms around his middle, then rested her cheek against his chest. “I know that nothing I can say will make it hurt any less, but none of this is about you. This is about her choices, not yours.”
She felt his arms slide around her and he pulled her into him, holding so tightly to her it was as if they were one person sharing the same devastating blow. “You’re a great man who will made a great dad someday.”
“How do you know?’ he asked, his voice rough, like tossed gravel.
She looked up at him. “Because I know you. I might not know everything about who you are now, but in here,” she tapped his heart, “you’re that same guy I met at a party and spent a life-changing weekend with. And that guy, he’s the one who will find his person to make a family with.”
“You’re… ” he trailed off, and the way he looked into her eyes made her belly quiver.
“I’m what?” she whispered, desperately wanting to know what he saw in her.
“So goddamned beautiful.” His hands slid up her back to tangle in her hair and she went still as a stone. The air around them became charged, as if someone threw a match on a barrel of gasoline, taking them from caring friends to forbidden lovers in a millisecond.
His gaze dropped to her lips, which parted on an inaudible breath. His fingers moved in small circles at the base of her neck and she shivered.
She was in trouble. Serious trouble.
She was about to kiss Rhett and she could see it in his eyes that he wasn’t going to stop her.
She ran her hand up his chest to the back of his neck, sliding her fingers through his hair, her nails scratching as she went. He groaned and his eyes blazed cobalt blue as she tugged his head down. She waited for him to pull back but he leaned in, stopping midway. He was handing over the power. The next move was hers.
And move she did, closing the distance and losing herself in his mouth. Even the simple contact sparked a rekindling. His taste, his touch, the way his fingers tightened in her hair, it was subatomic.
Nostalgia had never tasted so good.
No. Nostalgia wasn’t the right word because that implied something from the past. Everything she was feeling was in the here and now.
“Red,” he whispered against her lips before going in for a deeper taste. She moved with him, into him, so close she was shrink-wrapped around him. Her arms tightened around his neck, her breasts rubbed his chest, and her lips cradled his.
The way he kissed her, gentle and reverent, turned her inside out. It took eons from one kiss to the next, but it took but a second for his hands to slide down her shoulders, her spine, the lower curve of her back and, god yes, to her ass.
“All night,” he groaned. “The minute I saw you in these leather pants I thought about doing just this.” He gave a gentle squeeze. “Beautiful,” he repeated.
She felt beautiful. Even covered in fake blood and dressed like some kind of action hero, beneath his touch she felt sexy and desired. Two things she’d feared she’d never feel again. The last few years of her marriage hadn’t just robbed her of her self-worth. The light in which she saw herself had been nearly extinguished. And Rhett had unknowingly relit her flame.
He had to feel what this was doing to her. Given the way he was holding her and savoring every kiss, she had an idea where this was leading.
Gripping his tie, she tugged him backward, far into the shadows and away from any prying eyes. He walked with her, backing her up against the wall of the garage, and that’s when things got real.
She didn’t know how he could drive her crazy and, at the same time, make her ache. All she knew was that being around him like this was dangerous. And for once in her life she wanted to taste danger.
She loosened his tie, her fingers moving from one button to the next, and finally the third and—
“Elsie?” a male voice called out, and Claire’s brother came around the corner. Elsie jumped back and smoothed a hand through her hair. It didn’t help. “There you are. I have your champagne.”
Rhett looked at the flute, between the two of them, then back to Elsie. “Are you on a date?”
She said, “No,” at the same time Jake said, “Yes.”
“We’re on a date?” Elsie asked her apparent date.
“Your grandma and my sister set us up. We were both a party of one so they decided we’d have fun being each other’s plus one. Did they not tell you?” Jake asked, clearly confused.
