Page 32 of Must Love Hockey
And now my cheeks are on fire. “You heard?Already?Just because I mentioned it to Delilah?”
“My friends live for gossip,” he says with a smile, his dark eyes twinkling. “Probably only took five minutes to get to Heidi Jo and then to me.”
“Wow,” I whisper. And still, I don’t even know why I told him, or exactly what I want him to do about it.
“If you didn’t bring it up, I wasn’t going to say anything,” he says in a low voice. “But since you did bring it up…”
I wait for him to finish the sentence. He does, but not in words. He clasps my hand and gives me a gentle tug in his direction. I go easily. Willingly. His first kiss is soft and slow. A graceful snick of his lips, with a thumb swept across my wrist with aching sweetness.
And I am already won over to the James Carozza experience as he tilts his head to kiss me again. I lean in, wanting more, and he makes a soft sound of approval as his mouth teases mine a second time, and then a third.
He’s the second man I’veeverkissed. I’m a little shocked at how different it feels. The scruff on his face is new, as is the broadness of his body as he eases me against his big chest.
Honestly, it’s his hunger that I find the most shocking. I hadn’t realized that hands could be gentle but still needy. His fingertips skate up the back of my jacket with energy and wonder. The tilt of his head is tender but so damn focused. And when he tastes the seam of my mouth with his tongue, I find myself softening immediately for him. I want to taste that hunger on my tongue.
He doesn’t make me wait. He plunders my mouth, and then he lets out a groan that somehow manages to be constrained and urgent at the same time.
The car takes a corner, and the momentum tries to lurch my body away from James. He steadies me instantly. Still, I reach up to hold onto more of him. The solid bulk of his shoulders is another shock. I’m kissing a heated giant of a man in the back of a taxi.
I like it. A lot.
But then he breaks our kiss. “Come home with me,” he whispers.
TEN
MY OVERHEATED LITTLE BRAIN
Emily
Come home with me.
His words hang between us, and for a moment I just stare at him, stunned at the forwardness of this request.
It’s not that I think there’s anything wrong with two adults running off together to tear off each other’s clothes if they feel like it. But I’m not used to being that woman. I haven’t shown my naked body to anyone new in… ever. There was only Charles. And we’d known each other for so long by the time we finally had sex that the event itself was anticlimactic.
Literally.
Seconds tick by while my overheated little brain tries to process this idea. James is waiting for my answer, his brown eyes boring into mine.
“Well…” I say, truly conflicted and more than a little intimidated.
James dips his handsome chin and kisses my neck. Goosebumps immediately break out all over my body. Oh boy. It’s really hard to think when he does that. I grip his shoulders and let out a shivery breath.
He chuckles. “It’s okay, Emily. I’ll take you home.”
“But—” I argue, even though I feel relieved to hear him say that so easily. “If I say no, does that mean you won’t ever ask again?” Because that would be a tragedy.
“No way.” He lifts his head to study me solemnly. “I’ll ask again,” he whispers. “You can bet on it.”
“Oh,” I say stupidly, as James’s arms scoop me off the seat and deposit me on his lap. Now we’re nose to nose. His arms encircle me, and he gives me a kiss on the forehead.
He studies me some more, his gaze like a caress. I can actually feel the heat of it on my skin. I take his face in both of my hands, and his scruff tickles my palms. “You are ridiculously attractive. It’s really not fair.”
He grins, changing the shape of his face in my hands. “Back atcha, sweetheart.”
A glance out the window shows me Sixtieth Street, and I realize that my time with him is almost finished.
And, wow, that is just unacceptable. Suddenly I don’t want to go home. I don’t want to pierce the perfect bubble, where there’s only James and me. And, well, a taxi driver.
