Page 30 of Visions of You

As we walked up the hill, we angled to the sand path. Too soon, I stood at my front door. Butterflies flitted everywhere inside me. I wasn’t ready to ask him inside yet.

As I raised my head to tell him that, Gabe gripped my face in both hands and kissed me.

Hard.

Opening his lips, he plunged his tongue into my mouth.

The butterflies inside me turned to molten, liquid heat as our tongues circled.

With a deep, wrenching noise in his throat, Gabe stepped forward and pushed me against the front door, pinning me with his chest. My lungs couldn’t fill—he left me breathless. The remnants of whisky in his mouth tasted smoky and exotic. He slid one hand down and around to grab my ass, pushing me tight against him.

I couldn’t exactly miss what was pressed between us. It was impossible not to notice.

Then he broke the kiss and took a deliberate step backward, resting his hands on my hips. Mine draped loosely around his neck. Both our chests heaved, and he gave me a crooked smile. “I’ve wanted to do that for a while now. It was killing me to hold back down at the beach.”

My lips were still parted. My mind was whirling, my heart racing, and I didn’t know what to say. I needed to keep some perspective here.

I was horrible with men.

I couldn’t let myself get swept away, even though every cell of my body wanted him to possess me at that moment. And wanted to possess him. And yet I was afraid to ask him inside. I licked my lips, which felt swollen with need.

Oh, this man was dangerous!

I took a deep breath to reply—whatever might come out—when Gabe placed a single finger over my lips.

“Thanks for the dance,” he said, his voice soft and velvety. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

With a slow wink, he turned around and strolled back to the path. I followed him with my eyes, unable to move. Still hardly able to breathe. When he was twenty feet away, he turned his shoulders toward me and nodded, a silent, respectful gesture as he strode into the night. I hadn’t known what to say, how to express what I needed.

Yet Gabe had known anyway.

Chapter Thirteen

Gabe

As I strolledup the hill, the raging throbbing in my groin gradually subsided. Then I realized I was stroking my bottom lip with my thumb. Over and over.

I snorted.

I couldn’t blame April for that stunned, shell-shocked look on her face after we’d kissed at her door. I felt the same way. But I’d gone too far. There was no doubt in my mind that the flaring desire we’d shared had been mutual. But something had changed for her there at the end, and I pulled back.

I was an asshole, but notthatmuch of an asshole.

Since my divorce, I’d been very cautious around women. Always in control. I hadn’t been with many women since Kora, but the forced abstinence didn’t explain why I was so goddamn attracted to April. Or why I acted the way I did around her.

Had I wanted to show off when I’d asked her to dance? Maybe impress her a little? Yeah, I had. And I’d liked seeing her reaction. Ithad been so long since a woman had made me feel good about myself, I’d forgotten what it was like.

But I sure hadn’t expected her to match me step for step. That had been a massive surprise—the way we’d melded together seamlessly. I couldn’t help wondering what other ways we’d move perfectly together.

If she hadn’t pulled away, who knows where we would have ended up. I wasn’t upset that April had taken a step back. If—or when—we got physical, I wanted her to be one hundred percent sure. I wanted her so hot for me she couldn’t help herself.

Like I was starting to feel about her.

I still wasn’t interested in a serious relationship, but having a girlfriend again? That might be in the cards. If April wanted it, anyway. Maia had said something about her leaving St. Croix due to a bad relationship. Maybe she wasn’t interested in something serious any more than I was.

I was only certain of one thing. I wanted to see her again.

I opened the front door of my cottage and stepped into the dim living room. Nona sat in an armchair, the lamp next to it throwing a halo of light on the paperback she was reading. When I closed the door, she shut her book and looked up with a smile.

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