Her chin lifted, the first sign of a spark since he’d arrived. “When did you become an expert on reading women?”
“Not women… just you. And believe me, I’m no expert. Most of the time, you read like a foreign language.”
The corner of her mouth twitched. “French?”
“No, I’m pretty good at French. I’d say, most of the time, you’re not even written in the same alphabet. Maybe Cantonese. Or Russian.”
He finally coaxed a smile, but it disappeared so fast he thought he’d imagined it.
“We should be going,” she said, nodding toward the door behind him.
The pain was there, under the surface, like a raw wound that had barely crusted over. It burned inside his chest. He stood there, helpless, like he was watching her drown. On impulse, he opened his arms.
When she fell against him, the wound ripped open. Her tears drenched his shirt, but he didn’t care. He shared her pain without words, willing her to take what she needed from him. He didn’t give a thought to the implications—whether she would make the wrong assumptions. Nothing mattered but holding her until he absorbed every ounce of hurt. He tightened the circle of his arms… she had to know she was safe.
When her tears began to subside, he pressed his lips to the top of her head, breathing in her essence. Then he kissed her forehead… gentle, tender, as if she were made of glass. Her chin tilted up, and she gazed at him, pupils dilated so wide they disappeared in the pools of dark chocolate. Her heart throbbed against his chest, an echo of his own.
Her lips parted, inviting him to taste her. Resisting the pull, he turned his face to kiss along the angle of her jaw. His conscience laughed at him. Did he really believe kissing her face would be less reckless than joining their lips? He’d already passed the line of friendship—he might as well let his lips have their fill.
Ignoring the taunt, he avoided the temptation of her mouth, planting small kisses around her ear. Her chin lifted, granting him access to her neck. His lips trailed down, settling in the soft place where her blood pulsed madly.
This has to stop.
He froze, his forehead against her cheek, his breaths coming in short pants.
“Why are you stopping?” she murmured, as her fingers slid through the back of his hair, sending tingles down his spine.
“We can’t kiss,” he choked, straightening and turning his head away. “We shouldn’t.”
Her hands crept behind his head and pulled his face down to hers. Like magnets, their mouths sprang together—her lips so soft, yet so responsive. Warmth curled in his gut and spread through every vessel in his body. He claimed her lips, but wanted more. No, he needed more. He couldn’t get enough of her.
“I love you,” she murmured.
She loves me! I’ve found my soulmate!
But how could that be? Because he was Finn Anderson, the man who was destined to live alone.
He wrenched his mouth away, almost crying out at the loss.
Her hands remained locked behind his head, her sharp gaze shredding his carefully tended walls.
“Tell me you didn’t feel that,” she said, her eyes bright with unshed tears. “Tell me the truth. Tell me the truth, because I can’t take any more lies. No more lies. Not today.”
Her words tore at him. If lies had hurt this woman he loved, he couldn’t add another.
“I felt it,” he croaked, new dampness on his cheeks. “But we can never do it again.”
“Why not?” she begged him. “We have something, Finn. Something real. A connection. Do you know how rare that is?”
“Yes, I know.” He pulled her against him, his hand pressing her head against his chest. “But I can’t let you throw everything away… not for me.”
CHAPTER 16
Saturday morning dawned with Finn still avoiding her.
If I’d known he was going to totally withdraw, I never would’ve kissed him.
Laurie scanned the banquet room, but he was nowhere to be seen.
Girl, you are such a liar. You know you’d do that again in a heartbeat. That kiss was smokin’!
She grinned, in spite of herself.
Yep, you’re right. But I shouldn’t have used the L-word. He wasn’t ready for it.
The afternoon before the big fundraiser, hundreds of people were darting around like bees, moving tables and chairs, decorating, preparing the media. Everyone had a job to do.
Where is he?
Ever since that fateful kiss the previous day, she’d barely seen him. Now the banquet time was approaching, and she would be forced to sit next to the man, at a table full of important donors, and pretend everything was fine between them. The problem was, everything was not fine. In fact, everything was a mess.
Somehow, after sharing the most powerful kiss she’d ever experienced, Finn Anderson had strolled downstairs and casually announced to a roomful of reporters that she was simply a rising employee at Limitless, and he was her employer. End of story. No relationship. No feelings. Then he’d given her a perfunctory handshake and sent her on her way, while he remained to field questions about Phantom Enterprises’ latest projects and the upcoming Limitless fundraiser.
How had it happened? One second their lips were joined in an electrifying kiss. The next he was out the door, announcing they were late for the press conference. When he dismissed her from the meeting, she’d hung around in the back, hoping to continue the conversation he’d shut off so suddenly. While she waited, she’d practiced her arguments.
Number one… being with you is not throwing my life away. And number two… being with you is not throwing my life away. And the same for number three and number four and number five!
