“I’ve never seen you in a suit before,” I said as we started walking.
“I never had a reason to wear them before.” His arm slid around my waist, and it felt so good, so natural, I didn’t shy away from it. Perhaps I was reliving the past, but I really wanted to feel like this again, so I went with it.
“I suppose not.”
“Do you like it? Do I clean up well?” he asked with humor in his voice.
I could feel the heat of a blush on my cheeks. “You never lacked for confidence, Jude. You know you look good in anything.”
I swore his chest puffed out as he grinned. We walked a little further in silence, but I had the feeling he was wanting to say something.
Finally, his fingers tightened on my waist. “Remember the night your parents and August were gone and I came over expecting to see August?”
How could I forget. That night was seared in my brain.
The air changed around us. Like it was electrically charged.
“Yes.”
We walked a few more steps, each one I wondered what he was thinking.
“Do you ever regret that?”
I looked up at him, concerned that he regretted it and wanted confirmation that I’d made a mistake. He looked down at me, but I didn’t see regret. It almost appeared like he was holding his breath.
“No. That night was perfect. Just like I’d planned. Better than I’d hoped for.”
The tension on his face relaxed and he let out a breath. “It was one of the most amazing nights of my life.”
I studied him. “Really?” It was hard to believe. He’d been with other girls before then, and no doubt since, which I quickly pushed out of my mind because I didn’t want to think of him with other women.
He nodded. “I can’t explain it, but…there was something special, magical.” He laughed sheepishly. “I sound like a moron.”
“No, you don’t. I’m glad that it was special. I know it was for me.”
He stopped in front of a hotel. “I can walk you back to your car or, I’m staying here until I can move into my apartment. Do you want to come up for a nightcap?”
Was that code for sex? Or was he being literal. I looked up into his strong face, starlight-like eyes, and I didn’t care what he meant. I’d do one or the other or both in this moment. Those warning bells went off in my brain again, but I told them to shut up. If anything, this would be a chance to find out if all those memories were really as good as I remembered, or had I elevated them over time. Plus, maybe I could finally get him out of my system. Or he’d get me out of his.
I nodded, unable to say the word.
He smiled, his eyes studying my face in a way that made my breath stall in my lungs. “Come on,” he said. “If Cyrus hasn’t cleaned out my mini-bar, I should have enough for a nightcap.”
We rode the elevator up in silence, but the air was heavy with possibly that made it hard to talk. I shouldn’t have been there, and yet, I couldn’t not be. I couldn’t deny the powerful attraction I had to him. I hadn’t felt the pull toward a man since Jude, and it was impossible to ignore it. Even if it was just one night, I couldn’t deny something I wanted badly.
“This is me,” he said as we reached his door and he used his keycard to open the door.
I stepped in, scanning the room but not really taking it in. Instead, I turned and launched myself at him. It was like I was eighteen again, begging him to touch me.
He groaned as my body pressed against his, my lips fused to his mouth. He turned me and pushed me against the closed door, his hips pressing to me, his dick already so long and hard it made me gasp.
“I want you so fucking bad, April. Tell me I can have you.” His lips seared a path along my jaw, down my neck and along my collar bone. His fingers gently brushed over the skin at the base of my throat, lighting up my insides.
“Yes.” I clawed at his shirt, desperate to get the buttons undone.
His fingers were more deft than mine and my shirt was unbuttoned and opened, his lips tugging on my lace-covered nipples. I whimpered as each tug pushed me closer and closer to climax.
“Jude.” My hand gripped his dick through his slacks. My pussy was begging for relief and we still weren’t undressed.