Natalie resisted the urge to squirm. Matthew was looking at her oddly. Like he wanted to gobble her up in one swift bite and slay dragons for her all at the same time.
It was a heady, very confusing expression, and her head spun as she watched him approach her table.
Not bothering with ordering a coffee of his own, he came over, sat down and smiled a smile that didn’t ease the nervous tension running through her.
If anything, more tension thrummed to life.
“What?” she asked, setting her phone on the table. She’d read the same first line of the article she’d been trying to read a dozen times and still couldn’t tell what it said.
Why was she staring into his smiling face, thinking he was too handsome to be real, and recalling that she’d held that face, kissed that face, woken up to that face just a couple of months before?
“Thinking how lucky I am that you’re really here. I wasn’t sure you would be.”
Her nervousness mounting, Natalie rolled her eyes. “Cut it with the corny comments.”
“Nothing corny about telling a beautiful woman you appreciate being with her.”
Heat flooded her cheeks. They shouldn’t be here. Shouldn’t be having this conversation. “What are we doing, Matthew?”
His pale blue eyes twinkled. “Having coffee?”
“You don’t have coffee.”
He glanced down in front of him at the empty table as if her announcement was news to him. “Would it make you feel better if I ordered a drink?”
Her heart beat wildly in her chest, pounding against her ribcage, beating her logic into submission. “This is crazy.”
He leaned across the table, his gaze holding hers with an intensity that made breathing difficult. “Wasting time is always crazy. A very wise woman pointed that out to me in Miami not so long ago.”
Her gaze dropped to his lips. To his magical, glorious lips that felt so good against hers. Lips that had just implied they were wasting precious time when they could be... Natalie lifted her gaze back to his, but realized that didn’t help.
She knew what he was saying, what he wanted.
The same thing she wanted.
The same reason those warning bells had gone off when she’d agreed to meet him for coffee. Because she wanted him.
Felt as if she’d always wanted him.
He wanted her, too. He was using those hypnotic eyes to will her to cut to the chase and admit what she was feeling.
Why not? a little voice asked. Why not give in to his temptation and let him do marvelous things to her body? Nothing would be different. They’d had sex in the past. What would one more night hurt?
Maybe another night would even help. Maybe having sex with Matthew in Memphis wouldn’t be nearly as good as she thought having sex with him in Florida had been.
“I want to take you home, Natalie.”
Her insides melted.
“To spend the entire night making love to you. In my bed.”
Visions of his bedroom, of his big bed, flashed into her mind. Visions of her, of him, naked, their bodies locked together in his massive bed.
Her memories were playing tricks on her, right? Miami hadn’t really been as magical as her mind made it out to be. He hadn’t really made her body sing song after glorious song.
“Let me make love to you, Natalie.”
Who was she to deny him?