“You left.”
“You were scared of me.”
“I didn’t know you. Didn’t know what to think.”
“And now you do?”
I fight a smile. “Let’s just say I have known you longer now.”
He snorts.
“What’s up with that?” I nod at the phone he’s still holding in his hand. “Did I interrupt something?”
“No.” His grin falls. “My brother won’t talk to me because of this bullshit. Can you believe it? He needs me and he won’t fucking talk to me because he thinks I’m a criminal. And now Christmas is coming up, and we’ve always spent it together… all our lives. This sucks.”
“I’m sorry.” The pain in his eyes is plain to see. His brother is important to him.
It shocks me to realize I would like to know more—about him, about his brother, about his life. I want to see him again, see him more. See more of him. See him in relaxed moments, see him working, and see him sleeping.
See him naked.
Okay, the latter is implied. He’s just so sexy, and to think I missed my chance to put my hands on that hot body last night…
I would like to hear his side of the story, to understand what happened. To comfort him. To see if I can please him where that girlfriend ran away. Like a challenge.
“Can we start over?” I ask.
He shrugs his broad shoulders but one side of his mouth lifts in a crooked grin. Whoa, pretty. “What do you have in mind?”
“Come over for dinner. Tomorrow night.”
Oh yeah, I truly am crazy. Must be the different air in this new city, free of the staleness of my past.
“Are you sure?” His grin is still firmly in place, but it’s the uncertainty flashing through his eyes that tells me that maybe I’m not that crazy after all.
It’s sweet how he hesitates. And sad. He’s not as cocksure as he appears on the outside, and it settles my racing pulse.
“Yeah, I’m sure. Come at eight. You know where I live.”
I turn to go, his gaze an itch between my shoulder blades. “Thank you!” he calls out. “I’ll be there.”
Chapter Four
Kaden
I’m nervous.
Can’t remember the last time I’ve been so nervous over meeting a chick for dinner.
Can’t remember the last time I met a chick for dinner, period. My life has been reduced to work, stressing over my brother not returning my calls and quick, dirty fucks with nameless women.
Why am I here, taking a chance on Hailey?
I pull off my gloves and look up at her building, at the lit-up window of her apartment and my memory replays the way she tasted, the way she moaned in my mouth.
The way she came on my fingers.
Fuck. I have to reach down and adjust myself inside my jeans. There’s my answer, I guess. I want her too damn much to keep away. Her tight body, her dark eyes, her funny, sexy bob and wide smile…