“I’m not looking for more, “ I emphasize each word. “My career is my focus.”
He tugs me even closer. It’s close enough that I can feel the outline of his erection. “Good.”
“Good?” I smile up at him. “As if you didn’t know that I wanted you.”
“I knew.”
“You want me too.” I move even closer to him.
“It’s that obvious, is it?” His hand trails down my back toward my ass.
“It’s very obvious.”
He doesn’t waste another moment, not another second passes before he drops my hand, lures my chin up with his fingertip, and looks me straight in the eye. “I do want that, but right now, I want to kiss you.”
I slide my hand from his shoulder to the back of his neck and draw him closer until our lips meet for the very first time.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Astrid
I’m bundled in Berk’s strong arms, pressed against him as he parts my lips with his tongue.
A low growl of approval flows from him into me.
Our kiss lingers like that with the slowness of an awakening. Our tongues touch and then dance in a primal way that leaves my knees weak from want.
His hand fists on my back. I take it as a plea for more.
I need more.
I’m ready to drop to my knees to rip open his pants and take his cock in my mouth to continue this kiss on a much more intimate level that will leave him aching for more.
The moment is shattered when the ring of a phone cuts through the air.
I ignore it because it’s not mine, and even if it was, the only thing that could tear me away from him is…nothing. Nothing can.
I want to take him to my apartment, to my bed.
“Shit,” he whispers against my lips. “That’s me.”
Before I can suggest that he toss the ringing phone over his shoulder, he’s stepped back, leaving me bereft in a way I’ve never felt with a man before.
I’ve had broken kisses and unfulfilling sexual encounters, but none of those disappointments felt as mournful as this one.
He traces my swollen bottom lip with the pad of his thumb before he plants a soft kiss in the same spot.
His next move is swift. Before I can shake off the lustful fog I’m in, he’s answered his phone. “What is it? Is everything okay?”
I turn around to face the windows of my store, not only to give him privacy but to catch my breath and calm the beating of my heart.
It’s thumping inside my chest as if I’ve run a mile in record time.
“Shit. How bad is it?”
I turn back around because I hear something in his voice. There’s a tremor there, but it’s more than that. He sounds deeply concerned.
I watch as he shoves a hand through his hair. “I’m on my way. Tell her I love her.”
Before he’s ended the call, I know it’s his daughter.
Whoever was on the other end was delivering news about his little girl.
Stevie.
“I need to go,” he says in a rush.
There’s no apology or promise that we’ll continue what we started another time. There is only a silent sense of panic in his eyes.
“Of course,” I whisper. “I hope everything is all right.”
“Me too.” He exhales sharply.
Nothing follows that but him sprinting across my store. He turns the lock on the deadbolt, swings open the door and disappears into the darkness beyond my shop’s windows.
“Look what I have for you!”
Eloise and I turn in unison to see Athena walking into Vinyl Crush carrying a vase filled with gorgeous flowers.
This is the best sunshine bouquet she’s ever dropped off for me.
I make a mental note to pick up a gift card from one of her favorite restaurants so she and her fiancé can enjoy a special dinner on me.
She spoils me, and it’s time I started returning that favor.
“That’s incredible,” Eloise says under her breath. “That might be the most beautiful bouquet I’ve ever seen.”
“I think so too,” I agree with a nod of my chin. “Athena, it’s early. Are you sure you’re not going to need those flowers for an order later?”
It’s not even noon yet.
It feels much later to me because I was in the store just after five this morning sorting through the boxes of new inventory that arrived yesterday.
I couldn’t sleep.
I was worried about Berk’s daughter even though I’ve never met her.
After he raced out of the store last night, the first thing I did was lock the door behind him. Then, I opened my laptop and spent the next hour searching his name.
A few private social media accounts and a website for his business popped up. Morgan Press has an impressive list of published authors on their roster, but I was more interested in the bio page for the owner.
Berk kept that to a minimum.
There was a headshot of him and a few lines about his college degree and love of books.