There was a smile on her face that was wistful and it sent a pang to Nolan’s chest. He could imagine she had little enough time to herself, let alone to share with another person.
“It was absolutely my pleasure.”
Afterward he couldn’t be certain who had made the first move. But it didn’t matter one bit. His senses filled with her—her scent, her taste, the feel of her in his arms and, above all else, the beauty of her kiss. A sense of rightness filled him as their lips met, as his hand lifted to thread through her hair and to cup the back of her head. Inside him a knot began to unravel and he knew, in that moment, that he wanted Raina in his life. That he could finally begin to let go of the pain of the past that had kept him in emotional isolation.
He traced the softness of her lips with his tongue as they parted beneath him. Desire unfurled through his body, doubling on itself until it consumed his thoughts. When Raina’s hands pushed through his hair and held him to her, he knew she felt the same. She pressed her body against his and heat flared between them.
Nolan deepened their kiss. His tongue probed her mouth and she responded in kind. A shudder of need pummeled him and he felt an echoing tremor from her.
Overhead the light flicked off and then on again.
He felt Raina pull away. Her lips were swollen and curved into a grin.
“I can’t believe this. My father is obviously letting me know it’s time for me to come inside.” She gave a half-embarrassed giggle before leaning forward to kiss Nolan sweetly, and all too swiftly, on his lips. “I’m sorry. I’d better go in before he comes out with a shotgun.”
“You’re kidding about the shotgun, right?”
“Of course I am, but he’s very protective. Thank you again, Nolan. For everything.”
“We’ll see each other again,” he stated firmly.
“Yes, I’d like that.”
“Soon.”
She nodded and laughed, her breath leaving a misty cloud in the air between them. “Yes, soon. How about Monday night? Dinner here, with JJ and me.”
“I’d really like that,” Nolan said. Even though every minute he’d spent with JJ so far reminded him all too much of all the things he’d missed out on with his own son, he enjoyed the little guy’s company and his simple enthusiasm for life. It was a poignant reminder that he needed to inject some of that enthusiasm back into his own. And maybe, just maybe, he needed to consider telling Raina about the wife and son he’d lost, too. “Monday, then.”
“Is six o’clock okay with you?”
“Perfect. I’ll be there. Can I bring anything?”
“Just yourself is fine. See you then.”
She turned, put her key in the lock and opened the front door. Then, with a small wave, she was gone from sight. Nolan shoved his hands in his pockets and jogged down the path to his car. He drove back to the hotel, his mind only half on what he was doing while the other half raced ahead and churned over a million different thoughts.
Sleep would be a long time coming tonight. He hadn’t expected anything like this when he’d returned to Royal. Hadn’t wanted it. He’d been meticulous about his relationships in the past and particularly about avoiding any emotional entanglements. But somehow this attraction had found him and lodged itself within the gaping hole of loneliness he had come to accept as being as much a part of him as every breath he took.
And it felt good. In fact, it felt better than good—it had brought back to life something he hadn’t experienced in far too long—hope, which left him between a rock and a hard place when it came to the job he was really here to do. Did he compromise his professional integrity for this fledgling relationship or should he focus on the role he was here to complete and then walk away at the end of his time here in Royal, knowing he could be walking away from the best thing that had happened to him in a very long time?
Seven
Raina woke the next morning still locked firmly inside the bubble of joy that had enveloped her last night. Her father had taken one look at her face as she’d come into the sitting room and had shaken his head.
“I don’t suppose there’s any point in telling you to be careful,” he’d growled from behind his beard.
She’d merely smiled and thanked her father for taking care of JJ. To his credit, he hadn’t given her a lecture. Something he was inclined to do even though she was thirty years old and a mom herself. Instead he’d merely hugged her, pressed a kiss on the top of her head and, after telling her he loved her, made his way home to the trailer park.