“Growing up, I attended the right schools,” she continued, thinking back to the private all-girl high school she’d attended and the friends she’d made there. Friends who’d gone on to attend debutante classes and formal teas and to participate in the father/daughter skeet shoot. “But I was always on the outside looking in.”
“And that bothered you a lot.”
Despite his neutral tone, her defensiveness flared. “Shouldn’t it?”
“Why did you think you needed the validation? In my opinion, you already have it all.”
Delight set all her nerve endings alight and suddenly a lifetime of exclusion became less hurtful. “That’s kind of you to say, but it never seemed enough.” Seeing the questions in Harrison’s raised eyebrows, London explained further. “My mother is constantly harping on how frustrating it is for her that no matter how much money she donates or how lavish her dinner parties are, she can’t ever gain acceptance.”
“So maybe it’s your mother’s issue and not yours.”
If only it was that simple.
“She’s pretty determined.” London could’ve said more about her mother’s unrelenting pressure on her to marry well, but decided further explanations would only put her family’s flaws on display.
“It seems like a lot of pressure.”
London shrugged. “I’m no stranger to that. After all, heat and extreme pressure turns coal into diamonds,” she said, parroting her mother’s favorite quote.
“That’s not actually a scientific fact,” Harrison replied.
“Fine,” she grumbled. “But diamonds need heat and pressure to form.”
His lips curved in a bone-melting smile. “True.”
The exchange highlighted how easily Harrison could blow past her defenses and signaled to London that she might be mistaken about which Crosby brother presented the most danger to her.
Everly’s words came back to London. Maybe the other woman’s concerns weren’t out of line. Did she have what it took to keep up her end of the bargain when already she was thinking of Harrison in terms of getting to know him better rather than someone she could use?
Fifteen minutes later Harrison opened the restaurant’s front door, and as soon as they reached the sidewalk, he took her hand and threaded it through his arm. Already a warm glow filled her as a result of the wine she’d consumed and Harrison’s stimulating company. Being tucked close against his body increased the heat beneath her skin and she inhaled the cool fresh air, hoping it would clear her head.
“Thinking about ice cream?” he asked, breaking into her though
ts. They’d reached the corner, and instead of continuing on to Swenson’s, he pulled her onto the quieter thoroughfare. “Because I’m not.”
“No?” she countered, trembling as he backed her up against the building’s brick wall and leaned his forearm beside her head.
His gaze searched her features before settling on her lips. “The only dessert I want is a taste of your sweet lips.”
If any other man had delivered that line, she would’ve had a cynical retort, but something about Harrison told her that he meant every word. Her muscles lost strength, making her glad for the wall at her back. She wasn’t sure what to do with her hands. His hard body called to her, but letting her palms roam over his chiseled physique—while tempting—was a little too familiar for their first...dinner...date?
“Okay.”
“Okay?” he echoed, his soft, firm lips grazing across hers with deliberate intent.
“Yes.” She breathed the word and it came out sounding almost like a plea.
“Are you sure it’s not too forward of me?”
He seemed determined to tantalize and torment her with what could be. The suggestion of a kiss did exactly what it was supposed to. It frustrated her and provoked curiosity at the same time. She reached up and tunneled her fingers into his hair.
“Kiss me like you want to,” she urged, conflicting notes of desperation and command in her tone as he trailed his lips across her cheek.
“If I do that, we might get arrested.” His husky laugh puffed against her skin, making her shiver.
Disturbed by the acute longing he aroused, London laid her palm against his chest. His rapid heartbeat caught her attention and bolstered her confidence. The chemistry she felt wasn’t one-sided but sparkled between them, ripe with promise and potential.
“I don’t know what to do with you,” she murmured, trembling as his hand slipped around her waist and into the small of her back, drawing her tight against his hard body.