“Shouldn’t it?” He squeezed, and her gaze dropped to their joined hands. “You’re a beautiful person, not the type of woman that any man—including me—should take to bed without it meaning something.”
“Do you love me?”
He gaped at her and she couldn’t help but laugh.
“Drake, it’s not a trick question. I’m not asking if you’re in love with me. Do you love me?”
“Of course I love you. You already know that. You’re the most important person in my life.”
“Then it means something. We can’t dwell on it, though, so let’s move forward.”
Drake arched a brow. “And ignore that it happened?”
“Not exactly. I don’t think we could ignore it if we tried.”
The room descended into silence. He stood there, his eyes locked on hers, his hands holding hers. He inched closer to her.
“Love?”
At that point, she wasn’t sure why she’d even started the conversation. It was bad enough that just being near him was doing all kinds of things to her body. “Yes?” she said, her voice coming out more whispery than she’d intended.
His thumb swept over her palm. “I know what you’re trying to do, but it’s not that simple.”
Oh, God. He smells so good. His cologne washed over her and she couldn’t help but lean closer to get another whiff. Today he smelled like black pepper, leather and wood.
“I don’t think it’s going to be so easy to move on from this,” he added.
She looked at his fingers as they drew tiny circles over her wrist and up her arm. Her heart beat in her ears as a warmth spread from her belly to her toes. He was talking, but she had no idea what he was saying. She was too entranced with his mouth, the feel of his breath on her skin. Her eyes wandered down his neck to the top button of his shirt.
Stop picturing him naked, Love.
“But you’re right,” he said.
Confused, she frowned and peered up at him. “Huh?”
He chuckled, and she couldn’t help but smile. Touching her face, then her neck, she let out an airy giggle. Breathe, Love. Focus.
Drake was quiet now, studying her when she looked into his brown eyes again. And he was closer. It was almost like he could read her mind.
Oh hell, why do I want him to kiss me?
Then he did. His lips met hers in a soft kiss, one that seemed to steal her breath.
Wait, Love. The warning in her head was clear. She pushed him away. “Drake, what did you just do?”
He rubbed his chin, a frown on his face. “Uh, I kissed you.”
“Yeah, you did. Why did you do that?”
“Because you wanted me to.”
His answer was so matter-of-fact that she backed up a step. How the hell did he know that? “You can’t just keep kissing me like that. You did it in Vegas, too. Just kissed me for no reason.”
“You were upset, and I wanted you to feel better.”
“So you kissed me?”
He sighed, rubbed his forehead. “I don’t know. It just felt like the right thing to do at the time.”
“And today?”
“I don’t know,” he repeated.
Love’s curiosity got the best of her and she asked, “And how do you know I wanted you to kiss me?”
He shrugged, shoving his hands into his pockets. “I can’t describe it. I can always tell when a woman wants me to kiss her.”
“So you just do it?”
“Of course not.”
“In this case you did.”
“It’s you. I kissed you because you wanted me to.”
She opened her mouth to respond, but the words didn’t come. His question to her earlier roared in the back of her mind. But don’t you wonder why we chose that night…? It had to mean something that they’d had sex, married each other.
“Why?” she whispered.
“You tell me.”
She sucked in a deep breath. “Maybe…”
“You want me to kiss you again, don’t you?”
Love paused, shocked at his question. Not because he was being his confident, cocky self, but because he was right. She did want him to kiss her again. She wanted it more than she wanted her next breath.
“Yes,” she admitted with a sigh.
She trembled as he stepped into her, pulling her to him for another kiss. His mouth moved over hers with short, languid movements. His tongue swept into her mouth and tangled with hers, drawing a low moan from her throat. His hands roamed over her back, over her butt. She felt a buzz between them, and then the heat of his nearness was replaced by a chill.
When her eyes opened, he was staring at his phone.
“Love, I have to take this. It’s the hospital.”