“Can I scoot closer?”
“Yes.”
She did, leaning her head on his shoulder.
“I haven’t felt this safe in a very long time.”She said the words so softly that he was certain he wasn’t supposed to hear them.
Rather than respond, he pressed his lips to her forehead, then settled in.
“Hold on.”He raised his arm to place it around her.She repositioned into the crook of his arm.She fit perfectly.
The movie started, but he couldn’t concentrate with her this close.Not with the way she felt against him, soft and warm.Not with the way her unique scent filled his senses.And not with the desire causing the knot in his chest to tighten until he thought it might break.
Hudson took in a slow, deep breath to calm himself.
Mistake.
All that did was invite more of her inside.Did she feel the electricity pinging between them?Did she feel the heat building?Did she sense the campfires lighting inside of him with her sitting so close?
Cassie tilted her face toward his.A dozen bombs detonated inside him.
“I would very much like to kiss you right now,” he said before logic could override emotion and ruin the moment happening between them, or her talk him out of asking.
“Well, I would like that very much, Hudson.”
He did.Kiss her.Tenderly at first.Then, harder as desire took over.She parted her lips enough for him to dip the tip of his tongue inside.She tasted like peppermint and the remnants of the coffee they’d had; his new favorite flavors.
Cassie repositioned, bringing her hands up to his shoulders.He turned enough to capture her face in his hands as they deepened the kiss.Her mouth fused against his, lips moving in perfect harmony with his.
His pulse shot through the roof as air came out in jagged breaths.The tempo of her chest rising and falling matched his own.
Hudson was in deep trouble when it came to Cassie.
Shit.
7
All Cassie could do in the moment was surrender and let herself feel for the first time in a long time.Her fingertips ran along the solid wall lines of Hudson’s chest.She’d been wanting to touch him again ever since the first kiss earlier.No, she needed to touch him.Her body craved the feel of him, that silk over steel.
He tasted like a mix of toothpaste and fresh brew.Damn.She’d had no idea how incredible that mixture could be.Then again, it probably had more to do with drinking in his clean, spicy scent that put her over the top.Cassie was hitting a point of no return with Hudson.Emotions flooded her, scared her.
She pulled back first.He rested his forehead on hers as they caught their breath.
“Did I go too far?”he asked with more than a hint of vulnerability in his tone.
“You’re perfect.”And that was the problem.Because despite every instinct inside her reassuring her that he was the real deal, past mistakes made her question everything she thought she knew and could trust.
The problem was that she could stay like this forever.
Neither budged as minutes ticked by and their breathing slowly returned to normal.Then, she moved back into her earlier position, wishing she could be with this man in the biblical sense.Wishing that she could set aside her doubts, while knowing she couldn’t.It was strange how much she trusted him and not herself.
Jarek had left a scar too deep to ignore, and he wasn’t done with her yet.
The kindest thing she could do for Hudson was walk away.And she would.Tomorrow.
Leaving was tomorrow’s problem.The pain she would undoubtedly feel was an issue forfuture her.Becauseright now hercould only think about how nice it was to be with someone who saw her,reallysaw her.
Cassie woke with a start.She bolted upright and immediately checked her surroundings.