We stood there like that for a long moment, breathing the same air.
His eyes dropped briefly to my mouth before lifting back to my eyes, and the look there made my pulse stumble.
And suddenly, all I could hear was the soft rhythm of his breathing.
My gaze drifted down to his lips. And before I could stop myself, I was imagining it again—what it would be like to kiss him.
Because a kiss would be so nice.
But this was Theo.
The guy I’d spent the past year trying—and failing—not to like.
The man whose house I was now apparently going to be living in.
My boss.
If I leaned forward right now and tried to kiss him and he pulled away?
Yeah… I didn’t think I’d recover from that.
And I really did like my job.
Besides… hadn’t just dancing with me been a big step for him tonight? Doing anything more would probably feel like jumping ten steps ahead, and I didn’t want to scare him away.
Still…
He looked really good right now.
And the way he was looking at me… Well, it was hard to believe that I was the only one thinking about it.
Maybe we could have just a tiny kiss.
We didn’t have to go all crazy about it. If it only lasted for a few seconds, maybe we could keep things normal.
Maybe everything would be fine after that.
I mean, he was still standing here, wasn’t he? Standing here in just his sweatpants, looking all hot and sexy and like every fantasy I’d ever had come to life.
And I really doubted I was imagining the heat in his eyes. My imagination was good, but notthatgood.
The moment stretched.
One heartbeat.
Then two.
Three.
Theo’s hand lifted as if he meant to touch my face.
He hesitated halfway there, his fingers hovering near my cheek. And for a second, it seemed like he might actually close the distance. Like he might actually lean in.
But instead of caressing my cheek like I was hoping for, his hand slowly curled into a loose fist before dropping back to his side.
“Sorry.” He took a small step back, the expression in his eyes shifting. “I should probably let you get to bed,” he said, his voice rougher than before. “I’m sure you’re exhausted.”
Exhausted?