Page 16 of A Lonely Road (Spruce Hill #2)

In fact, she looked even more outrageously beautiful than before, dark eyes aglow, face flushed and animated.

I put my hands on either side of her body, bracing myself against the countertop she had so admired, and kissed her again.

This one was hard and fast, but no less combustible.

When I pulled back to go answer the door, her lips were a deep, rosy pink, and she sagged against the counter while she caught her breath.

I returned with the pizza and set it on the countertop beside her. “Now, where were we?” I murmured, but Nora held up a hand.

“Easy, cowboy. I think maybe we should probably eat dinner first, before . . . anything else. I could use some fortification.”

I cocked my head at her, wondering if she’d changed her mind, but that enticing glow of desire hadn’t faded from her features. “You’re saying we need sustenance,” I replied slowly. “Fuel. Energy.”

She snorted, which brought a wide grin to my face. “Yes, to all those things. Eat up while it’s hot.”

My blood simmered at those words. “Oh, I intend to,” I said softly, trailing my thumb across her lower lip. Nora’s breath hitched a little and I felt it sear through me.

As we ate, I found frequent excuses to touch her—a brush of my fingers along the back of her neck, a hand at her knee. Each caress started a tingle that spread along my limbs like wildfire. If the flush under her skin was any indication, it was doing the same for her.

“Does it bother you, the fact that I saw your reaction to me those weeks ago?” I asked when she paused to dab at her lips with a napkin.

“Only because it’s embarrassing.”

I lifted a brow. “A single woman alone in a new town can’t be nervous about it? Makes sense to me you’d need time to settle in.”

“No, I know. I’m normally not quite so jumpy, though.”

“Was that because of me?” I hated that, but she shook her head before I finished the question.

“No. I mean, not directly. Just . . . it was very clear that you saw it, and usually I’m better at hiding those things.”

“You don’t ever have to hide from me. You know that now, right? ”

She bit her lip, though it couldn’t quite hide the tiny smile curving at the edges. “I know.”

Slowly, determined not to spook her now that we’d moved past another hurdle, I lifted my hand to cup her jaw and brushed my thumb across that full lower lip. “Good.”

Fuck me, but the look in her eyes at that simple caress had me ready to throw caution to the wind and carry her straight to my bed.

Instead, I summoned every ounce of self-control and we finished dinner. When I rose to clear away our plates, I peeked into the box she’d brought with her and let out a groan, leaning down to draw in a whiff of carrot cake from Carmello’s Bakery.

“Oh, shit,” I murmured. “This is my favorite.”

Nora watched me with amusement. “I know. I asked. There are certain benefits to being everyone’s favorite business owner, apparently. Everyone in town knows everything about you.”

“Not everything,” I said as I closed the box and reached out to pull her to her feet.

I framed her face with my hands and kissed her, soft and sweet, without a trace of our earlier urgency.

A breathless laugh slipped from her just before my mouth met hers again, deeper, more insistent this time.

Her hands tangled in the front of my shirt as my mouth shifted to trail along her jawline and nuzzle her ear.

Nora clung to me like she would evaporate into mist if I stopped touching her, like the sheer force of our desire was holding her together .

“Promise me something?” I murmured, letting my breath tickle her earlobe.

“Yes?” The word came out on a strangled gasp as she tipped her head back to give me room to explore.

“I want you to tell me what you want, what you need, if you want to stop or back up or slow down. I don’t want anything between us to make you uncomfortable.

And before you accuse me of treating you like you’re breakable,” I added as my teeth grazed her throat, “this has nothing to do with that. I just want to know that you’re enjoying yourself as much as I am.

There’s no rush. You’ve got nothing to prove here. Deal?”

Her fingers threaded into my hair. “Yeah, deal. But Jake?”

“Yes, Nora?” The words rumbled along her collarbone, raising goosebumps across her skin that I traced with my lips.

“I think you should stop talking now.”

I laughed softly, but I obeyed. Her nails skimmed along my scalp until I groaned against her neck.

It was true, she wasn’t as fragile as I first thought, not by a long shot.

I was beginning to wonder instead if she had surrounded her true self with walls of spun glass.

It felt like the Nora in my arms had burst forth and let those barriers crumble to dust behind her.

This Nora was eager and enthusiastic and driving me up the wall with those soft purring sounds in her throat.

Still, I was determined not to rush things, no matter how tempted I was to take her right there on the kitchen table. When my palm slipped under the hem of her skirt, stroking a path along the outside of her thigh, she tightened her fingers in my hair to tug my head away from her collarbone.

“Time to continue the tour,” she told me. I blinked at her, uncomprehending, so she nipped lightly at my jaw. “Do you have a bedroom around here, or just a fancy kitchen? I think we should take this somewhere more comfortable.”

My lips curved upward at that. “Oh, yes, as a matter of fact, I do. Let’s go.”

But first, I kissed her again, letting my mouth convey every dark desire I hoped to explore, then I took her hand and led her upstairs.