Page 18 of Nothing to This

“Wait, what?I thought—”

The elevator came and she stepped inside, prompting him to follow.“Go back to the office, JD,” she said, but he didn’t.“I told you, if the kids see you, they’ll react to you.”

“Good.I want them to react to me.”

“We talked about this.”

Others tried to join them.

JD put up a hand to halt them.“Get the next one.”

They all backed out, leaving them alone.He stabbed at the door close button with a straight digit.

She selected the lobby.“Makes you feel clever to do that, huh?”

“Who are you meeting?”he asked.“Is it him?You said he hasn’t met the twins.”

“Hehasn’t and it’s not him,” she said, facing him tostraighten his tie.“You shouldn’t care who I’m meeting for lunch.”

“I know.”

What was that tone?Their eyes met and the air changed.Somehow, it got hotter and thicker, like it weighed more than before.Why were they standing so close?She hadn’t even noticed until—did he have to be right there?

She shivered.“Did it just get weird in here?”Rolling her shoulders, the discomfort held on.“Why did it just get weird?”

His fingertip ascended to her temple and slid back into her hair, tucking an errant strand behind her ear.

“We were in an elevator just like this the first time I kissed you.”

Obviously, their past was on his mind.That moment.The first touch of their lips.The combustion.The power of… them.

A strange sort of calm settled over her.The pull of his gaze, of having his complete attention, plucked at her barriers.

“We were.”

“In the hotel and—”

“I was there, JD.”Giving herself a mental slap, she pulled it together.“I don’t need a play-by-play.”

“You were pretty drunk.”

Relaxing, her fingers curled around his tie.“So drunk that what you did to me was probably on the cusp of assault.”

His lips curved until he laughed.“Just how I like my women.”

Straightening her arms, she rested them on his shoulders.“It terrifies me that my son will look to you as an example of how to romance women.”

His hands slid onto her hips and down to her ass.“He won’t need any education on that.He’s a Dawes, it’s in his blood.”

“To assault women?I hope not.”

Leaning down, his lips warmed her ear.“You can try to claim assault the first time, but the second?The third…?You were definitely sober when I woke up to you riding me in the morning.”

Though her hand splayed to pressure his chest, he didn’t budge.The elevator doors opened, and she had to look, had to turn her attention to the lobby.

“Oh, Miss Hampton,” the woman standing just outside the door drawled.Brenna.Exactly the woman she needed.“You’re getting fresh in the elevator…” Her friend’s smile faded when JD straightened up.“With my brother?Uh, what’s going on here?”

Though confused, Brenna glittered with optimistic mischief.