Rocki smiled at him. Closing the distance between them, she leaned against him. Carefully, she rested her injured hand on the counter beside him and wrapped her other arm around him. “Oh, I heard enough. Tell me, did you mean that? Or were you just trying to get her to leave you alone?”
“You know, a lot of people would pretend they hadn’t overheard a conversation that was clearly intended to be private.” He tapped her on the nose with the tip of his finger. “Even if they are going to eavesdrop.”
“Yeah. I figure if I’m rude enough to eavesdrop, then I’ll be honest about it and not bother pretending I didn’t overhear. And you’re sidestepping the question.”
“No, I’m not. I’m just trying to figure out how to answer it without scaring you off.” He stroked a hand up her back, curved around her neck. “I really, really don’t want to do that, Rocki.”
“Maybe it hasn’t occurred to you yet, but I don’t scare that easily. Give me some credit, Stanton.” Man, she loved the way he touched her, loved the warmth of his hands. Loved the way he looked at her—it wasn’t just like she was beautiful, although she really appreciated that. He looked at her like she was something special,
somebody
special. He made her feel like she mattered. It made her heart turn over. No, he wasn’t scaring her at all. Easing closer, she pressed her mouth to his. “Now answer my question. Did you mean it?”
“Yeah, I did.” His free hand closed around her waist, his fingers kneading the muscles at the small of her back. “I know we’ve joked about rushing things. And I know it’s early. I’m not getting ready to pop the question or anything. I just...hell, Rocki. You do things to my head that I can’t even describe. From the moment I first laid eyes on you, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you. The more I’m around you, the more I need to be around you.”
Then he groaned and slammed his head back against the cabinet behind him. “And that’s probably not what you need to hear right now, considering what happened yesterday. I swear, I’m not going all stalker on you.”
“Cole, trust me. I’ve had a stalker—I know what they are.” Smiling, she rested her head on his shoulder. “Besides, didn’t we already talk about this? If we start feeling like we’re moving too fast, then we’ll slow down. Right now, I think we’re moving along just fine.”
The hand massaging her back stilled. “We are?”
“I think so.” Easing back, she lifted her head to look at him. “Everybody kept thinking that all these years, I never got serious about anybody because I was still mourning my husband. I do still miss him—and you need to understand that part of my heart will always belong to him. But I’ve never gotten involved with anybody else because I haven’t met another guy who could make my heart flip over.” She reached up and touched the tip of her finger to his mouth. “Until you. I took one look at you and everything stopped—I was aggravated as hell about it, because you were taken. But I’m not kidding. One look, Cole...and everything just stopped. And it feels right. If it feels right, how can it be too fast?”
“Rocki. Aw, hell.” He slid his hands up and cradled her face. “Everything logical says otherwise. You know that, right?”
She smirked. “Screw logic.”
“Hmm. I like
that
logic.” His mouth brushed against hers. “So I guess we’re going to rush things, huh?”
“Nah. It’s not rushing. We’re just moving at our own pace.”
“Now that sounds good.”
As his mouth came down more firmly on hers, Rocki wondered if she’d be able to talk him into moving at their own pace to the bedroom...in a bit. Right now, she just wanted to enjoy the moment. Wanted to enjoy him.
Shiloh Walker has been writing since she was a kid. She fell in love with vampires with the book Bunnicula and has worked her way up to the more…ah…serious works of fiction. She loves reading and writing anything paranormal, anything fantasy, and nearly every kind of romance. Once upon a time she worked as a nurse, but now she writes full time and lives with her family in the Midwest. She writes romantic suspense and contemporary romance, and urban fantasy under her penname,
J.C. Daniels
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