Patch babies and toddler-friendly Lego pieces, where the trash is always overflowing and we don’t even own a recycling bin because there’s no room for one in our microscopic kitchenette.
But still, there’s a part of me that won’t let myself enjoy this.
I don’t deserve to.
Making my way down the hall, I stop when I hear the soft pats of a late night knock at my door. Turning back, I head for the door, glancing out the spyhole. The corners of my mouth curl up when I see Love standing there.
She came back …
I smirk.
“This is unexpected,” I say when I greet her a second later.
Love’s eyes lock onto mine and her tongue traces her lower lip before she begins to say something, but I don’t give her a chance to speak before pulling her in and closing the door. I’m being forward as hell and I know it, but I’ve got to seize this moment before it’s gone for good because God only knows when I’m going to have another opportunity to make a move.
“Jude …” my name is a breath on her lips, the very ones I’m about to claim.
Sliding my hand along the side of her soft jaw, I lower my mouth to hers, bracing her against the door as her body melts against mine. She exhales, the scent of wine filling the space around us, and I taste tonight’s wine on her pillowed lips before our tongues collide.
I knew it.
I knew she wanted this.
Confident in my choice, I kiss her harder, my fingers buried in her soft hair and free hand curling behind her hip, pressing her body tight against mine.
“Jude …” she says my name once more, coming up for air. Her mouth is pink, her chest rising and falling in quick little spurts, and her eyes search mine. “I … I forgot my phone.”
Fuck. Me.
Backing away and feeling like a jackass, I lift my hands into a wordless apology.
Heading toward the table in my entry, she locates her phone, lifting it to show me as she offers a gracious smile. “It must have fallen out of my bag.”
“I, uh … wow. Um. I’m so sorry, Love,” I say, massaging the back of my neck, head tucked. “Guess I was excited to see you and got a little ahead of myself.”
Rubbing her lips together, she winks. “I’ll let it slide … but just this once.”
Turning, she shows herself out.
And I stand here alone, reveling in the fact that she kissed me back.
Love kissed me back.
And if that isn’t a sign of what’s to come, I don’t know what is.
Nine
Love
* * *
No one has ever kissed me like that.
Not Jared Kepner in the seventh grade.
Not my high school boyfriend, Robbie Smart.
Not my ex or anyone in between.
Pacing my apartment with Jude’s taste on my tongue, I try my damnedest to ignore the 100 mile-per-hour beat of my heart and the electric charges igniting every nerve ending in my body.
It was just a kiss.
I’m a single woman.
I’m a free woman.
I’m allowed to have fun.
This doesn’t mean we’re dating.
And most importantly, this doesn’t mean we’re going to date.
Even if I was in a place where I was ready to get back out there, Jude is exactly the kind of guy I don’t need. In all his glorious perfection, he’s got heartbreak written all over. I see it on that chiseled, flawless face of his and etched in those dusty green irises I lose myself in when I’m not being careful.
Plus, there’s something about him that reminds me of my ex. The clothes? The cologne? The confidence? At least their personalities are different. Jude charms and disarms. Hunter never had that innate charisma, only the ability to fake it.
With wine-flooded veins and my body still reeling from that toe-curling, electrifying kiss, I close my eyes, lift my fingers to my lips, and trace the warmth that still lingers as I accept one simple, inarguable truth: there’s nothing wrong with kissing insanely hot men for the thrill of it.
And who knows? I might even do it again sometime.
Ten
Jude
* * *
The elevator doors part the next morning, and I take a step forward just as Love takes a step out.
“Oh, hey,” she says, almost brushing against me.
I let the elevator go. I’ll catch the next one.
“Hey.” I smile and act natural despite the fact that she seems to be having a hard time maintaining eye contact with me. We kissed for a hot minute last night. There’s no need for this to