When it came to Donovan, there was a banked fire deep inside her, one that he could stoke to a conflagration with a simple look. For some reason, she didn’t think that flame would be all that easy to blow out, even if things progressed between them.
Only they wouldn’t.
This was the end of the line for them.
After grabbing panties and a bra out of her drawer and yanking them on, Kora grabbed a long-sleeved button-up shirt from her closet and a pair of leggings and dressed in minutes. She ran a comb through her hair, brushed her teeth, and stared at herself in the mirror for longer than was necessary.
She looked tired.
Then again, she was.
Today, though she thought she’d done a damn good job of hiding it, had been emotionally draining. Being at the baby shower, watching Trina and Sam as they greeted their friends and family, celebrating the life they were bringing into the world, Kora had felt the ache of loneliness and resentment settle into her gut.
A knock sounded on her door, pulling her from her thoughts.
She slowly crossed through the living room, then stepped into the foyer. Although she knew who was there, she still checked the security hole, using that as more of a stalling tactic than anything else.
Her hand shook as she turned the knob and opened the door.
The first thing she noticed about Donovan was that he’d changed. Gone was the suit and in its place a forest-green Henley that made his eyes glow, along with a pair of dark, well-worn jeans and boots. He’d gone from executive to cowboy in a matter of minutes.
“You can take the boy out of Texas, but you can’t take Texas out of the boy,” she muttered, taking a step back.
“You don’t know how true that is,” Donovan said, his eyes slowly raking over her as he stepped inside.
Kora closed the door, took a deep breath, and prayed like hell she would not do something stupid. Like take this sexy man to bed.
Because, heaven help her, she already wanted to, and he hadn’t been there ten seconds.
I fought the urge to look at Presley. As much as I wanted her, I knew I needed to finish this and not only because I needed to complete a chapter but because it felt right. When she was around, there was no doubt I was inspired.
And yet, I still wasn’t sure how I was supposed to feel about that.
Okay, Donovan, I’ve put the ball back in your court, buddy.
From the moment the door opened and those wary gray eyes stared back at him, Donovan knew tonight wasn’t going to go as well as today had. Then again, he’d spent several hours at a baby shower, so he wasn’t sure he could call it a good day.
Except for the part when he’d been buried balls deep inside of Kora. That had been fucking spectacular.
“You okay?” he asked, following Kora when she swept past him into a sparsely furnished living room. It was nice. Clean. But it didn’t fit her all that well. There were no pictures on the wall, no knickknacks on the shelves.
“Perfect,” Kora said, her tone telling him that she was anything but. “Want a drink?”
“Yes,” he said, keeping his tone firm.
Kora spun around so fast her hair flew around and brushed over her face.
“That was blunt,” she stated, her forehead creased.
“You asked. I answered. That’s the way it works, right?”
“What happened to polite?” she snapped.
Donovan could feel her tension and he knew it didn’t have anything to do with him. But he knew he needed to diffuse it if at all possible.
Closing the gap between them in a matter of seconds, he came to stand directly in front of her, his hands going to her hips as he pulled her up against his body.
“I know you’re not pissed at me,” Donovan told her. “If you were, you wouldn’t have given me your address. So what’s the problem?”
“How do you know my problem isn’t you?” she retorted.
“Because…” Donovan leaned down, his mouth dangerously close to hers. “You wouldn’t let me do this if it was.”
He swallowed her sharp exhale when he slanted his mouth over hers, his tongue slowly sliding past her lips. He kept it gentle, simple. Nothing like the inferno that had consumed them in that storage closet, but this was nice, too.
Kora’s hands were on his chest, but she wasn’t pushing him away, and Donovan took that as a good sign. He pulled back,